California Electoral College formally casts its 55 votes for Obama

California’s Electoral College made it official Monday: casting all 55 of its votes in the election for President Obama and Vice President Biden to reflect that the majority of Californians voted for the Democratic candidates Nov. 6.

As electors gathered in other states across the country to cast their votes, California's contingent took its official vote on paper ballots in the state Assembly Chambers in Sacramento.

In the November election, Obama received 60.2% of the vote in California, and Republican challenger Mitt Romney was supported by 37.1% of voters, according to the official Statement of Vote by Secretary of State Debra Bowen. The third-place finisher was Libertarian Gary Johnson, who garnered 1.1% of the vote.

The youngest elector to participate in the vote was Christopher Tumbeiro, 18, of Simi Valley. The student at Royal High School was named as the elector from the 25h Congressional District by Lee Rogers, that area's unsuccessful Democratic candidate. Tumbeiro also was selected to serve as a "teller,'' a position that distributes and collects the paper ballots during the meeting of the California Electoral College.

"It's a very humbling experience and a very exciting experience,'' Tumbeiro said. "Since I am the youngest, I want to inspire other young people to become involved.''

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More valuable gifts, contributions allowed to politicians in 2013

-- Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento

Photo: In October presidential debate, Republican nominee Mitt Romney sparred with President Obama. Credit: Charlie Neibergall / Associated Press

 

 

Schwarzenegger says politicians need more guts on immigration

While Arnold Schwarzenegger has strenuously avoided taking sides in the presidential campaign, the former Republican governor of California offered sharp criticism Sunday of politicians, including those in his own party, who have failed to tackle immigration reform.

"You’re a political leader and you come to Capitol Hill. You can’t be scared of things and then hope that you get reelected and that becomes your No. 1 interest," he said. "I mean, it takes a little bit more ... to run this job and to do this kind of a profession." More what? Think male anatomy.

The comments came during an interview with NBC News' David Gregory on "Meet the Press," where Schwarzenegger also discussed his notorious affair with a maid, which produced a son and led to his divorce from Maria Shriver.

It's not the first time Schwarzenegger has used anatomy to make a political point.

In 2009, he sent state Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) a metal sculpture of bull testicles, complete with a note suggesting the lawmaker would need them to make some tough budget choices.

These days, Schwarzenegger is preaching bipartisanship, saying that he had learned first-hand the perils of political polarization. He cited the special election he called in 2005 to advance a series of conservative ballot measures. California voters rejected all of them.

"I thought I could go off by myself and it’s my way or the highway just with the Republican Party," he said. "It failed miserably. So I learned first-hand that the only action is when both parties come together."

On immigration, Schwarzenegger called on both parties to revive the plan put forth by Sens. John McCain and Edward M. Kennedy (who died in 2009), which included a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. "What do we do with the people who are here now?" Schwarzenegger asked. Politicians "have not yet gotten into it because they’re scared."

Asked if he would run for political office again, Schwarzenegger said he was focused on working at the think tank he started at USC and repairing the damage his affair inflicted on his family.

"You never say never, but I don’t see that in front of me," he said of another political campaign.

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--Michael J. Mishak in Sacramento

twitter.com/mjmishak

Photo: Then-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks at a news conference in Washington, D.C., in 2009. Credit: Matthew Cavanaugh / EPA

Jerry Brown weighs in on death of American diplomat in Libya

Gov. Jerry Brown added his voice Wednesday to those who expressed condolences after the death of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens in Libya.

Stevens, who hailed from the San Francisco Bay Area not far from the governor’s home in the Oakland Hills, was killed along with three other Americans in an attack on the American consulate in Benghazi on Sept. 11.

“Ambassador Stevens represented the very best that California and the United States have to offer,” Brown said in a statement. “His dedicated service to our country and our world will never be forgotten."

The killings became part of the presidential campaign when Republican nominee Mitt Romney blasted the Obama administration’s reaction to the attacks as “disgraceful” and “an apology for America's values.”

Obama’s campaign accused Romney of politicizing the attack. "We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack," said Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said in a statement.

