Here it is, our 7000th Diary. Wow!  So, Open thread time:

• Joan Buchanan (AD-15) has a TV ad. Check it out:

• Shockingly, Tony Strickland is getting dirty in SD-19 against Hannah-Beth Jackson.  He put out a mailer against Hannah-Beth’s non-existent negative mailers saying he doesn’t care.  Put this together with his massive tobacco and oil company donations, and the push polls he has been doing, and you have one of the more disgusting campaigns we’ve seen for a while. He should be ashamed of the crap that’s coming out of his campaign, but what do you expect from the former California director of Club for Growth?

• UC is asking for money from the tree-sitters, up to $10K per tree-sitter. Ouch, all that for taking down some, ahem, “wastebaskets”?

• Dan Walters writes today about the prison crisis, which is not improving magically through lawmakers’ collective decision to ignore it.  J. Clark Kelso is extremely likely, in my opinion, to get the $8 billion he’s seeking from a judge to fix the prison healthcare system, so just tack that on to next year’s budget.

• Late Friday, unemployment statistics for August were released, and we’re up to 7.7%, the third-highest in the nation (only Rhode Island and Michigan are worse).  That’s over two percentage points up from just a year ago.

• Karl Rove is coming to San Bernardino to headline a fundraiser with the local GOP.  This is kind of perfect, since the San Bernardino Republican Party is kind of a criminal enterprise in its own right, too.

• Hey, big news from Gray Davis: he doesn’t like the recall process! But, seriously, he makes decent points about good governance, which this state seems to think is a quaint process.

Here is Part 3, the last part of my analysis of this fall’s elections in California, which will cover the races for the U.S. House, State Senate, and State Assembly seats in Southern California, and summarize which races we need to win.

Here is Part 1, which covered the presidential race and the 12 ballot measures: https://calitics.com/showDiary….

Here is Part 2, which covered the U.S. House, State Senate, and State Assembly races in Northern and Central California: https://calitics.com/showDiary….

Cross-posted at Swing State Project: http://www.swingstateproject.c…

Incumbents are in boldface. In the case of open seats, the party of the retiring incumbent is listed first without boldface.

U.S. House (Composition: 34 Democrats, 19 Republicans)

CA-22 (Bakersfield): McCarthy (R) – unopposed

CA-23 (Southern Central Coast): Capps (D)

CA-24 (Inner Santa Barbara/Ventura): Gallegly (R)

CA-25 (Palmdale, Big Empty): McKeon (R)

CA-27 (Western San Fernando Valley): Sherman (D)

CA-28 (Eastern San Fernando Valley): Berman (D) – unopposed

CA-29 (Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena): Schiff (D)

CA-30 (Malibu, Beverly Hills): Waxman (D) – only faces a write-in candidate

CA-31 (Hollywood): Becerra (D) – unopposed

CA-32 (Covina, Baldwin Park): Solis (D) – unopposed

CA-33 (Culver City): Watson (D)

CA-34 (Downtown L.A.): Roybal-Allard (D)

CA-35 (South Central): Waters (D)

CA-36 (Beach Cities): Harman (D)

CA-37 (South Central, Long Beach): Richardson (D) – opposed only by minor party candidates

CA-38 (Southeastern L.A. suburbs): Napolitano (D) – opposed only by a Libertarian

CA-39 (Southeastern L.A. County): Linda Sánchez (D)

CA-40 (Northern Orange County): Royce (R)

CA-43 (Ontario, San Bernardino): Baca (D)

CA-47 (Anaheim, Santa Ana): Loretta Sanchez (D)

CA-48 (Central Orange County, including Irvine): Campbell (R)

CA-49 (Temecula, Oceanside): Issa (R)

CA-51 (Imperial County, southern SD suburbs): Filner (D)

CA-53 (San Diego): Davis (D)

Races to watch:

CA-26 (Northeastern L.A. suburbs): David Dreier (R) vs. Russ Warner (D), Ted Brown (L)

Registration: R+7.73%

Profile: This is my home turf, in the northeastern L.A. suburbs. It was drawn to be red, but has been purpling recently, with a Cook PVI of only R+4. Warner is a tough challenger, though he’s at a huge cash disadvantage, 40:1 last I checked.

