Results tagged “governor”

Despite his aggressive campaign full of neighborhood town halls across the state, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced this afternoon that he has dropped out of the race for California Governor. He was the only major name running for the position but his fundraising and poll numbers lagged behind Attorney General Jerry Brown, who has yet to officially announce a run for Governor. Gavin's statement is below:

That's the lowest approval rating of the Legislature from registered voters in the Field Poll's 26-year history. And that's not the only record broken. He may eat adorable breakfasts, but that's not going to save Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's 27 percent rating, the lowest since he entered office (and a number only found back in 1961 with Pat Brown). But still, he isn't the governor with the worst approval rating, that goes to Gray Davis (22%) before he was ousted from office in a recall election that Schwarzenegger won.

Yesterday, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed two bills into law, both of which focus on restricting operation of a motor vehicle to previous DUI offenders, reports the Daily News. Assemblyman Mike Feur (D-Los Angeles) has authored AB 91, calling for the implementation of a pilot program in four counties that will put an ignition interlock device in "every vehicle owned or operated by a first-time DUI offender."

The ever-so aggressive gubernatorial campaign for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced this morning a slew of small local endorsements from around the state. Other than State Senator Alex Padilla in The Valley, no major Los Angeles politicians currently working are on the list. But Newsom did gather up three West Hollywood notables, including John Heilman, Mayor Pro Tempore, Councilmember Lindsey Horvath and Robert Kalonian, President of the West Hollywood Democratic Club. Former State Senator Sheila Kuehl also has endorsed him.

A Field Poll released this morning has Attorney General Jerry Brown comfortably leading San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom by 20-points in the race for governor. Results indicate Brown at 47 percent with Newson at 27 percent. Meanwhile, the three Republican candidates have less succinct results. "About half of GOP primary voters (49%) are undecided. Among those offering a preference former eBay head Meg Whitman receives 22% of the vote, former Congressman Tom Campbell 20% and State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner 9%," explained the poll.

As announced earlier, Gavin Newsom's gubernatorial campaign has been endorsed by former President Bill Clinton, who will be at the San Francisco Mayor's side today at two events in Los Angeles.

You would think it was at least 2010 yet. No, it's still 2009. You would think that Attorney General Jerry Brown has at least announced he is running for governor. And no, he filed paperwork Tuesday to form an exploratory committee. Yet still, Jerry Brown yesterday received endorsement from some powerful Hollywood folk, according to Variety.

One day after submitting paperwork to explore a run for Governor, Attorney General Jerry Brown has been challenged by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom to debate in all 11 media markets in California. “Our state is in need of real reform—we have a broken system that must be fixed,” said Newsom in a statement. “And now that there are two candidates for governor, we owe the Democratic voters of California an opportunity to compare our visions and platforms side-by-side.”

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.

A mini-controversy is already surrounding Republican candidate for California Governor Meg Whitman. The former eBay CEO's first record of voter registration was found in 2002, when she was 46 years old. Whitman has admitted and apologized for the bad example that is her non-voting record, but says she had voted in some elections prior to 2002. However, a Sacramento Bee search of public records could not confirm that.

With former Governor Pete Wilson as her campaign chairman, former eBay executive and Reublican Meg Whitman formally announced her run for Governor yesterday in Orange County, already gain criticism from an annoyed Governor Schwarzenegger.

Attorney General Jerry Brown may officially not be running for Governor yet, but he's raised a lot more money than San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who aggressively has been holding town hall meetings across the state. Today Newsom'e campaign announced that Former President Bill Clinton will join him at two events in Los Angeles, one of which that will be a fundraiser. A look at the first half of 2009's filings with the Secretary of State show that Newsom has about $1.2 million to work with while Brown has about $7.3 million for his campaign, currently for another run at Attorney General. However, if Brown decides to run for Governor, that money goes with him. Newsom is the only major Democratic candidate so far in the 2010 gubernatorial race.

As the legislature wrapped up last week, a slew of bills were voted down and voted through to the Governor's desk, many of them dealing with the environment from issues like state parks to air quality and other issues.

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.

After spending the weekend in Chicago at an Obama event, San Francisco Mayor and Gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom is back in the Los Angeles area for like the billionth time today and tomorrow for his "Conversations About California's Future" tour. He'll discuss the economy, health care, education and will hold a question and answer period with the audience. Tonight he'll be in Long Beach and in Santa Ana tomorrow followed by Riverside next week Thursday. All three events are open to the public. Newsom is the only frontrunner Democratic candidate running for Governor. L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa decided not to run and former Governor and current Attorney General Jerry Brown's campaign website is intended for his re-election to his current post, not governor.