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--Anthony York in Sacramento

California workers want legislative staff raises to be rescinded

California workers recently hit with a 5% pay cut think legislative aides should not have received raises of up to 10% in recent months, according to an online poll by one labor group.

More than 60% of 743 respondents say the legislative staff raises should be "taken away," according to the poll on the website of the Assn. of California State Supervisors.

About 23% say a similar incentive should be provided to supervisors and managers, and 15% agreed that a 3% pay increase scheduled for managers in July 2013 should be provided immediately.

Speaking of unscientific polls, the Sacramento River Cats minor league baseball team held a Wobblection on Thursday night in which fans entering the ballpark could choose between 1,250 wobblehead dolls depicting President Obama and a like number depicting presumed Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

The idea is that a candidate wins the election when the ballpark runs out of his dolls first. Obama narrowly edged out Romney to win the Wobblection.

However, history shows candidates should not be too worried if they come up short. In 2010, California Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman narrowly defeated Jerry Brown in that year's bobblehead election at Raley Field, but she later lost to the Democrat in the real election.

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-- Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento

Photo: Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) has faced some fallout from the decision of legislators to give raises to staff members while most state employees are getting pay cuts. Credit: Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press

Obama, not issues, is the draw for some L.A. voters

When Patricia Jordan, 57, was asked what brought her to the polls on Tuesday to vote in the California primary, her answer was swift and decisive.

"Obama! Who else?" said the Baldwin Village resident. "He's my No.1 concern."

President Obama has secured the Democratic Party's nomination as the incumbent, but here in Baldwin Village and throughout the city of Los Angeles, he is still the big draw. Some voters knew very little about issues on the ballot, such the cigarette tax and the candidates running for Los Angeles County district attorney. Instead, they showed up to throw their support behind the president.

LIVE RESULTS: California primary

"I don't know much about Propositions 28 and 29," said Diane Racine, 68, referring to the term limit initiative and the controversial cigarette increase. "I came out to make sure I supported President Obama."

Racine, an adult education teacher with the Los Angeles Unified School District, admitted it was harder this primary to vote for him. The Westwood resident will be laid off in two weeks because of budget cuts that will end adult education in the state. Still, Racine believes Obama has a better strategy to fix the economy than his opponent, Mitt Rommey. All Obama needs, she said, is another term.

Anthony Kent agreed. The 58-year-old Baldwin Village resident blames Congress' inability to compromise as the reason the economy has stalled and not made a full recovery.

"He's doing the best he can with the opposition he has against him," Kent said. "He can't change everything overnight. He might need a few more terms to fix it all."

Though Kent disagrees with Obama on gay marriage, he still made the trek from his job over to the Jim Gilliam Recreational Center in Baldwin Village to cast his vote for Obama.

"I'm behind him every day," he said.

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-- Angel Jennings in Baldwin Village

Photo: President Obama speaks at a campaign rally at Ohio State University. Credit: Mark Duncan / Associated Press

Get live California Primary Election results

As the votes are counted, you can get the latest information on results in all of the state's political races, from president to state Assembly. 

Our searchable database allows you to see the most up-to-date vote counts in this unprecedented primary election, run under new primary rules and newly drawn political maps.

Check in on the hottest local races around the state, including pension battles in San Diego and San Jose that are being closely watched in Sacramento as state lawmakers contemplate changes to retirement benefits statewide.

LIVE RESULTS: California primary

Voters will also decide whether to assess a new $1 per-pack tax on cigarettes and make changes to the state's term-limits law.

And oh yeah, we also have a presidential contest tonight, though the outcome was all-but-decided weeks ago, as President Obama and Mitt Romney each stand to win their party's primary contest here.

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--Anthony York in Sacramento

Twitter: @AnthonyYorkLAT

Photo: Voters cast their ballots in Wisconsin. Credit: Jeffrey Phelps / Associated Press

Three area Republican congressmen endorse Mitt Romney

Three Southern California  Republican  congressmen have decided to throw their support behind GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney, the Romney campaign announced this week.

Reps. Jerry Lewis  of Redlands, Ken Calvert of Corona and Brian Bilbray of Carlsbad  are backing Romney, once the seeming front-runner for Republican nominee next year, at a time when former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has overtaken the former Massachusetts governor in some polls.