09/19/2008 Outlook: Likely Dreier

CA-41 (Most of San Bernardino County): Jerry Lewis (R) vs. Tim Prince (D)

Registration: R+11.96%

Profile: While it’s unlikely this district will flip, it will be interesting to see how Prince’s challenges on Lewis’s dealings with earmarks will go. I noticed this district now has a 3-star rating on DC Political Report, meaning this race will be mildly entertaining.

09/19/2008 Outlook: Strong Lewis

CA-42 (Chino, Brea): Gary Miller (R) vs. Edwin Chau (D)

Registration: R+18.28%

Profile: Here is another solidly Republican district with a Republican incumbent that could get into hot water over corruption, in this case steering funds toward an OC tollway ( http://downwithtyranny.blogspo… ), and this race has a 3-star rating on DC Political also.

09/19/2008 Outlook: Strong Miller

CA-44 (Riverside, Corona, San Clemente): Ken Calvert (R) vs. Bill Hedrick (D)

Registration: R+10.89%

Profile: I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but here we go again: strong GOP district, GOP incumbent possibly in trouble over earmarks ( http://www.politickerca.com/al… ). Hedrick’s only real problem is money.

09/19/2008 Outlook: Strong Calvert

CA-45 (Most of Riverside County): Mary Bono Mack (R) vs. Julie Bornstein (D)

Registration: R+5.80%

Profile: While Bono Mack has seen this challenge coming, significantly outraising Bornstein, we still have a shot here from increased Latino turnout in the Coachella Valley and the highly contested AD-80 race, since that district partially overlaps this one.

9/19/2008 Outlook: Strong Bono Mack

CA-46 (Costa Mesa, Palos Verdes, Avalon): Dana Rohrabacher (R) vs. Debbie Cook (D), Ernst Gasteiger (L), Tom Lash (G)

Registration: R+13.65%

Profile: Here we are in yet another strongly Republican district, only here we have a strong Democratic challenger in Huntington Beach mayor Debbie Cook. Some pundits are finally getting around to looking at this race, with Charlie Cook now rating it “Likely Republican” ( http://www.dailykos.com/story/… ), ( http://www.politickerca.com/al… ) and DC Political giving it a 4-star rating, meaning there is going to be considerable entertainment in this race. Here are a couple of totally awesome interviews with Mayor Cook, at Open Left ( http://openleft.com/showDiary…. ) and TPM ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v… ).

09/19/2008 Outlook: Likely Rohrabacher

CA-50 (Northern San Diego suburbs): Brian Bilbray (R) vs. Nick Leibham (D), Wayne Dunlap (L)

Registration: R+11.23%

Profile: Here’s the old seat of the corrupt Uncle Duke, now held by his protégé Bilbray. The DCCC has targeted this race ( http://www.dccc.org/page/conte… ), and Leibham has been visible. If he can strongly articulate an agenda, then we will have ourselves a race here.

09/19/2008 Outlook: Likely Bilbray

CA-52 (Eastern San Diego suburbs): Duncan D. Hunter (R) vs. Mike Lumpkin (D), Michael Benoit (L) – vacated by Duncan Hunter (R)

Registration: R+13.39%

Profile: Lumpkin is a great challenger from what I heard ( https://calitics.com/showDi… ), though we still have a battle on our hands, since most voters that pulled the lever for Hunter in the primary thought they were voting for his retiring father and Lumpkin will need more cash here.

09/19/2008 Outlook: Strong Hunter

STATE SENATE (District size: ~846,791) (Composition: 25 Democrats, 15 Republicans)

Safe:

SD-17 (High Desert): George Runner (R)

SD-21 (Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena): Carol Liu (D) – vacated by Jack Scott (D)

SD-23 (West Side L.A., Oxnard): Fran Pavley (D) – vacated by Sheila Kuehl (D)

SD-25 (South Central, Palos Verdes): Roderick Wright (D) – vacated by Edward Vincent (D)

SD-27 (Long Beach, Avalon): Alan Lowenthal (D)

SD-29 (Eastern L.A. suburbs): Bob Huff (R) – vacated by Bob Margett (R)

