[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Bill Cavala
A veteran of over 30 years in Sacramento

The San Mateo Elections Clerk is bemoaning the cost of running the special election required by law to replace the late Rep. Tom Lantos.

If Clerks had their way, you would have to pay them to vote.

For years they have demanded the right to run partisan elections with “all mail” ballots because of the cost savings. The undisputed fact that such a move would disenfranchise many people who only pay attention close to an election when the hoopla gets their attention is considered unimportant.

Clerks think you should pay attention earlier. Clerks think you should vote by mail and save them money. Clerks think that election precincts should be so large that everyone must have a car to drive to the polls. Clerks think voters should have to pay the postage to vote-by-mail.

Clerks act as though voting was a privilege, not a right. And voters sure do make it inconvenient for themselves.

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By David Dayen
d-day

Welcome back to the long-awaited California House races roundup! These things take up an inordinate amount of time, but I've finally found some, and I'm ready to go with this roundup. There's a lot of additional information, including Q4 2007 fundraising numbers, the turnout in the February primary offering a decent snapshot of Democratic chances in a particular district, and quite a few new candidates to speak about. I'm going to rank the top ten challenges to Republican-held seats across the state, as well as take a look at the two intriguing races held by Democrats.

But first, it should be mentioned that the deadline for applying to run for a Congressional seat is fast approaching (March 7, extended to March 12 if the incumbent is not running), and 4 of the 19 Republican-held seats in the state still have no challenger: CA-02 (Herger), CA-19 (Radanovich), CA-22 (McCarthy), and CA-25 (McKeon). This is especially distressing in CA-19 and CA-25, where turnout in the Feb. 5 primary was either even or favored Democrats. So anyone in these 4 districts: run for Congress! It's a résumé builder!

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Welcome back to the long-awaited California House races roundup!  These things take up an inordinate amount of time, but I've finally found some, and I'm ready to go with this roundup.  There's a lot of additional information, including Q4 2007 fundraising numbers, the turnout in the February primary offering a decent snapshot of Democratic chances in a particular district, and quite a few new candidates to speak about.  I'm going to rank the top ten challenges to Republican-held seats across the state, as well as take a look at the two intriguing races held by Democrats.  But first, it should be mentioned that the deadline for applying to run for a Congressional seat is fast approaching (March 7, I believe), and 4 of the 19 Republican-held seats in the state still have no challenger: CA-02 (Herger), CA-19 (Radanovich), CA-22 (McCarthy), and CA-25 (McKeon).  This is especially distressing in CA-19 and CA-25, where turnout in the Feb. 5 primary was either even or favored Democrats.  So anyone in these 4 districts: run for Congress!  It's a r?sum? builder!

(By the way, you can follow all of the candidates in all these races at the 2008 Race Tracker.

OK, let's get into it:

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

Their names have been known to the media who are trying to keep tabs on their leanings for Clinton or Obama, but not known to most Californians, even those who take their politics seriously. Here is the list of “Super Delegates” to the 2008 convention that will nominate the Democratic candidates for President and Vice-President, adopt a party platform, and make other decisions regarding future rules and practices of the party.

California, the largest state and largest delegation to the Convention has Super Delegates based on the following:

33 Democratic National Committee (DNC) Members, 31 Congressional Members, plus the vacant Tom Lantos seat which should be filled prior to the convention, and 1 former DNC Chair, Charles Manatt. Actually, there are 35 Democrats in Congress (33 House & the vacant Lantos seat, plus Senator Boxer and Senator Feinstein) but four of our Congressional Members are also on the DNC and therefore are counted as DNC Members.

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Hat tip to DKos for this clip from MSNBC's First Read:

Democrats are affronted. Right in the middle of the Statuary Hall service for the late Tom Lantos, a Republican went to the floor -- just steps from the solemn proceedings -- and called a procedural vote, apparently out of pique.

The Republican was the aforementioned Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL). This kind of behavior is petty and disrespectful of a man who spent his life fighting for human rights across the world. Completely unacceptable.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced that there will be a special election on June 3 to replace Bay Area Congressperson Tom Lantos, who died Monday.

Will Jackie Speier be coronated or will we see a genuine fight for the seat? Stay tuned.