[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Party Official Blames Governor for Debt, Who Sticks it to the Party

By Bill Cavala
A veteran of over 30 years in Sacramento

The California Republican Party is in financial trouble. According to the SF Chronicle,it owes $3.4 million in unpaid bills. And while it has $3.2 million cash on hand, it owes a major donor $3 million of that in a loan now due.

The loan is controversial. Party official Jon Fleischman claims the debt should be put on the Governor’s shoulders as the money was used in his reelection campaign.

The Governor denies owing any money. His spokesman notes that the Party voted to accept the obligation – including now Chair Ron Nehring. “The Governor is not responsible for settling the loan” says the Chronicle story citing Adam Mendelsohn, advisor.

The contributor in question is reportedly demanding party officials take specific actions to “get a finance chairman, operations committee person and a Team California chairman to oversee major donations for the party”. Also requested was “accountability in developing a detailed business and political plan to address issues such as voter registration, (and) getting voters to the polls”.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Karen Cohen

A totally blue Bay Area delegation in the California Assembly? Changing demographics give the Democratic Party a good chance of capturing the 15th Assembly District (A.D.) seat this November for the first time in a quarter of a century, turning the Bay Area Assembly delegation completely Democratic and bringing the Assembly closer to a veto-proof Democratic majority.

After a decade without competition for the 15th A.D. seat in the Democrat primary, six people announced their candidacies last year and three remain in the race. Joan Buchanan of Alamo and Steve Filson and Steve Thomas of Danville will be on the June 3 ballot. None of them are unknowns.

The 15th A.D. includes parts of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Sacramento counties. While the majority of voters are in Contra Costa, the district extends to include portions of the Sacramento Delta communities of Stockton, Galt and Elk Grove, as well as Livermore and a part of Pleasanton. The electorate is 38.8 percent Republican, 38.7 percent Democratic and 18.8 percent Decline To State, according January figures from the office of the Secretary of State. The numbers represent a significant shift from 2006, when 42.5 percent of voters registered Republican, 39.5 percent were Democratic and 18.4 percent were Decline To State.

by Lucas O'Connor [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

One of CMR's intrepid publishers, Steve Maviglio, noted last week that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson was about to go up on the air with two ads in Iowa and New Hampshire. The ads are now up. The buys are small and in all likelihood were made solely to generate earned media and wide-spread web viewing.
 
The ads are not the comic masterpieces that entertained New Mexico during Richardson's reelection campaign last fall, but a similar ad would probably not work as an introduction to voters who only know from Hillary, Obama and Edwards.