Results tagged “democrat”

While elections locally weren't exactly a topic around town, they were nationally and the outcomes are still relevant to Los Angeles and California. One year after Prop 8, which banned gay marriage in California, Maine faced a similar fate. After the state's assembly and governor approved gay marriage earlier this year, the voter-initiated Question 1 was placed on the ballot asking "Do you want to reject the new law that lets same-sex couples marry and allows individuals and religious groups to refuse to perform these marriages?" Question 1 passed with XX% of the vote.

A poll released the day before Attorney General Jerry Brown announced possible gubernatorial aspirations said he would likely win if pitted against the three current Republican candidates.

>It has been all but official until now. Attorney General and former Governor Jerry Brown filed papers for the "Brown for Governor 2010 Exploratory Committee." The move allows him fundraise more aggressively as he decides whether or not to run for the state's top position. The 71-year-old Brown, who already has raised more campaign money than Democratic opponent, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, may not decide to run until next year.

More details about former President Clinton's visit to Los Angeles in support of San Francisco Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom. The pair will visit Los Angeles City College on Monday, October 5th before heading off to a fundraiser for Newsom's campaign.

Although California Attorney General and former Governor Jerry Brown hasn't officially declared his gubernatorial intentions, he's winning against candidate and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, according to two polls reported by the San Francisco Chronicle: "On the statewide level, a poll taken last week of 600 likely Democratic voters by the Sacramento firm Moore Methods showed Brown in the lead for the 2010 primary, 49 percent to 20 percent. A second poll by David Binder of 423 likely Democratic voters in San Francisco - where Newsom has enjoyed years of record-high approval ratings - has him trailing even at home." Newsom has been working especially hard holding a good number of town halls across the state. No matter, this looks like it could be a good primary if Brown enters the race, which seems likely.

The grassroots, but powerful San Fernando Valley Democratic Club yesterday endorsed Assemblyman Paul Krekorian for the 2nd District Council Seat in Los Angeles, according to wire reports. Krekorian is considered one of the front runners in the race along with Studio Exec Chris Essel and city prosecutor and LAUSD boardmember Tamar Galatzan--he currently represents portions of the Valley and over-the-hill neighborhoods like Los Feliz and Silver Lake. The endorsement gives the Democrat an edge on Essel, who has raised the most money and has been endorsed by former Mayor Richard Riordan. No matter, "money is not going to be a factor in this council race," says his campaign manager. "This campaign is going to be won on the ground, talking to voters directly." The primary for the district, which runs from Sherman Oaks to the Northeast Valley, will be held on September 22nd.

All things gubernatorial seem to be Gavin, Gavin, Gavin these days. At least for the Democrats. Where's Jerry Brown? Will there even be a primary? Gavin has been to the Los Angeles area on a regular basis hosting town hall style meetings and today he's back, this time in South LA. Tonight's event is open to the public and is a "Conversation About California’s Future."

Well, some of us vote, at least. After the May 19th Special Election where no candidate garnered 50 percent of the vote needed to claim the 32nd seat in the U.S House--left open by Hilda Solis after she joined the Obama administration as the Labor Secretary--a run-off was set for today. Democrat and vice chair of the California Board of Equalization Judy Chu is the frontrunner and is expected to win. She faces off with Republican Monterey Park Councilwoman Betty Chu (no relation) and Libertarian businessman Christopher M. Agrella. Polls are open from 7:00 a.m. through 8:00 p.m. and to find out where to vote, plug your address into the county's Recorder-Registrar website. The 32nd Congressional District covers a portions of the San Gabriel Valley and other areas including East LA, Rosemead, El Monte, Monterey Park, Baldwin Park, Irwindale, Azusa, Covina and Walnut Valley.

Is it already time to start talking about the 2010 election? While there's been quite a bit of gubernatorial talk already, congressional districts have been on the down low. California's 36th District is the exception, however, with one Progressive Democrat nearly two months into her campaign and hosting her first fundraiser tomorrow.

When the banking industry tried to justify their expensive habits they do for employees to President Obama last month, he gave them a stern warning: "Be careful how you make those statements, gentlemen. The public isn't buying that. My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks."

Shortly after 11 p.m., officials with the LA County Recorder-Registrar completed tallying a meager amount of votes casted Tuesday for the 26th State Senate seat vacated by Mark Ridley-Thomas last year when he became a Los Angeles County Supervisor. The semi-official results show that Democratic State Assemblyman Curren Price, Republican Rabbi Nachum Shifren and Cindy Varela Henderson of the Peace & Freedom Party will run in the May 19th runoff election.

It was a rough Valentine's night for California's lawmakers, as they worked until the wee hours trying to resolve our budget. But in the early morning hours today it became apparent that the budget was not going to get the one last Republican vote it needed, and it has stalled.

