According to the Sacramento Bee, the Assembly Republican Caucus staff has produced an update on voter registration numbers statewide and by Assembly district.  The numbers are based on a county by county survey of registrars reflecting voter registrations by the end of June 2007.  Amongst the key findings:

Repugnant Assembly Districts where Repugnant voter registration decreased the most included the 80th Assembly District where Repugnant voter registration decreased by 3,540.

More below the flip:

According to the Sacramento Bee, the Assembly Republican Caucus staff has produced an update on voter registration numbers statewide and by Assembly district.  The numbers are based on a county by county survey of registrars reflecting voter registrations by the end of June 2007. Key findings:

(1) Statewide voter registration is currently at 15,568,121, a 130,110 decrease since January 2007.

(2) Repugnant registration is 5,265,408, a 121,362 decrease since January 2007. Repugnant registration accounts for 33.90% of all registered voters in California.

(3) Democrat registration is 6,568,719, a 96,341 decrease from the beginning of 2007. Democratic registration accounts for 42.10% of registered voters in California.

(4) Decline to State is 2,920,355, a 32,760 decrease since January 2007. 18.7% of California voters are registered as Decline-to-State.

(5) Repugnant Assembly Districts where Repugnant voter registration decreased the most included the 80th Assembly District where Repugnant voter registration decreased by 3,540.  The only other Repugnant-held Assembly Districts that experienced greater decreases in Repugnant voter registration included those of John Benoit (R-AD65) which was down 5,765, of Sam Blakeslee (R-AD33) which was down 4,971, of Kevin Jeffries (R-AD66) which was down 4,883, and Paul Cook (R-AD65) which was down 3,892.

Terrific news for the CA 80th Assembly District.  Voter registration figures, donations, numbers of volunteers, good issues, and an expectation to win will combine to help us say ‘Adios, Gonnie Barcia (who is termed out), and the Repugnants (who are freaked out) at last!’

Voting and voter registration figures have long been trending Democratic in the Coachella Valley.  As indicated in my earlier post, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, Indio, and Coachella all gave John Kerry/John Edwards ticket majorities in 2004.  Given the mood of the electorate, it is clearly expected that these five cities, and probably more, will give the Democratic nominee a majority vote in 2008 as well.

Regarding voter registration, as of 2007, Palm Springs, now has the following voter registration figures:

• Democrats  10,406    44%
• Repugnants  8,507  36%
• Other  853  4%
• Decline to State  3,651  16%
• Total  23,417  100%
• Total Democrats & Decline2State  60%

In addition, Cathedral City, now has the following 2007 voter registration figures:

• Democrats  6,788  38%
• Repugnants  8,049  45%
• Other  549  3%
• Decline to State  2,467  14%
• Total  17,853  100%
• Total Democrats & Decline2State  52%

Meanwhile, Desert Hot Springs, has the following 2007 voter registration:

• Democrats  2,266  33%
• Repugnants  3,332  49%
• Other  290  4%
• Decline to State  978   14%
• Total  6,866  100%
• Total Democrats & Decline2State  47%

Indio, has the following 2007 voter registration figures:

• Democrats  9,773  45%
• Repugnants  8,654  40%
• Other  623  3%
• Decline to State  2,724  3%
• Total  21,779  100%
• Total Democrats & Decline2State  48%

And, finally, Coachella, has the following 2007 voter registration:

• Democrats  4,907  64%
• Repugnants  1,864  24%
• Other  147  2%
• Decline to State  709   9%
• Total  7,619  100%
• Total Democrats & Decline2State  73%

Regarding the less Democratic cities, Rancho Mirage, has the following 2007 voter registration:

• Democrats  3,005  31%
• Repugnants  5,018  52%
• Other  261  3%
• Decline to State  1,435   15%
• Total  9,719  100%
• Total Democrats & Decline2State  46%

La Quinta, has the following 2007 voter registration:

• Democrats  4,522  28%
• Repugnants  8,847  55%
• Other  500  3%
• Decline to State  2,164   13%
• Total  9,719  100%
• Total Democrats & Decline2State  41%

Palm Desert, has the following 2007 voter registration:

• Democrats  6,975  30%
• Repugnants  12,104  53%
• Other  781  3%
• Decline to State  3,172   14%
• Total  9,719  100%
• Total Democrats & Decline2State  44%

Indian Wells, has the following 2007 voter registration:

• Democrats  549  18%
• Repugnants  2,018  67%
• Other  86  3%
• Decline to State  348   12%
• Total  9,719  100%
• Total Democrats & Decline2State  30%

I have added the Democratic and the Decline to State percentages together as most Decline2Staters are presently voting Democratic and the trend is sure to continue as long as the Repugnants continue their petulance.

Information on donations, volunteers, issues, and expectations that will contribute to victory in the CA 80th Assembly Distict in November 2008 to follow.

The following is based on a news release that I received from the Greg Pettis campaign for the 80th AD.

