Money & Politics | Daily Report

Kamala Harris slight lead for attorney general

Harris photo Steve Rhodes/Flickr

Democrat Kamala Harris, the district attorney of San Francisco, has pulled ahead of Republican Steve Cooley in the race for California attorney general.

Harris was receiving 46.1 percent of the vote compared to Cooley, the Los Angeles district attorney, who garnered 45.6 percent, election results this morning show. About 97 percent of the precincts were reporting as of 8:45 a.m.

Although the race appears to be trending in Harris' favor, the final outcome could be determined by absentee voters. The two are separated by only 38,000 votes out of about 6.8 million. If she wins, Harris would be the first African American and the first female attorney general of California.

At 3:20 a.m., after he had already declared victory, Cooley canceled a press conference set for today: "Given the uncertain nature of the final result of the California Attorney General's race, the previously announced November 3 press conference is canceled."

- Robert Salladay

Whitman concedes

"Tonight has not turned out quite as we had hoped," Whitman said, conceding her race for governor just past 11:30 p.m.

The former eBay chief executive said she called Democrat Jerry Brown to wish him well and asked for Californians to come together to overcome the state's challenges.

"It is my hope that a new era of bipartisan problem-solving can begin tonight," she said.

After thanking her supporters, Whitman called on them to continue working to "demand change" from Sacramento. In the end, she shattered records by spending about $160 million on a losing effort.

- Chase Davis

Jones wins insurance commissioner

Democratic Assemblyman Dave Jones is comfortably leading Republican challenger Mike Villines to become California's next insurance commissioner.

With 59 percent of the precincts reporting, Jones had 2,421,234 votes to Villines' 1,914,363. The insurance commissioner race has importance because the person who holds the position will control how the new federal health care plan is implemented in California. Jones of Sacramento has said he supported the federal plan. Villines, however, objected to the plan, saying he didn't believe in requiring people to carry health insurance.

In February, Jones' efforts to examine practices by Anthem Blue Cross of California was credited with spurring the company to eventually curtail several rate hikes. Villines had said he preferred to allow Californians to shop for better insurance coverage across state lines.

- Corey Johnson

Deceased Democrat winning state Senate race in early returns

With 18 percent of precincts reporting, the deceased Democratic incumbent Jenny Oropeza is beating Republican challenger John Stammreich, 53 percent to 41 percent, for the 28th District Senate seat. Oropeza died last month at age 53 from complications due to a blood clot. Democrats campaigned on her behalf after her death. If she wins, a special election will be held.

- Stephanie Rice

Fiorina calls race a "dead heat"; Boxer declares victory

Carly Fiorina refused to concede her race against Barbara Boxer, who, minutes later, followed up with a speech of her own declaring that "we're gonna win this race."

Boxer's optimism comes from the fact that most votes in traditionally Democratic areas like Los Angeles and Alameda counties have still not been counted.

Calling it the "toughest and roughest campaign of my life," Boxer railed against the "millions and millions of dollars in negative ads" from Fiorina and interest groups, saying that her campaign was powered by small donors who balanced out the special interest influence.

At her Los Angeles headquarters, Fiorina refused to concede, saying, "Thirty-six percent of the vote have been counted and we are in a dead heat. ... All those people who called this race, it may not have been such a smart thing to do."

- Chase Davis and Lance Williams

Democrats battling it out for congressional seats

The race may be nearing the finish line for Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer, but Democrats are still fighting tooth and nail to hang on to several congressional seats.

With just 10 percent of precincts reporting, Santa Ana Democratic incumbent Loretta Sanchez is locked in a virtual tie with GOP challenger Van Tran, 48 percent to 47 percent respectively. The independent candidate, Ceci Iglesias is garnering 6 percent.

In Alameda, Democratic Rep. Jerry McNerney has narrowed his opponent’s lead to 3 points with 39 percent of precincts reporting. He is now trailing attorney David Harmer, 46 percent to 49 percent.

And in the economically devastated Central Valley, Democratic incumbent Jim Costa is also catching up to Republican challenger Andy Vidak. With 48 percent of precincts reporting, Costa has 49 percent of the vote to Vidak’s 51 percent.

