California: Danny Gilmore

Mon, 12/08/2008 - 20:23

Legislators meet in rare joint convention of Assembly, Senate

California's dire budget situation prompted a largely unprecedented response Monday, with both chambers of the state legislature meeting together to question a panel of state financial experts on how to fix what appear to be ongoing budget deficits.

Most of the state's 40 state Senators and 80 state Assembly members gathered in Assembly chambers in a joint convention that's usually reserved for visits from heads of state.

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Mon, 12/01/2008 - 22:05

Legislators optimistic as state budget woes loom over swearing-in

STATE CAPITOL - For at least a few hours, Republicans and Democrats alike exchanged well wishes and paused to acknowledge the significance of elected office, with swearing-in ceremonies in both the state Senate and Assembly chambers Monday.

Before the formal swearing in of 24 new Assembly members and 11 new state Senators, family members and friends crowded the chamber floors, while the new and returning politicians made acquaintances with fellows on both sides of the aisle.

Tue, 11/25/2008 - 23:54

AD-30 race between Florez and Gilmore back on "close races" list

The 30th Assembly District race between Republican Danny Gilmore and Democrat Fran Florez moved back into the "close races" category on the California Secretary of State's Web site Tuesday, with Gilmore leading Florez by 883 votes.

That gave Gilmore, from Hanford, a vote percentage of 50.6 percent, to 49.4 percent for Florez, the mayor of Shafter.

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Fri, 11/14/2008 - 19:49

Huber narrows gap in AD 10, AD 30 widens for Republican Gilmore

A Democratic candidate narrowed the gap a bit in Assembly District 10 Friday, but another one in AD 30 slipped further behind and had her race dropped from the Secretary of State's close races watch.

In AD 10, Alyson Huber, an attorney from El Dorado Hills, trailed Lodi Republican Jack Sieglock by 506 votes on Friday evening, with 46.4 percent of the vote to 46.8 percent for Sieglock.

Thousands of ballots remain to be counted in that race, particularly from the Sacramento County base for Huber and the San Joaquin County base for Sieglock.

Thu, 11/13/2008 - 19:54

AD 10 race still undecided, AD 30 race now 50-49

The 10th Assembly District race between Jack Sieglock and Alyson Huber moved in the Republican's favor Thursday, with Sieglock moving to a 943-vote lead over Huber, a Democrat from El Dorado Hills.

Sieglock, from Lodi, had 76,267 votes for 46.9 percent of the vote, to 75,324 and 46.3 percent for Huber.

Meanwhile, another Assembly race moved onto the California Secretary of State's "Close Races" watch, with Democrat Fran Florez now within less than 1,500 votes of overtaking Republican Danny Gilmore in the 30th Assembly District.

Wed, 11/12/2008 - 13:46

Poizner gets more GOP backing for 2010 gubernatorial run

Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner got the backing Wednesday of several newly elected legislative Republicans in his bid for governor in 2010, giving him a majority of the GOP lawmakers serving in the next two years overall.

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Thu, 11/06/2008 - 19:40

Villines says caucus will hold on taxes, CA GOP was lucky Tuesday

STATE CAPITOL - Republican Assembly Leader Mike Villines (R-Clovis) said his caucus won't support any new taxes as a solution to the $11.2 billion budget deficit being discussed in a special session, and that the GOP feels fortunate to have done as well as they did in the Assembly on Election Night.

At a press conference Thursday, Villines said suffering a net loss of only two seats is better than could be expected when measured against how well Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama did in California as a whole.

Mon, 11/03/2008 - 18:31

FPPC says IE spending topped $22 million this year

The most recent spate of independent expenditures in state legislative races pushed the total over $10 million for the general election, according to the state's Fair Political Practices Commission.

That's in addition to $12 million spent in the primary election earlier this year. Six races, including three Assembly races in Northern California, each had more than $1 million in independent expenditures this fall.

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Sat, 11/01/2008 - 16:04

Assembly District 15 sees more IEs as race heads to finish

Independent expenditure groups ramped up their spending in Assembly District 15 this week, trying to tip what's expected to be a close contest between Democrat Joan Buchanan and Republican Abram Wilson.

On Wednesday, Opportunity PAC spent $16,000 on door hangers to support Buchanan, adding to their election campaign total of $541,775, the largest of any IEC in an Assembly race this fall.

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Fri, 10/31/2008 - 18:38

Democrats narrow registration gap in some races before Nov. 4

Final registration numbers for the Nov. 4 election show that Democrats narrowed the lead Republicans had in some contested Northern California districts, but none of those districts outright flipped from one party to another in the last weeks of the race.

In the 4th Congressional District, Democratic registration was nearly unchanged from the 60-day election report, with just over 31 percent. Republican registration dropped from 40 percent to 39.8 percent, while decline-to-state voters - which rose in most districts - went from 17.8 percent to 18.4 percent.