Although no strike is reportedly on the immediate horizon, the Service Employees International Union "announced that 74 percent of its membership approved [a] strike authorization in votes counted Saturday," according to abc7.com, and "union leaders will meet in the coming week to decide what steps to take."

Apparently, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was booed at when he was introduced at last night's Dodgers pregame ceremony, according to the LA Times. And maybe rightfully so, but considering his latest promises for the next four years, we think he deserves a second chance in his new term. That chance won't last forever by any means, but if he does what he says he's going to do--major rail infrastructure being a sexy one--you know he then will have a guaranteed job as Governor down the line. He promises to track results online, so we'll see about that, too. Because, hey, whatever happened to the promises of citywide Wifi by this year? Will it actually happen by the end of 2009? Tracking those results cannot be easily found on the Mayor's website.

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."

Shortly after LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced that he will not run for Governor, candidate Gavin Newsom released a statement. Looking for an endorsement? Probably. Doing what any good candidate should do? Yes. "I look forward to continuing to work with him, sharing our experiences as mayors, and collaborating on innovative solutions that will take California in a new direction... As Mayor Villaraigosa has said so eloquently recently, state government needs to change and I believe we can work together to make that a reality." The full statement is below:

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told Wolf Blitzer this afternoon that he will not run for Governor. "The answer's no. I make that decision because like I've said many times, I love the city I was born and raised in, the city my grandpa came to 100 years ago," he told Blitzer. "Cities are on the frontlines of the challenges facing us in terms of the economic crisis," he continued. "Here in the City of LA, 12.5% unemployment rate, 21,000 people have lost their home over the last 2 years, we're facing an unprecedented and historical budget deficit of $530 million dollars.

Appearing later today on CNN's Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, Villaraigosa is expected to announce his intentions in regards to governor, says CNN via LA Now. Will he or will he not? If he does announce something, we suspect a national setting like CNN could only mean one outcome: he's going to run for Governor. However, at this point it's anyone's guess. A recent LA Times poll found that Angelenos are pretty much split on whether he should or not--they at least would vote for him over San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. Situation Room airs at 1 p.m. PST. For the Record: The original headline indicated a choice was made, but his intent on running or not has yet to be seen.

Will he or won't he? That seems to be the question of late when it comes to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's 2010 bid for California Governor. In an item run this weekend in the San Francisco Chronicle, the seeds of the no-go rumor were planted, watered, and sprouted: "Our sources in L.A. say Villaraigosa has come to the conclusion that the time is just not right for him to make a state run - given that he hasn't even been sworn in yet to a second term, and that he's facing bloody political fights at home."

Late yesterday afternoon LA Observed's Kevin Roderick offered up some insight on the recent goings-on in local politics during his KCRW commentary. In addition to taking a look at this week's winners and losers--err, in the context of elections--Roderick took a look at what may or may not be the pop culture litmus test for potential electoral success. Yes, you guessed it: Twitter.

Now that San Francisco Mayor Twitter Master Gavin Newsom is officially running for Governor, he's heading South to Los Angeles and San Diego today for visits to two green companies (it's Earth Day, after all). At noon, he'll be in West LA with Marmol Radziner and Associates, an architecture firm that builds "green" prefab homes. Newsom will tour their design spaces and one of their "cutting edge" homes. Later, he'll be in San Diego touring a a renewable energy's laboratory.

How much of a meta dork is Gavin Newsom? His communications director Nate Ballard twittered two photos of Gavin twittering his gubernatorial announcement this morning.

"It’s official. Today, I became a candidate for governor because California needs a new direction," wrote San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in an e-mail blast today. "In San Francisco, we’re showing what can be accomplished when we stop looking back and start looking for solutions," Newsom said. "We are the first, and still the only, city in America implementing universal health care. We’re proving what you already knew - it is less expensive to keep people well than it is to treat their sicknesses."

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has his eye on a big prize: Governor of California. With the 2010 election in the seedling stage, Newsom is aiming to raise his profile in Southern California, and has set his sights on the youth vote and the liberal leanings of Los Angeles for his local visit this week, explains the LA Times.

California's first lady, Maria Shriver, has lived most of her life in the spotlight, thanks to her high-profile career in television journalism and her familial and marital ties to politics, but now she says "she has no intention of running for public office in 2010," according to an AP report in the Centre Daily News. Mrs. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Democrat (and a Kennedy), has been busy with many projects aimed at bettering the lives of Californians, like her recent WEConnect endeavor, and says "she is too much of a free spirit to be tied to a desk job."