LAist likes to think of Democratic National Committee member Ed Espinoza as LA's Superdelegate. We chatted with him last week.

A rollercoaster ride may resemble Democratic National Committee member Ed Espinoza's 2008 but it doesn't paint the whole picture. Rollercoasters don't quite peak like Espinoza's year. He was part of the process which saw his party’s historic candidate elected to the country’s highest office.

LA County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan is looking into 9,000 registration affidavits turned in by a firm hired by the California Republican Party to determine if party affiliations were involuntarily changed, says the Daily News. While party affiliations will not affect voters on November 4th, it could on the next primary.

This year's election has gone to the tech generation, which can account for this clever way to txt your way into today's Sarah Palin rally in Carson. An E-billboard across from the Home Depot Center was rented by the California Democratic party so that those wishing to pose the Alaskan Gov. and Republican VP nom some more hard-hitting questions could do so via a text message. Watch what came up online here.

Yesterday brought both presumptive Presidential nominees to Orange County to Pastor Rick Warren's Lake Forest mega-church for question-and-answer sessions that overlapped only briefly. It was the first time John McCain and Barack Obama shared the stage for quite some time. Warren posed the same set of questions to each candidate, and both seemed to frequently frame their responses in the context of Christianity in light of their audience, reports KNBC.com. The questions covered several of this campaign's primary areas of interest, including abortion, gay marriage, and other topics from a "range of moral, foreign and domestic issues."

Despite the general consensus of constituents in their respective districts, three Democratic congressmen representing Los Angeles areas have voted to pass a controversial bill " that would offer retroactive immunity to telephone companies that cooperated with the federal government’s post-Sept. 11, 2001, domestic spying program and did so despite widespread opposition in their districts," reports the Glendale News Press.

After LA County's troubles with the ballot on California's Super Tuesday, today's election ballot made it clear that this is not happening again.

• Remember when we told you that Los Angeles tap water was the best tasting in the world? Turns out that our delicious H20 might have been sprinkled with delicious drugs. The AP found that a multitude of pharmaceuticals, like antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones, have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans including water in Southern California. Little Johnny has taken such a liking to water these days, I wonder what's gotten into him.
• On Friday, Newport Beach police were baffled when they found a fully clothed woman dead and packed in dry ice in an upscale hotel room near John Wayne Airport. The room was rented from known Cocaine dealer and the woman, whose body was well preserved, was apparently wanted on drug charges in Colorado.
• Before she was ousted for saying Hillary Clinton was a "monster" for some of the "underhanded" tactics used to defeat Barack Obama in the Ohio Primary, foreign policy adviser Samantha Powers took a few questions at LA City Beat. Nowhere in the interview does she disparage Clinton, but she does offer some pretty enlightening opinions, such as this opus on how to have a dignified foreign policy: "...if we could just sort of remember that there are individuals at stake, that the “human” in human rights is not an abstraction." On second thought, I'm glad she resigned. We can't have those sorts of hippie, drugged out commie type of relations with the world. It would be un-American!
• In other political news, a Democrat won a special election to fill a congressional seat left vacant in Illinois by outgoing Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert. Bill Foster claimed the seat partly on the strength of Obama, who campaigned for him. Obama supporters claimed this was a signal of things to come in what many observers said was a national referendum as John McCain campaigned for the Republican.
• An off-duty cop in Temecula allegedly shot 2 and killed 1 person over some sort of melee at a Mexican restaurant in Riverside. Guns don't kill people, crazy ass people with anger management problems do.
• A 21-year-old member of the San Fernando Valley Illegal Soapbox Federation died this morning when his adorable little vehicle collided with a light pole in Tarzana. Thing is, it may not have been so adorable. The motto of the local soapbox federation is, "Action, Mayhem, Destruction, Bodily Harm...All For Free". I'm sorry, it seems pretty tough to macho yourself out when riding in a little cart made for 6-year-olds.
• Andy LaRoche got some bad news this weekend. The Dodger third baseman who was expected to share time with Nomar Garciaparra at the hot corner this season is out 8-10 weeks with a ligament tear in his thumb after getting hit trying to catch an attempted pickoff at third during a pre-season game Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals. Learn this name kids: Blake Dewitt. He's been tearing up Spring Training pitching and flashing some great leather. He could get some time at third in LaRoche's absence.

