Steinberg defends Laird as Senate race heads to runoff

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The day after Democrat John Laird finished a distant second in the 15th Senate District election, state Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) defended Laird’s campaign against grumbling among some party moderates who thought a less-liberal candidate should have been put up in an area that last elected Republican Abel Maldonado. Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee (R-San Luis Obispo) received 49.71% of the vote in unofficial returns and, unless uncounted ballots push him over a majority, will face an Aug. 17 runoff election against Laird, a Santa Cruz resident who received 41.23% of the vote. Sen. President Pro Tem Steinberg, who oversaw a big push for Laird, defended the party’s candidate Wednesday morning and blamed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for setting a special election date that was expected to reduce voter turnout to the benefit of Blakeslee. ‘We recognize that last night’s result was not exactly what we wanted but it’s only the first round of two,’’ Steinberg said. ‘I would not pick a candidate other than John Laird for that district. He has an incredible reputation for intelligence, for hard work and for being fair.’’ -- Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento