As I type this I am sitting in my 14th story hotel room in the San Jose Hilton. I am at the California Democratic Party's Convention. In just a few hours I will be attending Christopher Cabaldon's breakfast, that will be the first of many activities I will undertake during the course of the day. Tomorrow Former President Bill Clinton will be here and there will be much to do between now and then.
The Vanguard is fully press credentialed for this event and we will have to see what is going. So stay tuned throughout this weekend for periodic updates an breaking news.
There are basically two big catfights, so to speak at this convention. The fight between Mark Leno, a sitting Assemblyman and Carole Migden, a sitting State Senator for the Democratic nomination for that State Senate Seat is a big and bloody affair.
The other catfight is the Christopher Cabaldon and Mariko Yamada battle for our own 8th Assembly District.
Yesterday the Mariko Yamada campaign attempted to get the rules committee to through out the pre-endorsement result for Christopher Cabaldon. However, the rules committee determined that under the current rules, no rules were broken. They can revisit the rule itself come June, but not during this campaign season.
At issue were pre-endorsement delegates generated by the Cabaldon campaign. The Cabaldon campaign, as we have reported previously phone banked in order to recruit new members to the West Sacramento Democratic Club. When an individual was interested in joining the club Cabaldon's Mayoral account would pay for their membership. While this may look a bit unethical, there is nothing in the current rules to preclude it.
Moreover, today at 4:30, as a result of only 10 signatures, the endorsement has been pulled and the state party delegates who are in the 8th Assembly District get to vote again. This time, the pre-endorsement delegates from the Democratic Clubs do not vote. Cabaldon requires 60 percent of the vote in order to gain the endorsement.
So even if the Yamada campaign were correct that this is improper, it is also largely moot if Cabaldon gains the 60 percent of the vote--and they believe they will.
However, even then it is not the end of the story. If the Yamada campaign gets 300 signatures from delegates at large, then it can once again be pulled off the consent calendar and it goes to a floor vote where the entire body votes to approve Cabaldon's endorsement or block it in a simple majority vote.
The word I have at this time is that the Yamada Campaign already has those 300 signatures and thus a floor fight is a done deal.
Stay tuned to the Vanguard throughout this weekend for updates, pictures, and perhaps portions of speeches by key officials, as most of them are all here decending on the San Jose Convention Center.
---Doug Paul Davis reporting
The Vanguard is fully press credentialed for this event and we will have to see what is going. So stay tuned throughout this weekend for periodic updates an breaking news.
There are basically two big catfights, so to speak at this convention. The fight between Mark Leno, a sitting Assemblyman and Carole Migden, a sitting State Senator for the Democratic nomination for that State Senate Seat is a big and bloody affair.
The other catfight is the Christopher Cabaldon and Mariko Yamada battle for our own 8th Assembly District.
Yesterday the Mariko Yamada campaign attempted to get the rules committee to through out the pre-endorsement result for Christopher Cabaldon. However, the rules committee determined that under the current rules, no rules were broken. They can revisit the rule itself come June, but not during this campaign season.
At issue were pre-endorsement delegates generated by the Cabaldon campaign. The Cabaldon campaign, as we have reported previously phone banked in order to recruit new members to the West Sacramento Democratic Club. When an individual was interested in joining the club Cabaldon's Mayoral account would pay for their membership. While this may look a bit unethical, there is nothing in the current rules to preclude it.
Moreover, today at 4:30, as a result of only 10 signatures, the endorsement has been pulled and the state party delegates who are in the 8th Assembly District get to vote again. This time, the pre-endorsement delegates from the Democratic Clubs do not vote. Cabaldon requires 60 percent of the vote in order to gain the endorsement.
So even if the Yamada campaign were correct that this is improper, it is also largely moot if Cabaldon gains the 60 percent of the vote--and they believe they will.
However, even then it is not the end of the story. If the Yamada campaign gets 300 signatures from delegates at large, then it can once again be pulled off the consent calendar and it goes to a floor vote where the entire body votes to approve Cabaldon's endorsement or block it in a simple majority vote.
The word I have at this time is that the Yamada Campaign already has those 300 signatures and thus a floor fight is a done deal.
Stay tuned to the Vanguard throughout this weekend for updates, pictures, and perhaps portions of speeches by key officials, as most of them are all here decending on the San Jose Convention Center.
---Doug Paul Davis reporting