The San Bernardino, Riverside Building Trade Council of the State Building & Construction Trades Council endorses Greg Pettis’ bid for the 80th Assembly District.

For Immediate Release:  September 24, 2007

For More Information:  Richard Oberhaus
  760-413-7938

PETTIS ENDORSED BY BUILDING TRADES

The San Bernardino, Riverside Building Trade Council, the local
  affiliate of the State Building & Construction Trades Council, represents 32 locals and over 11,000 workers
  throughout the Inland Empire and they are joined by the 198 locals
  across California with over 350,000 workers supporting Greg Pettis.

“We are pleased to support Greg Pettis for Assembly,” said Bill
  Perez, Secretary-Treasurer of the San Bernardino, Riverside Building Trade Council. “His 13-year record in Cathedral City demonstrates his
  commitment to working families.”

The local Building Trade Council joins the Riverside/San Bernardino Labor
  Council, Riverside Mayor Ronald Loveridge, Palm Springs City
  Councilmember Ginny Foat, Desert Hot Springs Mayor Alex Bias, Cathedral City
  Councilmember Paul Marchand, El Centro City Councilmember Sedalia Sanders and
  former Coachella Mayor Juan DeLara in supporting Pettis .

Pettis is considered the Democratic frontrunner in the race to replace
  Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, who will be stepping down due to term
  limits. He has raised more money and has more donors than all the other
  Democratic candidates combined based on the last filings with
  California’s Secretary of State.

He has a long list of accomplishments including making homes more
  affordable for first-time homebuyers, creating safer routes to school for
  children, negotiating the Multi-Species Habitat Program and standing up
  to Wal-Mart’s unfair labor practices.

Please be gentle as this is my first post on Calitics.com.

Beth Caskie, a member of the Democrats of the Desert and a diarist on Calitics.com, with the assistance of George Zander, President of the Desert Stonewall Democrats organized a fascinating meeting re blogging in the Coachella Valley.  Well-attended, this meeting raised awareness of the importance of blogging in turning the Coachella Valley blue.

Recent history shows that the Coachella Valley is already well on the way to becoming Blue Coachella Valley.  Zander noted that the Coachella Valley is already blue on both ends with five cities giving John Kerry their majority vote in 2004 (Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs, and Cathedral City in the West Valley and Indio and Coachella in the East).

Greg Pettis reports that in 1995, Ron Oden was elected to the Palm Springs City Council as its sole Democrat.  Simultaneously, Pettis was voted to the Cathedral City City Council as its lone Democrat.  In 2003, Oden became the first African-American and first openly-gay mayor of Palm Springs.  Simultaneously, Ginny Foat and Steve Pougnet each won City Council seats as Democrats, giving the Palm Springs City Council three Democrats on the five member council!!!  Likewise, in 2004, Cathedral City elected a majority of Democrats including Pettis and Paul Marchand to its City Council.

In 2005, Foat was by far the biggest vote getter in the Palm Springs council race for a complete term and John Williams just barely lost to the Republican incumbent after a last-minute yellow journalistic assault by the local so-called newspaper (aka the Desert Scum).

For your information, in 2007, Pougnet is running to succeed Oden as mayor of Palm Springs when Oden elected to not run for re-election.  Pougnet is highly favored to become the second consecutive openly gay Democrat mayor in Palm Springs.

In addition, Rick Hutcheson, Planning Commission member, has received the endorsement of all three Palm Springs Democratic clubs including Democrats of the Desert, Desert Stonewall Democrats, and Palm Springs Democrats.  In turn, Williams has received endorsements from Desert Stonewall Democrats and Palm Springs Democrats.  On the downside, rather than endorse Williams, the Democrats of the Desert endorsed Bob Mahlowitz.  According to some this action resulted in the recent decision of the Riverside County Democratic Central Committee to withhold formal endorsements for any Democrats in the Palm Springs City Council race.  However, with 40% of the Palm Springs electorate identified as members of the GLBT community, with the increasing Latino voter registration, and with Democrats far outdistancing Republicans in voter registrations in the past few years, Palm Springs is poised to have four Democrats on City Council!

Cathedral City with its two Democratic City Councilmen, Pettis and Marchand, means that Cat City will shortly follow Palm Springs into the Blue Coachella Valley.  Also, prior to his unexpected death, Gary Bosworth was the biggest vote-getter in the Desert Hot Springs city council race in 2005.  Desert Hot Springs Democrats hope to regain this seat during the current election cycle.  Residents of both Indio and Coachella in ‘Down Valley’ regularly elect progressive Democrats for mayor and city council.

So, the idea of a Blue Coachella Valley is no longer a fanciful dream, but should with the ongoing presence of strong local Democratic clubs and demonstrated Democratic unity become reality!

Thanks to soyinkafan for helping me to learn how to incorporate hypertext links into my text.  You obviously have great kharma!