SD-31 (Inland Empire, Riverside): Robert Dutton (R)

SD-33 (Most of inland Orange County): Mimi Walters (R) – vacated by Dick Ackerman (R)

SD-35 (Coastal Orange County): Tom Harman (R)

SD-37 (Most of Riverside County): John Benoit (R) – vacated by Jim Battin (R)

SD-39 (San Diego): Christine Kehoe (D)

District to watch:

SD-19 (Southern Central Coast, western L.A. suburbs): Tony Strickland (R) vs. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D) – vacated by Tom McClintock (R)

Registration: R+1.96%

Profile: Here is McClintock’s district, which we have a very good chance of picking up, with Ventura County recently obtaining a Democratic advantage in registration and with Jackson maintaining high visibility throughout the district ( http://tinyurl.com/6ehde6 ).

09/19/2008 Outlook: Toss-up

STATE ASSEMBLY (District size: ~423,388) (Composition: 48 Democrats, 32 Republicans)

Safe:

AD-35 (Santa Barbara, Oxnard): Pedro Nava (D)

AD-38 (Santa Clarita): Cameron Smyth (R)

AD-39 (San Fernando): Felipe Fuentes (D)

AD-40 (San Fernando Valley, including Van Nuys): Bob Blumenfield (D) – vacated by Lloyd Levine (D)

AD-41 (Oxnard, Malibu, Santa Monica): Julia Brownley (D)

AD-42 (Beverly Hills, West Hollywood): Michael Feuer (D)

AD-43 (Burbank, Glendale): Paul Krekorian (D)

AD-44 (Pasadena): Anthony Portantino (D)

AD-45 (East L.A.): Kevin de León (D)

AD-46 (East L.A., Huntington Park): John Pérez (D) – vacated by Fabian Núñez (D)

AD-47 (Culver City): Karen Bass (D)

AD-48 (Part of South Central L.A.): Mike Davis (D)

AD-49 (Inner Northeastern suburbs of L.A.): Mike Eng (D)

AD-50 (Bellflower): Hector De La Torre (D) – unopposed

AD-51 (Inglewood, Hawthorne): Curren Price (D)

AD-52 (Compton): Isadore Hall (D) – vacated by Mervyn Dymally (D)

AD-53 (Beach Cities): Ted Lieu (D)

AD-54 (Palos Verdes, Long Beach, Avalon): Bonnie Lowenthal (D) – vacated by Betty Karnette (D)

AD-55 (Carson, Long Beach): Warren Furutani (D)

AD-56 (Norwalk, Buena Park): Tony Mendoza (D)

AD-57 (Covina, Baldwin Park): Ed Hernandez (D)

AD-58 (Inner Eastern suburbs of L.A.): Charles Calderon (D)

AD-59 (Parts of L.A. and San Bernardino Counties): Anthony Adams (R)

AD-60 (Western Inland Empire): Curt Hagman (R) – vacated by Bob Huff (R)

AD-61 (Pomona, Ontario): Norma Torres (D) – vacated by Nell Soto (D)

AD-62 (San Bernardino, Fontana): Wilmer Carter (D) – unopposed

AD-63 (Northern and Eastern Inland Empire): Bill Emmerson (R)

AD-64 (Riverside, Palm Desert): Brian Nestande (R) – unopposed – vacated by John Benoit (R)

AD-65 (Yucca Valley, Big Bear): Paul Cook (R)

AD-66 (Temecula, Riverside): Kevin Jeffries (R)

AD-67 (Huntington Beach): Jim Silva (R)

AD-68 (Garden Grove, Costa Mesa): Van Tran (R)

AD-69 (Anaheim, Santa Ana): Jose Solorio (D)

AD-70 (Central Orange County): Chuck DeVore (R)

AD-71 (Corona, part of inland Orange County): Jeff Miller (R) – unopposed – vacated by Todd Spitzer (R)

AD-72 (Inland Northern Orange County): Michael Duvall (R)

AD-73 (San Clemente, Oceanside): Diane Harkey (R) – vacated by Mimi Walters (R)

AD-74 (Coastal Northern San Diego suburbs): Martin Garrick (R)

