The California Bankers Association (CBA) is pleased to provide you with our review of the 2010 primary election. This document summarizes the key legislative, congressional and ballot races in California focused on by CBA. We hope that you will find this document useful, and please do not hesitate to distribute it within your institution.

Currently, there are still tens of thousands of precinct, absentee and provisional ballots yet to be counted, so the percentages and outcomes of some races may change as the counting continues for several days. For further information about these or other races not covered in this report, or for updated live election results on races still pending, please visit the California Secretary of State’s website at www.vote.sos.ca.gov.

Statewide Races

Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman handily defeated State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and will face former two-term Governor Jerry Brown in the November general election. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina bested former Congressman Tom Campbell and state Assembly Member Chuck DeVore to capture the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate and will challenge Barbara Boxer in the fall. Abel Maldonado, who was appointed as lieutenant governor earlier this year, won the Republican nomination and will face San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in the general election. In the race for attorney general, Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley won the Republican nomination and will face the Democrat nominee, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, in the fall. In the race for a seat on the Board of Equalization, State Senator George Runner won the Republican nomination for District 2. Runner, who CBA supported, is expected to win this seat in the fall with registration heavily favoring Republicans.

Statewide Propositions

There were two statewide propositions of interest to CBA. Proposition 14 was easily approved by the voters. It establishes an open primary system where all candidates for office, regardless of party, appear on the same primary election ballot, save presidential candidates. The top two vote-getters will advance to the general election. Proposition 15, which taxed lobbyist employers and lobbying firms to fund the election of the office of secretary of state, was defeated. That proposition also deleted California’s ban on public funding of political campaigns.
State Legislative Outcomes

CBA tracked several contests during the primary election. Because the vast majority of legislative districts are drawn to favor one of the two major political parties, most of the contested races take place in the primary election. In the state Senate, three of four CBA-supported candidates running in open seats won their party’s nomination. In the San Diego area, Republican Assembly Member Joel Anderson beat three other candidates in Senate District (SD) 36. Former Democrat Assembly Member Juan Vargas appears to have lost to Assembly Member Mary Salas in SD 40; however, it is still uncertain how many uncounted ballots remain outstanding. In the Central Valley, Assembly Member Tom Berryhill defeated a handful of challengers in SD 14, and in the Los Angeles area Assembly Member Ed Hernandez was unopposed in his SD 24 contest.

On the Assembly side, pending the outcome of one race, CBA may go seven for seven in contested races. In the Fresno area, Henry Perea received the Democrat nomination for Assembly District (AD) 31. Along the Central Coast, Shannon Grove won the Republican nomination for AD 32 and Katcho Achadjian won the Republican nomination for AD 33. In the Los Angeles area, Ricardo Lara and Roger Hernandez won the Democrat nomination for AD 50 and AD 57, respectively. Mike Morrell won the Republican nomination for AD 63 in Orange County. In the Sacramento region, Sacramento County Supervisor and CBA-supported candidate Roger Dickenson is leading Sacramento City Council Member Kevin McCarty in AD 9. That race is still undecided pending a count of outstanding ballots.

Congressional Race

In the one congressional primary race of note, State Senator Jeff Denham defeated former Fresno Mayor Jim Patterson and former Congressman Richard Pombo for the Republican nomination for District 19. Denham is expected to handily win in November, as this seat has a distinctive Republican leaning.

For more information, please do not hesitate to contact CBA’s government relations team at 916/438-4400 or at governmentrelations@calbankers.com.