- Stephanie Rice

Brown says vote tallies "good enough for government work"

Even though Meg Whitman's campaign has still refused to concede, presumptive governor-elect Jerry Brown took to the stage at 11 tonight to deliver a classic Brown victory speech, emphasizing themes like creativity, imagination and his own sense of "missionary zeal."

"They haven't got all the votes in yet, but hell, it's good enough for government work," Brown said to cheers at his election night party inside Oakland's restored Fox Theater. "It looks like I'm going back again."

Brown spoke of "forging a common purpose" among members of a highly publicized electorate and spoke of tough but hopeful times ahead for Californians. He also took a veiled shot at Whitman's campaign narrative, which repeatedly accused him of not having a plan for the state, by saying he doesn't need a plan when he has such a good planner – his wife, Anne Gust – at his side.

Brown has also scheduled a press conference for tomorrow morning in Oakland.

- Chase Davis

Independent redistricting wins big

Yes on 20, No on 27 campaign

Well, at least one millionaire won tonight: Voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 27, which would require Congressional districts to be drawn by a citizens’ commission instead of the state Legislature. And voters also rejected Proposition 27, which would eliminate the state's nascent redistricting commission that will draw state legislative boundaries.

The campaigns to support Prop. 20 and defeat Prop. 27 were financed in large part by a single individual from Palo Alto - physicist Charles Munger, who donated well over $11 million to the effort. His wife, Charlotte Lowell, was a big donor as well.

Munger is one of eight children of billionaire Charlie Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the holding company operated by Warren Buffett and which is invested in GEICO, See’s Candies, Fruit of the Loom and Dairy Queen, among other companies. Forbes magazine lists Charlie's worth at $1.7 billion.

Billionaire Haim Saban had donated $2 million to approve Prop. 27, which was spearheaded by Rep. Howard Berman, D-Los Angeles, and his political consultant brother, Michael Berman, but their effort came up short.

- Robert Salladay

Cooley holds edge in attorney general race

Will Steve Cooley's hometown popularity be enough to become California's top law enforcer? 

In the race to become attorney general, Cooley, a Republican, holds a seven-point edge over Democratic challenger Kamala Harris with 1,305,403 votes to Harris' 1,109,957. A small chunk of Cooley's lead comes from a 15,000 vote advantage in Los Angeles County, where he is the local district attorney. Approximately 22 percent of the state's precincts have reported.

- Corey Johnson

State GOP confident, harsh before election ... now what?

On a night when Republicans around the rest of the U.S. were celebrating victory after victory, the California GOP was taking another beating. The party’s leadership had to see it coming. So what explains the scratchy tone of state Republican Party chairman Ron Nehring’s statement Monday commenting on a joint campaign appearance by Barbara Boxer and Jerry Brown?

"I hope these two has-beens are at least gracious enough to take time today and thank those they’ve managed to sucker into supporting their failed policies during the last four decades. It’s important they thank them today, because after tomorrow, nobody’s going to be interested in anything those two relics have to say."

As of 10:30 p.m. election night, Nehring hadn’t posted a further statement on the election results, which show Boxer and Brown the projected winners.

- Lance Williams

Photo by Erik HersmanMeg Whitman

Study: Whitman second most covered candidate nationwide

Meg Whitman received more media coverage than every political candidate nationwide except Delaware Senate candidate Christine "I'm Not a Witch" O'Donnell, according to a study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Whether she ends up losing tonight, as expected, or she wins, don't expect that trend to change while the national media dissects tonight's results.

- Chase Davis

Democratic Rep. Jim Costa trailing

Another Democratic congressional seat in trouble. With 19 percent of precincts reporting, District 20's longtime Democratic incumbent Jim Costa is clinging to 44 percent of the electorate. The Republican challenger, farmer Andy Vidak, currently has 56 percent.

The race in the hard-hit Central Valley was expected to be tight. With only one-fifth of precincts counted, this one could still go either way.

