Around 40% of registrations came online since September 17, 2012 kickoff of online registration

by Brian Leubitz

The elections carousel keeps on chugging around, as two more districts follow up from LA City Council elections. The two districts in play are AD-45, where a huge crowd of candidates seeks to replace Bob Blumenfield, and SD-26, where Holly Mitchell and Mervin Evans are looking to replace Curren Price.

In AD-45, the race will likely go to another round, as seven Democrats, three Republicans, and 1 NPP are vying for the race. The district is heavily Democratic, so the risk of having one of those strange upset races because of too many candidates in one party shouldn’t be that high. I mentioned the race a while back, but with as many variables in play, who knows what will happen. However, it appears that Damian Carroll and Matt Dababneh are the two strongest progressive Democrats.

Meanwhile in SD-26 (soon to be SD-30), Asm. Holly Mitchell is looking to move down the hall to the Senate, and is the strong frontrunner.

It is appropriate that voters should be going to the polls as we approach the anniversary of the online voter registration. In the 12 months since Secretary of State Debra Bowen launched the online voter registration application on September 19, 2012, more than 911,145 Californians have registered for the first time or updated their voter record using this online system.

“The Internet replaced the mailbox for about 4 out of every 10 people who registered or updated their voter record since California began offering online voter registration last year,” said Secretary of State Debra Bowen, California’s chief elections official. “Registering to vote has never been easier and with the many options available, there are no excuses not to.”

You can register to vote at registertovote.ca.gov/.

Special Election for heavily Democratic district draws many candidates

by Brian Leubitz

In a free for all electoral scrum, you never know who is going to come out with the ball. That’s the case with AD-45, where Los Angeles voters will go to the polls in a Sept. 17 election to replace Bob Blumenfield.  The lines are not splitting very cleanly, as the two frontrunners, Damian Carroll and Matt Dababneh split the two biggest endorsements so far:

Over the weekend, the state Democratic Party endorsed Matt Dababneh, district director to Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks. But earlier, the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley decided to endorse Damian Carroll, who worked for three years as district director for Councilman Paul Krekorian. (LADN)

Now, much of these endorsements comes down to packing the respective organizations, and to a lesser degree grassroots organization. The latter tends to show up more on election night, though. Expect a run-off to ultimately decide this one though.

It appears that Gil Cedillo has decided to forgo his well thought out scheme to seek his final two years in the Assembly by challenging Speaker John Perez in AD-46, and will instead run for Kevin De Leon’s open seat in AD-45. I just got a notification 5 minutes ago on Facebook that the group “Gil Cedillo for Congress” has changed its name to “Gil Cedillo for State Assembly.”  From the group description:

“I am proud to announce my intent to run for the 45th California State Assembly District. As your representative I will work to create a competitive workforce, secure access to affordable health care, increase services to veterans and their families, and invest in public safety and transportation. Thank you for your support”

One would have to assume that Gil Cedillo would be a prohibitive favorite based on name recognition, if the 45th isn’t his home district. But we’ll have to see what other challengers emerge in this open seat.