AD-75 (Inner Northern San Diego suburbs): Nathan Fletcher (R) – vacated by George Plescia (R)

AD-76 (Northern San Diego City): Lori Saldaña (D)

AD-77 (Most of inland San Diego County): Joel Anderson (R)

AD-79 (Southern San Diego City, Imperial Beach): Mary Salas (D)

Districts to watch:

AD-36 (Lancaster, Palmdale): Steve Knight (R) vs. Linda Jones (D) – vacated by Sharon Runner (R)

Registration: R+2.85%

Profile: While this is not a likely pickup, Jones may make this a race due to the shrinking Republican registration advantage.

9/19/2008 Outlook: Lean Knight

AD-37 (Most of Ventura, small part of L.A.): Audra Strickland (R) vs. Ferial Masry (D)

Registration: R+7.25%

Profile: This district partly overlaps SD-19 and in fact Audra Strickland is Tony Strickland’s wife (and they aren’t related to the governor of Ohio). If Hannah-Beth Jackson does well here, her GOTV efforts could spill over into this race.

9/19/2008 Outlook: Strong Strickland

AD-78 (Inner eastern suburbs of San Diego): John McCann (R) vs. Martin Block (D) – vacated by Shirley Horton (R)

Registration: D+10.48%

Profile: Block has the advantage in this race thanks to the D’s advantage in party registration.

09/19/2008 Outlook: Lean Block

AD-80 (Imperial County, eastern Riverside County): Gary Jeandron (R) vs. Manuel Perez (D) – vacated by Bonnie Garcia (R)

Registration: D+11.22%

Profile: Perez is doing very well here, and a recent poll gave him a double-digit lead. Hopefully his good performance here will spill over into CA-45, which partly overlaps this district.

09/19/2008 Outlook: Lean Perez

That’s it for all the California races. Now I will cover what we need to zero in on to win this fall, and also include how we should vote.

Ballot measures

High Priority

#1: Prop 1A: YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!

#2: Prop 6: NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!

#3: Prop 4: NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!

#4: Prop 8: NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!

#5: Prop 7: No

#6: Prop 10: No

Medium Priority

#7: Prop 2: Yes

#8: Prop 5: Undecided

#9: Prop 11: Leaning No

#10: Prop 9: No

Low Priority

#11: Prop 3: Yes

#12: Prop 12: Yes

Our priorities in the House

#1: CA-04

#2: CA-46

#3: CA-26

#4: CA-45

#5: CA-50

#6: CA-52

#7: CA-44

#8: CA-42

#9: CA-41

Our priorities in the Assembly

#1: AD-15

#2: AD-80

#3: AD-78

#4: AD-10

#5: AD-26

#6: AD-36

#7: AD-37

#8: AD-30

To summarize, if we keep CA-11 and win CA-04, we will have 35 Democrats and 18 Republicans in our House delegation. If we win SD-19, we will have 26 Democrats and 14 Republicans. If we win all the toss-up/Dem-leaning Assembly races, we will have 53 Democrats and 27 Republicans, just one short of 2/3. We’d need at least one of the 36th or 37th districts to get us there.

The California Target Book released its August “hot sheet” listing potential competitive seats throughout the state legislature.  Well, two can play at this game.  Here are the competitive seats as I see them and a little precis about them:

State Senate

1. SD-19.  Hannah-Beth Jackson (D) v. Tony Strickland (R).  Sadly, thanks to Don Perata’s bungling and undermining this is likely to be the only competitive race out of the 20 up for election in the state Senate.  The good news is that it would be an absolute sea change to replace Tom McClintock with a true progressive like Hannah-Beth Jackson.  With Ventura County’s registration flipping to Democrats over the past year, Ronald Reagan country is no longer solidly red.  Hannah-Beth has been actively courting voters at community events (there’s a BBQ in honor of the “Gap” firefighters on Sunday) and she’s wrapped up lots of endorsements.  With this being the only competitive race, expect it to be costly, as both sides throw millions into capturing the seat.  A win here would put us one seat away from a 2/3 majority in the Senate.

