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Democrat Sara Orozco, a Needham psychologist and small business owner, launched her campaign to unseat state Sara Orozco (D-Needham)Sen. Scott Brown (R-Wrentham) at two campaign events this weekend, promising to address important issues facing Massachusetts.

"Individuals alone can't fix a sagging economy, out-of-control health care costs, or the need for better access to higher education," Orozco said at events at the Needham Town Common and at the Seven Arrows Farm in Attleboro. "But our state government can - and must - create a strong foundation upon which our public systems are built."

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Juan MelliThe Observer Media Group has announced that Juan Melli will join Politicker.com next week as the Associate Editor. Melli founded the New Jersey-based political blog BlueJersey.com in 2005 and has since served as publisher and managing editor. He is completing a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Princeton University. Melli will no longer write for BlueJersey.com.

Earlier this month, Justine Lam, the eCampaign Director of the Ron Paul presidential campaign, joined Politicker.com as Director of Online Marketing. She is a graduate of University of California, Berkeley, and was recently named by Politics magazine as a “rising star.” more >

HARRISBURG -- State Rep. Ron Buxton (D-Dauphin County) offered a rare glimmer of optimism about the state budget Tuesday afternoon when he said he's seen indications it will be passed by June 30.

"All signals point to we might get a budget on time to prevent state furloughs," he said at a lawmaker rally in the Capitol to show support for state workers.

His remarks differ starkly from the general feeling in the Capitol, where many observers have said this year's budget could be worse than last year's. The Legislature and Gov. Ed Rendell (D) didn't resolve budget negotiations last year until weeks after the June 30 deadline.

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One week before the deadline set forth by the Arizona constitution, Arizona House Speaker Jim Weiers (R-Phoenix) announced that Republicans will be sending a budget package to committee on Wednesday. The announcement comes after months of wrangling between Democrats, led by Gov. Janet Napolitano, and the Republican-controlled Legislature over what adjustments would be needed to plug the nearly $2 billion gap the state government faces in the coming fiscal year.

The proposal includes over $500 million in lump sum state agency reductions and $500 million for new schools to be procured through bonding. The remaining $1 billion or so would be made up through delaying some building repairs and shifting funds from elsewhere into the general fund.

Weiers said the budget proposal represents "exactly what the state of Arizona is looking for," saying the plan works without burdening "future generations" of Arizonans.

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Oakland City Hall watchers are in full "wait and see" mode this morning wondering whether embattled City Administrator Deborah Edgerly will continue to have her job at the end of the day.

Following a June 7 incident where she allegedly interfered with Oakland Police during a gang sweep that involved her nephew, Mayor Ron Dellums supposedly gave Edgerly the options of resigning, retiring or being fired by today.

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Harrisburg continues to be embroiled in a dispute over redistricting reform after Gov. Ed Rendell recently urged lawmakers to reconsider recently tabled legislation that would fix how Pennsylvania's congressional districts are drawn.

Adding to the long-running drama, Rendell, a Democrat, wrote to the chairs of the House and Senate's State Government committees last week, imploring them to address the chronic problem of gerrymandering -- carving up districts to the advantage of incumbents and majority parties -- before the 2010 census. Pennsylvania is the second-most gerrymandered state in the country, according to the League of Women Voters.

"The Commonwealth's existing redistricting process undermines democracy by institutionalizing a powerful system of incumbent protection," Rendell wrote in a letter to state Sens. Anthony H. Williams (D-Philadelphia) and Jeffrey Piccola (R-Dauphin), and Reps. Babette Josephs (D-Philadelphia) and Mathew E. Baker (R-Bradford). "For every vote to truly count, we must have competitive elections where voters have the opportunity to choose between viable candidates. I am convinced that the only way to ensure meaningful elections is to take politics out of the process of drawing legislative boundaries.

"This issue is neither arcane nor academic; how we draw legislative boundaries impacts the daily lives of Pennsylvanians because competitive elections in rationally drawn districts are the only way that voters can make their voices heard on the issues that matter to them," he added.

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Assemblyman David Bobzien (D-Reno).LAS VEGAS - While some are reluctant to characterize Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons' motives behind calling a special session of the Nevada legislature Friday, some Democratic legislators believe Gibbons is only calling it to distract media attention from bad publicity surrounding his divorce.

Gibbons' divorce from first lady Dawn Gibbons has made national press recently with stories of an alleged mistress and Gibbons' text messages to her filling headlines.  Gibbons apologized Wednesday for using a state-owned cell phone to send more than 860 text messages in one month last year to the alleged mistress.

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MITCHELLVILLE-U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Mechanicsville) told PolitickerMD.com Friday that he "absolutely" expects Democrats will unite behind the presidential candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

"The primary, to some degree, appeared to be tougher than it was," Hoyer said of the contest between Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.).

He explained that African-Americans are the "most loyal" Democratic voting bloc, and referred to women as the "largest" base for the Democrats "in terms of votes."

Hoyer said he was confident that white-collar workers, women, and seniors who supported Clinton would quickly see the "stark differences" between Obama and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), and boldly predicted that "95 percent" of Clinton's supporters will back Obama.

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Nevada Senate Minority Leader Steven Horsford (D-Las Vegas).: Horsford said Friday that the governor's call for a special session was an unnecessary 'political maneuver.'LAS VEGAS - Following Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons' surprise announcement Friday that he would call for a special session of the state legislature to address Nevada's budget crisis, state Republicans swung into line behind the governor in arguing that choices are limited between either deferring state employees' cost-of-living allowance increases or laying off workers.

Nevada Democrats and labor unions condemned the call, however, saying a special session is not necessary and disputing the need for a COLA deferment.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio (R-Reno) led the way in supporting the governor, first suggesting the COLA deferment in the governor's release Friday morning.

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SPOKANE - 

The Democratic Party's Executive Board met this morning and endorsed Randy Dorn for Superintendent of Public Instruction.

PolitickerWA.com caught up with Dorn for a comment on the news.

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