by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Last week I wrote a post about SB 1096, a bill to allow pharmacies to sell prescription data. Apparently that post got some attention, partially for my rather crass snark, but also for the subject of the bill.  One particular response was noteworthy. I publish the following email with permission of the author; the phone number is for the main line at Calderon's Sacramento office.

Brian,

You should go back to public policy school and learn how to read a bill. You apparently don’t know how to or are too lazy. If you had bothered to do that, rather than taking the word of others who haven’t read the bill either, you’d have known how inaccurate your misinformed little column is. And accuracy should be important, even for bloggers. If you would like to discuss you can reach me at (916) 651-4030.

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[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Lost in the Sturm und Drang surrounding the Migden-Leno-Nation showdown was the resounding success for Senate Democrats of a carefully-orchestrated series of political chess moves across Los Angeles County.
 
It’s probably the worst-kept secret in Sacramento that the Senate leadership, led by Senate President Don Perata, aggressively supported Rod Wright’s successful bid for Ed Vincent’s seat in SD-25. Less well known are the domino falls which preceded it.
 
First, it was hardly an accident that Mark Ridley-Thomas, who succeeded Rod Wright in the Assembly’s 48th District, was able to clear the field when he ran in 2006 for SD-25. Sure, MRT enjoyed a formidable reputation for community leadership after his high-profile founding of Empowerment Congress and head-to-head polls conducted in 2005 reflected that: he held a sizable double-digit lead in every prospective match-up against Wright. But fast forward and the same could be said of Wright’s prospective match-up against Dymally this year. To wit, early polling showed him running 30 points behind the venerable Dymally. And, yet, Wright agreed to withdraw from the race for his home Senate district in 2006 and instead focus on the even-tougher neighboring SD-26 in 2008.

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[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.

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by Donald Lathbury [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

When former Assemblymember Joe Nation hastily entered the Senate District 3 primary back in February, he acknowledged that "it's late to be getting in in some respects," and the race "will be a sprint." Scrambling together a last minute campaign is no doubt tough work, and it's not surprising to see short cuts taken. But when those short cuts seem to include secretive violations of state residency requirements, in a region with a torrid history of residency violations, voters should be concerned. 

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Dennis Morris, a lawyer and small business owner, is running as a write-in candidate for the Democratic primary in Senate District 15. To avoid any risk of accountability in the general election, incumbent Republican Senator Abel Maldonado is also running as a write-in candidate for the Democratic primary in Senate District 15. If Maldonado secures more write-ins than Morris, then Maldonado will have effectively removed all Democratic opposition to his reelection in a very Democratic year in a somewhat Democratic district. If you think California's 15th Senate District deserves a choice in who represents them this November, first, visit the Monterey County Democrats for more information on the race. Then, read this letter from Dean Morris provided by our friends at Calitics:

by Be_Devine [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

The race in Senate District Three is essentially between Mark Leno and Joe Nation.  Mark Leno is the proven progressive.  Joe Nation is pretending to be a progressive in order to skate through to victory.  His true stripes, however, are unquestionably pro-corporate.  In case there was any doubt that Joe Nation is in the pocket of big business and will quickly drop his progressive charade if elected, the recent expenditures for his campaign put those doubts to rest.

The anti-consumer, “tort reform” group Civil Justice Association of California recently spent $240,000 sending out mailers for Joe Nation. A group like this does not spend a quarter million on a politician without expecting something in return. What does this anti-consumer organization expect in return?  You need look no further than their own description: "Industry-sponsored California group, advocating legal reforms to restrict tort recovery."

Put simply, groups like this want politicians to put business rights ahead of consumer rights.  They want to erase or water down all of California's laws that protect injured consumers and introduce new laws that protect businesses at the expense of taxpayers and consumers.