Assembly on the flip…

State Assembly

1. AD-80.  Manuel Perez (D) v. Gary Jeandron (R).  Perez appears to have the right profile for this plurality-Democratic seat currently held by the termed-out Bonnie Garcia.  The most recent poll showed him with a double-digit lead, and he’s consolidating his support by earning the endorsements of the local Stonewall Democratic Club and his primary rival Greg Pettis.  This race is looking strong, and hopefully the raising of performance among Hispanic voters will aid Julie Bornstein in her CA-45 race against Mary Bono.

2. AD-78.  Marty Block (D) vs. John McCann (R).  Block, a Board of Trustees member at San Diego Community College and former dean at San Diego State University, also has a favorable registration advantage in his race against Chula Vista Councilmember John McCann.  This should be a case of party ID sweeping in a lawmaker in a progressive wave thanks to increased turnout for the Presidential election.  Block needs to do his part, of course, in making the case that the 2/3 majority is vital for responsible governance.

3. AD-15.  Joan Buchanan (D) v. Abram Wilson (R).  After a bruising primary, San Ramon Mayor Wilson has barely survived to defend the seat held by Guy Houston against San Ramon Valley school board member Buchanan, who did not have a competitive primary.  She has outraised Wilson by almost 2 to 1 so far in the race and the registration numbers are about even.  I think we have a real chance here.

4. AD-30.  Fran Florez (D) v. Danny Gilmore (R).  This is currently a Democratic seat held by Yacht Dog Nicole Parra, who has practically endorsed the Republican Gilmore for the seat.  That’s unhelpful, but in a Democratic year Gilmore has an uphill climb.  The California Faculty Association has targeted Gilmore in their ads that campaign on the budget, and voters in the Central Valley are fleeing the GOP in droves.  Gilmore has a shot, but I think Florez is in a comfortable position.

5. AD-10.  Alyson Huber (D) vs. Jack Sieglock (R).  Huber, about to hold her campaign kick-off this weekend, is in a district that is rapidly changing.  Registration has shifted over 3% in just two years.  This is a race in the Sacramento area that Randy Bayne covers intently, and he’s fairly high on Huber.  Jack Sieglock is your basic Republican rubber stamp that puts “conservative Republican” in his title, and I’m not certain the district is still organized that way.  This race is also seeing ads from the California Faculty Association.

6: AD-26.  John Eisenhut (D) v. William Berryhill (R).  This is Greg Aghazarian’s old seat, also in northern California in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties.  Stanislaus recently flipped to Democrats, and Eisenhut, a local almond farmer, fits the profile of the district pretty well.  Berryhill, whose brother Tom is in the Assembly, is also a farmer, and is banking on the Berryhill name ID to win.  There’s a good synopsis of the race here.  Democrats actually have the registration edge in this district.

7. AD-36.  Linda Jones (D) v. Steve Knight (R). Linda is a teacher, school board member and former vocational nurse.  This is an outside shot, but I’m told that the Palmdale-area seat is turning around and may accept a Democrat this time around.

8. AD-59. Donald Williamson (D) v. Anthony Adams (R).  Adams is actually an incumbent, making this a more difficult battle.  But Bill Postmus’ explosion in San Bernardino county has soured the reputation of Republicans in the district, and Williamson, the San Bernardino County assessor, has a decent profile in the district.  This is certainly on the far outside edge of being competitive.

9. AD-37. Ferial Masry (D) v. Audra Strickland (R).  This is another Republican incumbent, and it’s in the same relative district as SD-19 – in fact, the Republicans in both races are Stricklands.  So maybe there will be a residual effect to Hannah-Beth Jackson’s efforts.  Masry, an Arab-American, has been getting good press in the district and definitely has an outside chance.

Tony Strickland has quite the history with the Club for Growth, a radical anti-government organization.  The Club has a history of challenging moderate Republicans in federal and state elections throughout the nation.  Strickland has been president of the California branch and is still fiercely loyal to the Club and its tactics.  Unsurprisingly there are some Republicans who are a little less than thrilled with their nominee.