• Newly elected state speaker, a Democrat named Karen Bass who was raised in Los Angeles, has made friends on both sides of the aisle, the LA Times said. She is the first African-American to assume the top spot and has some pretty lofty goals, including providing healthcare and improving education. Wait, those are things EVERY politician should be doing.
• Of course, by now you know all about the L.A. Marathon. But you may not have heard that the Los Angeles Fire Department treated 73 participants; transporting 23 of them to area hospitals. None of the injuries were life-threatening, they said.
• What's one of the best part about Spring Training? Rumors! The Daily News reports that Nomar could play a "handful of games" at shortstop this season. Just four more weeks until Opening Day.
• The blood in my veins is Dodger Blue, but the color of my face when driving to games is sometimes red. So, I applaud the City Council for at least broaching the possibility of public transportation to Dodger Stadium late this week.\
• An El Segundo woman warded off an attacker last night with pepper spray as he pinned her to the ground straddling and fondling her. She reached for the pepper spray and ran away, gagging and coughing.
• But her weapon of choice would not have worked if she was a reporter at the Daily News. Yesterday, we told you that the Daily News laid off 22 staffers earlier in the week. Today, the list of the fireds was published. The deceased includes Alex Dobuzinskis, a great reporter who covered Glendale and Burbank and the News' lone Washington D.C. reporter.
• The newspaper business is not the only one hurting these days. Nearly 1,600 teachers could lose their jobs as Orange County's 28 school districts scramble to find ways to cut from their operating budgets amid a mounting state budget crisis.
• Is Hillary Clinton being subversively endorsed by Saturday Night Live? Last week, SNL feature a skit parodying the media's "love affair" with Barack Obama and last night, they had Clinton on the show getting two minutes of free campaign air time. SNL has not officially endorsed Clinton, but should media outlets allow candidates a free shot at advertising? If NBC allowed Obama two free minutes, don't you think the Clinton camp would be the ones needing a pillow?

• Five are dead and one person was hurt in an apparent murder-suicide in Yorba Linda, close to the Richard Nixon Library. A 14-year-old called in to report that his father had shot him. Police later found that the gunman shot his wife and 3 of his children before turning the gun on himself.
• As we have pointed out before, it's not a good time to be a Republican. The state GOP is meeting in San Francisco (of all places) to talk about ways to help the party in which a deep rift has developed between those on the right and those to the right of them.
• In a headline nearly as long as the entire article, the Daily News tells us: Yes, you're paying more for gas. Average is now $3.10. We need to invest in alternative fuels. We need to elect a Democrat who will explore alternative fuels. We need to elect a Repuiblican who will drill in Alaska. We need to drive more hybrids. Fuck it, I'm off to catch the bus.
• Is Councilman Herb Wesson gearing up for a mayoral run? Hmmmmm. At least one blog might support some opposition.
• LAX could receive greater scrutiny if a study is approved Monday that would look into diesel emissions and how noise from arriving and departing planes affects surrounding homes. It's something that Bob Hope Airport in Burbank continues to grapple with.
• The nod for best movie may go to "No Country For Old Men," but the award for best tasting tap water has gone to Los Angeles. A panel of 10 journalists and food critics sampled sparkling, tap and bottled water from 19 states and other countries, including New Zealand, Romania, Macedonia and the Philippines before calling it for Los Angeles.
• And speaking of Oscars, if you are reading this, it means you are not reading our Academy Awards Live- Blogging. Even if you are not a fan of the glitz and glamor, I know you like our wit, and it's being served in 10-minute increments.
  Continue reading "Extra, Extra: We Taste The Best"

Both the Democrat and American Independent parties held open primaries on Super Tuesday. Voters who declined to state an affiliation were handed a "nonpartisan" ballot and were allowed to select a presidential candidate in either of the open primaries.

Since Proposition 93 was rejected by voters yesterday, termed-out assemblymembers are out of a job come next year -- that includes Los Angeles Democrat Fabian Nunez who represents downtown (and south of it) and has been Speaker of the Assembly since 2003. Now, assemblymembers from up and down the state are looking to fill the speaker's shoes.

Calling it the "double bubble" where Decline-To-State/Non-Partisan voters had to ink a Democratic bubble at the top of their card in order for their ballot to count, Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo called on the Los Angeles County Registrar and California Secretary of State to review and make sure the intent of everyone's vote counted.

We're getting reports of problems from readers, writers and the media. John Ennis, one of the founders of Video the Vote, gave LAist this update. Most of the confusion today is over people who are not registered as Democrat or Republican who want to vote in the primaries. The issue might be that they moved and they thought they were up to date. If you are a non-partisan voter, all you have to do is go to either a Democratic or Republican voting booth. Other than a few precincts not opening on time, Ennis says things seem to be running smooth, but it's early in the day he warned. To report a bad voting experience, call Video the Vote at 866-OUR-VOTE

While the remaining Republican candidates converged on Simi Valley yesterday to debate who was most like Ronald Reagan and the two Democratic candidates still standing in the race meet in Los Angeles later today to hash out who is most unlike Reagan, other political news sent shock waves through Washington D.C. that did not portend well for the Grand Ol' Party.

If you plan on participating in either the Republican or Democratic primary on February 5th (in two weeks) you MUST register to vote by midnight tonight.