A Democratic news and opinion website has asserted that state Republicans have pulled the plug on Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian's (R-Stockton) campaign for the 5th State Senate District seat.

In a posting on the California Majority Report website Wednesday, editor Donald Lathbury said both Democratic and Republican sources confirmed that the GOP has abandoned the race because Assembly member Lois Wolk  (D-Davis) is so far ahead in internal polls.

The race to replace termed out state Sen. Mike Machado (D-Linden) is considered the best chance Republicans have to pick up a seat in the state Senate, where Democrats are three shy of a two-thirds majority.

Lathbury's posting said state Republicans decided to pull future ads for Aghazarian, and that Democrats are now focusing their efforts on winning Senate District 19 in Southern California, where Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) is termed out.

Kevin Spillane, a spokesman for Aghazarian's campaign, said the posting had to be considered in light of the site, which is stridently pro-Democrat.

"It's spin for an outlet for partisan flaks," Spillane said. "The ads are still running, and you can still see them."

Spillane said Aghazarian's fundraising has remained strong and ongoing, and said Aghazarian has raised more money than Wolk over the entire race.

Tom Higgins, Wolk's campaign manager, said it may be that Republicans have chosen not to buy television ads for Aghazarian over the next week, and that prompted Lathbury's post.

"But if I'm playing devil's advocate with myself, maybe they go dark next week and come back full guns for the last weeks," Higgins said.

If Republicans have given up on the race, Higgins said, he believes it's because while Wolk has made inroads in the southern part of the district where Aghazarian is from, he hasn't been able to do the same in Wolk's base in Yolo and Solano counties.

Higgins added: "I don't pretend to know what Greg is planning in the last two weeks."