So, in the wake of the threat-induced “Democrats for Dreier“, we have the “Moderate Republicans for Jackson.” Of course, Hannah-Beth didn’t use threats of withholding money from parts of the district to get these people to sign on to her campaign.  You can  check the details here. It lists some of their grievances with the former Assemblyman, beginning with the Club for Growth:

Moderate Republicans for Jackson was formed out of concern that Strickland is a man who is far removed from the beliefs and ethical standards held by the majority of people in our neighborhoods. Tony Strickland is an extremist. He was the founding president of the California Club for Growth, part of the ultra right-wing National Club for Growth which has made it a mission to destroy the political careers of moderate Republicans.

They go on to mention a laundry list of problems they have with Tony. From his accepting $85K in tobacco money for this campaign to his abysmal voting record on the environment.

Hannah-Beth Jackson has a long road until the general election, but this can’t hurt. You can find her on the Calitics ActBlue Page. Full release over the flip.

Moderate Republicans from the communities represented by State Senate District 19 have announced support for Democratic candidate Hannah-Beth Jackson in her race against Republican Tony Strickland. The group includes many prominent names in political circles including former State Senator Cathie Wright; former executive Director of the Ventura County Taxpayers Association Jere Robings; past Ventura County Republican Central Committee Chair Bob Larkin; retired Mayor of Moorpark John Lane; Judy Mikels, former Chairperson of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors; John Walker, President of the Ventura Unified School District Board of Education and Velma Lomax, Ventura Unified School District Board member.

Moderate Republicans for Jackson was formed out of concern that Strickland is a man who is far removed from the beliefs and ethical standards held by the majority of people in our neighborhoods. Tony Strickland is an extremist. He was the founding president of the California Club for Growth, part of the ultra right-wing National Club for Growth which has made it a mission to destroy the political careers of moderate Republicans.

The subject of numerous legal investigations into his campaign finances over the years, Strickland has also solicited nearly $85,000 in donations from tobacco companies and in the Assembly consistently sided with tobacco, oil, and gambling interests.

A career politician, he has opposed nearly every law established to protect our water, air, mountains and beaches. He has voted against legislation that protects the rights of consumers and the health of children, lowering prescription drug prices and capping electrical bills during the energy crisis.

As a former Deputy District Attorney prosecutor, Jackson has the solid backing of the majority of law enforcement officials in the district. As a family law attorney for 22 years with a practice employing as many as 15 people, she is the only candidate in the race who knows what it is like to run a small business, make a payroll and pay benefits.

As an Assembly member she authored more than 60 pieces of legislation to protect consumers, the environment, crime victims, women’s rights and children. She has written and passed legislation to keep prescription drug prices as low as possible, simplify payment of sales and use taxes by businesses, and issue tax credits for teachers. Constituent services are a very high priority for Jackson.

Hannah-Beth Jackson is someone we can trust. She listens to our concerns and wants to end the extreme partisan gridlock that has paralyzed our government. She has a proven track record and worked her entire life to make California a better place to live and work.

Here’s a story I’d like to see from top Democrats someday:

The California Republican Party poured $345,000 into Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian’s state Senate campaign last week, a sign that party leaders hope to make a run at the seat of termed-out Sen. Mike Machado, D-Linden.

The party followed up that donation by giving $595,000 to former Assemblyman Tony Strickland, the GOP nominee in another fall Senate campaign.

The races are the only two of the 20 Senate seats up for election in November where competition is expected.

By the Bee’s calculations, by the way, Aghazarian has a 9:1 fundraising advantage over our candidate, Lois Wolk.

Meanwhile, on our side, the lump-sum payments go… elsewhere.

If the apologists don’t see how bad this looks, I can draw them a map later.

[UPDATE by Brian]: Well, we can’t compete with these sums, but how about we throw a little love towards our two candidates in these districts. Both Hannah-Beth Jackson and Lois Wolk are strong progressives and would make excellent Senators. So, let’s Pick up the slack at ActBlue.

HANNAH BETH JACKSON STATEMENT ON ATTACK OF PROTESTERS

Tuesday, June 20, 2008

On Tuesday, June 17th, a state employee on Assemblymember Audra Strickland’s staff Joel Angeles attacked several participants of a protest of candidate Tony Strickland’s acceptance of massive contributions from the tobacco lobby.  Mr. Angeles’ attack was provoked only by the protesters’ desire to exercise their first amendment rights.  