On the Democratic side, Rep. Janice Hahn of San Pedro continues to roll out endorsement announcements in the three-way battle for a newly drawn congressional district. 

This week the Hahn campaign touted backing from Los Angeles City Councilman Tony Cardenas (who  also is running for Congress, from a new district in the northeast San Fernando Valley) and from Patricia Bellasalma, president of the California Chapter of the National Organization for Women.  Other Democrats running for the newly drawn 44th District, which runs from the Los Angeles Harbor area to South Gate, are Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach) and Assemblyman Isadore Hall (D-Compton.)

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-- Jean Merl

Photo: Mitt Romney speaks during the Republican Jewish Coalition 2012 Presidential Candidates Forum on Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Center in Washington.

Credit: Alex Wong  / Getty Images

Romney latest 2012 hopeful to plan fundraising trip to California

Republican 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney is planning to hopscotch California next week to raise campaign cash at events in five cities. The former Massachusetts governor is the latest politician seeking to mine the state's wealthy donor community.

To read more, please visit PolitiCal's sister blog that covers all things 2012: Politics Now.

-- Seema Mehta in Los Angeles

Gingrich backs Whitman in GOP gubernatorial primary

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich endorsed Meg Whitman on Tuesday, the latest in a string of GOP superstars the gubernatorial candidate has unveiled in her primary battle with Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.

“Whitman has the conservative values, courage and vision to clean up the spending mess in Sacramento and rebuild the state's economy,” Gingrich wrote in Tuesday’s San Jose Mercury News.

Gingrich, the architect of the Republican Revolution of 1994 and author of the "Contract with America," joins former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in backing Whitman.

The Poizner campaign questioned whether such endorsements are helpful in a year when Republican voters are bucking the party’s picks, notably in Kentucky’s Senate primary last week.

“Meg Whitman is running as the establishment candidate in an anti-establishment election year when voters want to reform the status quo,” said Jarrod Agen, a Poizner spokesman. “Meg's establishment platform has proven to be a losing strategy in most primaries across the country.”

Whitman’s campaign has been prominently featuring the words and images of these popular Republican supporters in television ads, robocalls and other voter outreach throughout the state. But what could be political gold in the Republican primary could be troublesome in the general election, when front-runner Whitman, if she wins the primary, will have to appeal to moderates and independents to defeat Democratic Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown.

The former EBay chief executive’s campaign did not sound concerned Tuesday morning, saying that their candidate is solidifying support among the GOP base, and once the party is united behind her, she will move on to the general election.

“She’s going to run a classic, Reagan-esque, winning-California big-tent campaign,” said senior strategist Mike Murphy. “We’re going to get everyone who wants change. Everyone’s kind of tired of the Sacramento political system that Jerry Brown is kind of the alpha male dog of.”

-- Seema Mehta in Los Angeles

Nurses plan theatrics outside Meg Whitman fundraisers

Over the last decade, the members of the California Nurses Assn. have built a reputation as the guerrilla warriors of the Democratic Party. It was the nurses who led the PR assault on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger during his 2005 special election. Now they've got Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman in their sights, producing a series of staged events outside Whitman fundraisers this week.

Whitman has been traveling with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, raising money across the state. On Thursday night, the nurses brought a horse-drawn carriage to the Beverly Hills Hilton to welcome "the queen and her court," as CNA spokesman Chuck Idelson referred to Whitman and her supporters.

In Sacramento on Friday, the CNA is planning to file an initiative "to dispense with the election, since Whitman is just trying to buy it anyways," Idelson said.

"This is just the latest political stunt from a partisan labor union group that's interested in defending the status quo of higher taxes and more spending to the detriment of California," said Whitman spokeswoman Sarah Pompei.

The theatrics will continue Friday night in Redwood City when Whitman joins Romney, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for a fundraiser. But Idelson wasn't tipping his hand. "We've got a special action planned in Redwood City," he said. "But we're still putting some finishing touches on that one."

Whether the performances have any impact on the race is up for debate, but the nurses have proved masterful at getting media attention for their made-for-television political stunts.

-- Anthony York in Sacramento