At the Train Station in Davis, West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon with more members of the media than supporters and more elected officials than members of the public announced his bid for the Democratic Nomination for the 8th Assembly District of California.
Flanked by several of his early elected official endorsements, Cabaldon was introduced by Davis Mayor Pro Tem Ruth Asmundson. Also speaking were two County Supervisors Helen Thompson and Mike McGowan, two West Sacramento City Councilmembers Oscar Villegas and Wes Beers, Woodland Mayor David Flory, and Davis City Councilmember Don Saylor.
Woodland City Councilmember Jeff Monroe was there briefly in his Sheriff's Uniform, but he was on duty and could not be on stage. However, he too has formally endorsed Cabaldon's candidacy.
The most interesting statements made by Mayor Cabaldon came in response to questions from the press.
Beth Curda of the Davis Enterprise asked what issues were most important to him. Interestingly his first response was controlling sprawl. This seemed a bit ironic considering his growth policies while Mayor of West Sacramento. Not to mention he was flanked by several of the more pro-development elected officials in the county including Davis Mayor Pro Tem Asmundson and Councilmember Don Saylor--both of whom were strong proponents of both Target and Covell Village.
Secondly, Josh Fernandez of the Woodland Daily Democrat asked him who was the consultant working on his campaign. His response was that he hadn't hired a consultant and that had not been determined. This runs against the reported information that Richie Ross would be his campaign consultant. Ross was his campaign consultant in his previous race for the Assembly in 2002.
Finally, (and someone will have to forgive me because I do not know the reporter who asked the question), he was asked how long he had considered running for the Assembly. He mentioned that he ran for the Assembly in 2002 and that it was basically a good thing for his city that he lost and that Lois Wolk had won. Which was somewhat of a reprise of the statement he made during the Davis Democratic Bean Feed last fall--but was a rather striking statement coming from an elected official and prospective office seeker.
Meanwhile the anticipation and speculation will continue to mount as to who else will run for office. Clearly neither Don Saylor nor Mike McGowan will be candidates for the Assembly.
---Doug Paul Davis reporting