Had Joel Angeles been my employee he would have been fired on the spot.  There is no justification for anyone, let alone a state employee, to deprive anyone of their free speech rights.   A public employee on the staff of an elected representative is committed to protect the constitution on behalf of his employer, the State of California. Assemblymember Strickland has apparently suspended Mr. Angeles for a month.  It is incomprehensible that someone with such a long history of service with Audra and Tony Strickland as Mr. Angeles would not understand the public’s basic constitutional rights and the responsibilities of a public official.  Audra and Tony Strickland should ensure that he has no future role in fulfilling their public responsibilities or campaigning for public office.

I have asked everyone associated with my campaign to respect our opponent’s right to express their views, and believe that the public has the right to a full debate on the issues that face us in this election.  The choice of who will represent the 19th Senate District next year is far too important to allow bullying or intimidation to disrupt the process.

— Hannah-Beth Jackson, June 20th, 2008

Jackson for Senate

Ventura County Star on Suspension of Strickland Staffer

Hannah-Beth Jackson served in the California State Assembly from 1998-2004 during which time she authored over 60 pieces of legislation that were signed into law by both Republican and Democratic governors, improving public education, increasing public safety, improving access to health care, protecting the environment as well as protecting the rights of consumers.   She is the Democratic Party nominee to replace term-limited State Senator Tom McClintock in an open seat in the 19th Senate District, which includes large parts of Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, and a small portion of Los Angeles County, and cities of Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Santa Clarita, Camarillo, Moorpark, Lompoc, Ojai and many others.  

— END  –

(Starting in just one minute… – promoted by Lucas O’Connor)

We weren’t able to arrange everything for our Monday 3:30 time slot, but today, in addition to a wrap-up of the June 3 election, we’ll have an interview with Hannah-Beth Jackson, Democratic Nominee for the 19th State Senate District. We recorded the interview this morning, and let’s just say she’ll make a great Senator. The show will air today (6/10) at 3:30. You can listen live at the homepage, check it out later, or download it at iTunes.

In other news from this race, the Ventura County Star did a report on Sunday about who is funding the Ventura County GOP. You’ll find some unsurprising answers:

The nation’s largest tobacco company has donated $50,000 to the Ventura County Republican Central Committee as the local party gears up to help GOP candidate Tony Strickland in what is expected to be a multimillion-dollar campaign this fall in the 19th Senate District.

*       *          *

The contribution accounts for 88 percent of the $56,800 the county party had raised this year through the most recent reporting period. … The $50,000 contribution came from the Altria Group, parent company of Philip Morris USA, which makes half the cigarettes sold in the United States. Osborn said he has no concerns about accepting such a large sum from the tobacco industry.

No concerns? Really? You can find Hannah-Beth on the Calitics ActBlue page.  

Big tobacco is pouring money into the crucial California Senate  District 19 race!  See: Tobacco firm funds county GOP : Local News : Ventura County Star,

The nation’s largest tobacco company has donated $50,000 to the Ventura County Republican Central Committee as the local party gears up to help GOP candidate Tony Strickland in what is expected to be a multimillion-dollar campaign this fall in the 19th Senate District.

[. . .] “There’s an alarming trend of the tobacco industry increasing its influence by ramping up its political contributions,” said Jim Knox, vice president of the American Cancer Society Action Network.

Knox noted the tobacco industry played “a major role in killing healthcare reform in California last year. They don’t issue press releases, they don’t testify at hearings, but they’re hard at work in the halls of the Capitol.”

Senate District 19 is the potential “flip” seat in the senate.  If Hannah-Beth Jackson wins it could mean the vote that lets Democrats finally pass budgets.

So why is tobacco interested in keeping Republican ability to block budgets?  Why did they fight to block health care reform?

Part of the financing of the healthcare plan was to have been a $1.75 per-pack tax increase on cigarettes.

Please go read the rest of the article if you care about health and politics – and the health of politics – in California.

Disclaimer – I do some work for Speak Out California, which was founded by Hannah-Beth Jackson, but this post comes from my own concern over this and is not related to that work.