by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Upsets were the order of the day in the few contested State Senate races on Tuesday's ballot.

Senate District 3 -- In the marquee contest, Sen. Carole Migdenwas ousted in her bid for re-election by Assemblymember Mark Leno. Lenotook 43 percent of the vote, outpacing former Assemblymember JoeNation, who had 29.3 percent, and Sen. Migden, who finished third with27.7 percent.

Senate District 5 -- Assemblymember Lois Wolk clobbered herprimary opponent and heads into the general election with a head ofsteam. She'll face Assemblymember Greg Aghazarian.  Wolk pulled morethan 12,000 more votes than Aghazarian in the primary -- a healthy signfor her general election prospects in a seat that he GOP has tried towrest from term-limited. Sen. Mike Machado in the past.

Senate District 9 -- Assemblymember Loni Hancock won adouble-digit victory over former Assemblymember Wilma Chan. Hancock'sstrong 56.5-43.5 percent margin bucked massive IE spending against herby tribal gaming interests.

There's more...

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

Nancy Skinner, a former Berkeley City Councilmember (pictured at right) who is a member of the East Bay Regional Parks District and who was endorsed by Asemblymember Loni Hancock to succeed her, has won the Democratic nomination in the heavily Democratic 14th Assembly District.

Hancock herself has won a hard fought battle over former Assemblymember Wilma Chan for the 9th Senate District seat being vacated by termed out President pro Tem of the Senate, Don Perata.

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

SD-09 has been called for Loni Hancock, which is good news for clean money.

SD-23: Fran Pavley is pummeling Lloyd Levine 66-34. Hasn't been called yet, however, with 52% reporting.

SD-25: Rod Wright is pulling away now.  The age and corruption issues must have caught up with Dymally.  Wright's up 43-35 with 81% in.

AD-08: It's within 700 votes between Yamada and Cabaldon with 83% in.

AD-10 has been called for Alyson Huber.

AD-14 has been called for Nancy Skinner.

AD-15 has been called for Joan Buchanan, and it's a 3-way split on the GOP side.  I feel good about this race.

AD-19: Jerry Hill has taken the lead over Gina Papan by around 400 votes with 76%.

AD-27 has been called for Bill Monning.

AD-37 has been called for Ferial Masry.

AD-40 has been called for Bob Blumenfield and his awesome dad-funded independent expenditure campaign.

AD-46 has been called for John Perez.

AD-78: Marty Block is up by about 500 votes with 46% in.

AD-80: Manuel Perez has taken the lead, up by about 500 votes with 85% in.

In the LA County Board of Supervisors race, Mark Ridley-Thomas is up 46-39 with most of the votes in.  But this was an open primary, so there will be a runoff with Bernard Parks.

It looks like Kevin Johnson and Heather Fargo will go to a runoff in Sacramento's Mayor race, too.

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

SD-03: With 9% in, Nation 38, Leno 35, Migden 27.

SD-05: Lois Wolk has been declared the winner by the AP.

SD-09: Very early but Loni Hancock is up 71-29.

SD-19: Hannah-Beth Jackson and Tony Strickland are both running unopposed, but right now Strickland only has 2,500 more votes.  That should bear watching.

SD-23: Pavley up 61-39 on Lloyd Levine.

SD-25: Dymally up 46-33 on Rod Wright.

SD-33: Mimi Walters has been declared the winner.  She'll face Ellinoiranne's husband Gary Pritchard.

AD-08: Mariko Yamada and Chris Cabaldon in a 51-49 dogfight.

AD-10: Alyson Huber up 65-35 with 43% in.  She'll take this.

AD-14: Nancy Skinner is up but it's early.

AD-15: Joan Buchanan is up 66-34, and on the GOP side it's a crapshoot.

AD-19: Gina Papan by about 200 votes right now.

AD-27: Bill Monning is leading but very early.

AD-37: Ferial Masry up 64-36 with just 1% in.

AD-40: Bob Blumenfield up 45-25-23 over Healey and Waldman.

More in a bit.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Loni Hancock
Member of the California State Assembly

I want to thank all of you for helping me run a positive grassroots campaign, talking with voters about my legislative record and the many issues facing our state. Today is Election Day and I need your help one more time. Please vote today, June 3rd.

In my five years in the California Assembly, I've written and co-authored 592 bills to improve the lives of Californians. I have proven myself to be an effective regional leader who addresses real concerns in the communities I represent. One example of this is my response to the recent Cosco Busan Oil Spill. As Chair of the Natural Resources Committee, I held a hearing within a week of the disastrous spill to carefully evaluate the government's response. In the aftermath of the hearing, together with other Assembly members who represent districts surrounding the San Francisco Bay, we introduced a package of bills to prevent future spills and to ensure more effective responses to any environmental threat to the Bay. More than 1,000 volunteers offered to help clean up the Bay in the aftermath of the spill, but emergency responders had to turn them away because they were not properly trained.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Patricia Castellanos & Doug Bloch
Coalition for Clean & Safe Ports

Yesterday, we wrote about a bold environmental initiative adopted by the Port of Los Angeles that has both blue and green progressives cheering along with leading Democrats. The new policy will end third-world wages for thousands of truckers and pave the way for a world-class port equipped to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton came on board with strong letters of support to California’s port city mayors. Senator Barbara Boxer praised Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for his leadership and determination on the policy. LA City Councilwoman Janice Hahn refused to let any “green-washing” stand in the way of truly sustainable relief for Southern Californians.

Now Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has taken her endorsement of the Los Angeles Clean Trucks Program straight to the Federal Maritime Commission, urging the agency to prevent a few industry obstructionists from ruining clean air for everyone. The Speaker of the House called the solution “critical” to overcome environmental legal challenges to “move forward with long-delayed infrastructure projects to improve capacity.”