- Stephanie Rice

Schwarzenegger congratulates Brown even before Whitman concedes

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger just posted his congratulations to Jerry Brown on his Twitter feed, even before Meg Whitman has officially conceded. As Arnold put it:

"Just called to congratulate @JerryBrown2010. Looking forward to Maria & me getting together w/ him & Anne to talk abt a smooth transition."

Former Gov. Pete Wilson, also Whitman's campaign chairman, spoke minutes later, saying that the race was still too close to call.

"The (projection) that has so far put together about 31 percent of the vote has Jerry Brown leading by .... 89,000 votes. Not nearly enough to decide it," he told a crowd at Whitman's election night party in Los Angeles.

Schwarzenegger also tweeted his votes on the state's slate of propositions:

"I promised I would tell you how I voted today. Prop 19: no. 20: yes. 21: no. 22: no. 23: no. 24: no. 25: no. 26: no. 27: no. That's it!"

- Chase Davis

KCIvey/Flickr

What if Pelosi resigns?

Will the stinging rebuff suffered by House Democrats lead to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s resignation? If so, who will become San Francisco's new member of Congress?

Local political insiders have begun speculating on how a possible special election to fill her seat might shake out.

It’s an especially complex calculus because the San Francisco mayor’s office may be up for grabs: Mayor Gavin Newsom could become California’s new lieutenant governor.

There’s precedent for house speakers to resign after a beating at the polls. In 1998, GOP firebrand Newt Gingrich stepped down after his party lost five seats. Exit polls suggest Democrats may have lost 50 seats in the House this year, and in many a heartland district, Republican candidates got traction by tying their opponents to Pelosi, portraying her as a free-spending and out-of-touch leftist.

People who know her aren’t sure whether Pelosi, 70, would want to serve as House minority leader – assuming, of course, that Democrats want to keep her in a leadership role next year. If her seat opens up, “a lot of people might explore it,” one insider said. Among them:

• Newsom. The candidate for lieutenant governor might still find a safe House seat attractive.
• State Sen. Leland Yee. The crusading liberal lawmaker is mulling a campaign to become the city’s first Asian-American mayor.
• State Sen. Mark Leno. A popular legislator with a strong base in the gay community.
• David Chiu, President of the city Board of Supervisors and also a potential mayoral candidate.
• Sandra Hernandez. A political novice, she’s head of the San Francisco Foundation and formerly city health director.

- Lance Williams

Top self-funded candidates' investments not paying off

Meg Whitman's projected loss tonight, and the $160 million she spent along with it, could headline a ticket of disappointments for self-funded candidates around the country if the results bear out.

Of the top 10 self-funded federal candidates, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, only two have won their races. Of those, wrestling executive Linda McMahon took perhaps the biggest loss, falling in her race for a Senate seat in Connecticut despite spending more than $46 million of her own money on the race.

Carly Fiorina, sixth on the list, is also projected to lose tonight, though her campaign continues to dispute those projections.

- Chase Davis

Democrats losing a congressional seat in early returns

With 26 percent of precincts reporting, the numbers show Democrats losing a congressional seat in the 11^th District. In Alameda, Democratic incumbent Jerry McNerney appears to be losing by 6 percentage points. His Republican challenger, attorney David Harmer, has garnered 50 percent of the vote so far, and two-term McNerney is trailing with 44 percent, the early returns show.

- Stephanie Rice

Early returns show voters favor a simple majority for state budget

Early returns show voters approving the measure that would allow the state legislature to pass a budget with a simple majority as opposed to the current two-thirds requirement.

With just 13 percent of precincts reporting, about 55 percent of voters are in favor of Proposition 25, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. If passed, the initiative – wildly unpopular with the oil, alcohol and tobacco industries – will apply only to the budget and not to new taxes.

Interestingly, early returns show voters also approving Proposition 26 by about the same margin, which would raise the requirement for approving certain new state and local fees to two-thirds. On that initiative, nearly 55 percent of votes counted so far are in favor, the Chronicle is reporting.

- Stephanie Rice

AP projects Brown to win

The Associated Press has joined the LA Times in projecting Jerry Brown to win the governor's race, based on exit polling.

-Chase Davis

Secretary of state's website crashes

It didn't take long for the flood of election night traffic to bring down the secretary of state's live voting returns website.

We've been tuning in to the Sacramento Bee and New York Times to keep up to date.

- Chase Davis

Torlakson leads early returns in superintendent race

Assemblyman Tom Torlakson has a slight lead over Larry Aceves in the quest to become the state's next superintendent of public instruction.

With just 13 percent of the precincts reporting, Torlakson had 804,398 votes to Aceves' 727,292. Torlakson enjoyed heavy support from the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers. Aceves has received backing from the Association of California School Administrators.

- Corey Johnson

Paulo Avila/Flickr

Voters rejecting effort to kill climate law, early numbers show

Despite massive spending by out-of-state oil companies, Californians are rejecting efforts to suspend the state’s landmark global warming legislation, according to the very early numbers available from the secretary of state. With just 10 percent of precincts reporting, 61 percent are voting no on Proposition 23.

The measure would have effectively killed AB 32, California’s climate law, by delaying its implementation until unemployment steadies below 5.5 percent for a full year.

Both gubernatorial candidates oppose Prop. 23 although Whitman does favor a “one-year moratorium.”

The numbers aren’t a surprise. A poll from the Public Policy Institute of California two weeks ago showed voters turning against the measure.

- Stephanie Rice

AP projects Boxer victory; small counties going more for Fiorina than Whitman

The Associated Press is reportedly projecting Barbara Boxer as the winner of her Senate race against Republican opponent Carly Fiorina, according to exit polling. The LA Times has done the same.

Early returns on The New York Times website show that Republicans in a number of counties, such as Kern, Fresno, Stanislaus and Madera, are voting in larger numbers for Fiorina than they are for Meg Whitman. If the trend holds up, it may mean that Fiorina's message was more effective resonating with Republican voters in those areas.

- Chase Davis

Congressional races to watch

In an election year that has Democratic candidates across the nation trembling, Democratic congressional representatives in California have less to worry about. Only a handful of seats are considered up for grabs – three Democratic and two Republican.

These are the races we'll be watching as the early numbers come in:

In the Central Valley, three-term Democratic Rep. Jim Costa is battling Republican challenger Andy Vidak. (20^th District)

In Orange County, Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez is facing a tough challenge from state Assemblyman Van Tran. (47^th District)

In Alameda, incumbent Rep. Jerry McNerney is running against Republican David Harmer. (11^th District)

In Sacramento, three-term Republican Rep. Dan Lungren must fend off newcomer Ami Bera to hang onto his seat. (3^rd District)

And in Palm Springs, Republican Rep. Mary Bono Mack is locked in a tough race with Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet. (45^th District)

The night is young. We'll keep tabs on these important races and let you know if any seats change hands.

- Stephanie Rice

Proposition 19 trailing in early returns

Early returns show Proposition 19, which would legalize marijuana for recreational use, was losing in early returns.

The initiative, which has attracted worldwide attention, was getting support from only 44.4 percent of voters, with 10 percent of precincts reporting.

Even before polls closed, supporters of the measure were already in a pessimistic mood. As the Times reported earlier today:

Richard Lee, founder of Oaksterdam University and the major force behind the measure, didn’t even address the crowd – although he was billed as a main speaker. After the news conference and rally ended, he raced away from reporters and enthusiasts, only to be briefly stymied in his escape by the locked doors of City Hall.

If the measure loses, he was asked, what will be your take-away?

Lee: “Not enough people voted for it.”

- Robert Salladay

Fox News calls the race for Brown, Boxer

Fox News says California will go for U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer over Carly Fiorina and that Jerry Brown will return to the governor's office, defeating Meg Whitman. The LA Times predicts the same. Fiorina's campaign responded on Twitter to the projections: "To be clear there are no election results yet in CA. Anything else reported is false."

- Robert Salladay

Last-minute donations from PG&E and Condoleezza Rice

World Economic Forum/FlickrCondoleezza Rice

As the campaign wound to a close, PG&E’s top brass – and Condoleezza Rice – finally came through for Meg Whitman.

On Monday, President and CEO Christopher Johns and eight other top officials of the big utility combined to donate $22,000 to Whitman, according to a filing with the California secretary of state.

It was the first time anyone associated with PG&E had donated to the former eBay executive’s campaign.

Whitman’s staff didn’t seem entirely familiar with PG&E, perhaps the most enduring player in California politics. In its electronic filing – the last one made public before Election Day – the Whitman campaign referred to Johns as “Christopher Jones.” Another PG&E executive who donated, senior vice president Helen A. Burt, was referred to as “Helan.”

PG&E was an early supporter of Democrat Jerry Brown. Brown received more than $97,000 from Johns, other PG&E employees and PG&E’s political action committee.

Also on Monday, Rice, the U.S. secretary of state under President George W. Bush, gave Whitman $1,000. Rice is a professor at Stanford. Stanford’s other former Republican secretary of state – the Hoover Institution’s George Shultz, who served under Richard Nixon – gave Whitman $2,000 in April, records show.

Brown didn’t report any contributions Monday.

- Lance Williams

LA Weekly calls race before polls close*

Two hours before the polls close in California, LA Weekly is reporting the winners in Los Angeles, and the newspaper is almost certain to be right. Under the headline, "Alex Padilla Wins* California Senate District 20 In Election 2010, Feeding Opponent Kathleen Evans To Lions Before Cheering Valley Crowds," the newspaper reported:

*OK, so we fibbed in the headline. The final results aren't in and the polls haven't closed. But thanks to sleazy incumbent fixing of elections in California - the Weekly explains gerrymandering here - the next crop of California State Legislators was decided months ago.

- Robert Salladay

Rumors of shady robocalls in LA

The Sacramento Bee is reporting that elections officials are working to run down a rumor that robocalls targeted at certain heavily Latino neighborhoods in Los Angeles are urging voters to cast ballots tomorrow instead of today. The calls are just a rumor at this point, but the secretary of state's office is looking into the matter.

- Chase Davis

Independent spending sets record in governor's race

Independent expenditure committees – primarily labor unions campaigning on behalf of Jerry Brown - spent a record $31.7 million on this year's governor's race, according to figures provided this afternoon by the Fair Political Practices Commission.

Independent spending this year blows away the previous record of $19.8 million spent in the 2006 governor's race and eclipses the total sum of independent expenditure cash dumped four years ago into every statewide race combined.

In order to keep pace with Meg Whitman's massive cash advantage, Brown has relied heavily on union backers who have formed several of the free-spending independent committees in order to run attack ads, distribute mailers and conduct get-out-the-vote efforts. Brown infamously told the unions earlier this year that he would be counting on them to attack Whitman so he wouldn't have to.

California Working Families, a committee backed by unions representing state workers, firefighters and builders, was the top spender, dropping more than $8 million. You might recognize some of their ads here.

- Chase Davis

Pot legalization supporters see high youth turnout

One organizer reports:

I’m told by organizers on the ground that youth turnout is so high that the polling location at San Diego State University has completely run out of provisional ballots.  We’re hearing that it will take 3 or 4 more hours to re-stock the ballots there…

- Robert Salladay

Wait for it, wait for it ... absentee ballots

Harris photo Steve Rhodes/FlickrSteven Cooley and Kamala Harris

Voters hoping for results tonight should be cautious about making assumptions on tight races, even if "100 percent" of the precincts are reported to the secretary of state. That's because hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots could be left uncounted tonight.

Just as an example, look what happened during the Democratic primary for California attorney general - Chris Kelly slipped from second place to third place after the absentee ballots were counted. Now, polls are showing a tight race between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Steve Cooley for the attorney general position.

Here's the results from the primary in Los Angeles County. A whopping 26.3 percent of the votes went uncounted on election night even though the county states "100% precincts reporting:"

An estimated 1.1 million Los Angeles County residents requested vote-by-mail ballots this election. Statewide, more than 7.5 million absentee ballots were requested. Los Angeles officials warn that absentee ballots dropped off at the polling stations today may not be counted for days.

- Lance Williams

Schwarzenegger waiting to reveal pick for governor

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, won't tell California voters whether he voted for Meg Whitman or Jerry Brown until after polls close today. He told the Associated Press:

- Robert Salladay