Chuck DeVore came out of the gates strong in saying he would vote against Abel Maldonado's confirmation as Lt. Governor.

Well they held the vote today and the Sacramento Bee seems to be reporting that Chuck did not bother to show up.

Specifically, here is the vote tally according to the paper: Vote Tally

A lot of Orange County republican names are on the yes list but none of them are running for Senate and none of them pledged to vote against our pal, Abel.

Was Chuck out of town campaigning or something?
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Apparently so….Hey Chuck, how about concentrating on your day job as a California Assemblyman!

The state Assembly failed today to approve Sen. Abel Maldonado for the vacant lieutenant governor post, setting the stage for a possible legal fight over his confirmation.

After being confirmed by the Senate this morning, Maldonado ultimately fell four votes short of 41-vote majority needed in the Assembly, where the final tally was 37-35. A rejection leaves Maldonado in his Senate seat, with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger perhaps looking for a new nominee. Maldonado has said he will run for the office this year no matter what.
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No profile in courage is Chuck DeVore. Thought he pledged to vote against Maldonado?

When the U.S. Supreme Court, in its controversial campaign-finance decision last month, ruled that independent expenditure committees do not create even the appearance of corruption, it effectively rendered meaningless a portion of the County of Ventura's campaign-finance ordinance.

The county ordinance, in addition to limiting contributions to candidates at $700, also sets a $700 limit on contributions to independent expenditure committees. But since the court has ruled that there is no valid government interest in regulating such committees (because the "appearance of conflict" argument didn't fly with the justices), local governments can no longer impose such restrictions.
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Ventura County's ordinance is probably unconsitutional now unless modified. Look for some free-spending in the race between Linda Parks and Audra Strickland

Conservative Columnist George F. Will Reported That Whitman Persuaded Campbell To Leave The Gubernatorial Race:

Whitman "Supposedly Persuaded" Tom Campbell To Switch To The Senate Race. "So Whitman supposedly persuaded a rival for the gubernatorial nomination — Tom Campbell, a former congressman of large talents but slender means — to switch to the Senate race, leaving her opposed only by Steve Poizner, another rich refugee from Silicon Valley. This may have been a bit too clever because Poizner can now make this a binary choice: Who is most conservative?" (George F. Will, Op-Ed, "Right Turn On The Left Coast," The Washington Post, 2/10/10)
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Read it all…….

Retired Superior Court Judge Steven Hintz on Wednesday entered a crowded field of candidates for Ventura County treasurer-tax collector.
Hintz first expressed interest in the post a few months ago, and his announcement Wednesday was his first formal declaration that he plans to run. He has formed a campaign committee and loaned it $150,000, according to the statement he released Wednesday.

Treasurer-Tax Collector Larry Matheney plans to retire at the end of his current term. His replacement will be chosen in the June primary, or in a November runoff if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in June.

The full slate of candidates won’t be known until the filing period ends next month. So far, four people have taken out the papers they need to gather signatures and qualify for the ballot: Don Facciano of Camarillo, Stephanie House of Ventura, Ernestine Cook of Simi Valley and Peggy O’Reilly of Camarillo.
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Steve is a long-time GOP activist and will have party support.

GOP Senate candidate Tom Campbell insisted Wednesday that gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman played no role in his decision to leave the governor's race, responding to a Huffington Post column that said Whitman's campaign successfully persuaded him to switch contests.

"I received no request from the Whitman campaign ever," Campbell said Wednesday. "I received no approach from the Whitman campaign ever. I made the decision on my own and I reached out to a large number of my friends to ask for their help, including, among them, several strong supporters of Meg."

"The direction was always from me, and the decision was not influenced or suggested by Whitman supporters," he added.
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Well, what about the sharing of fundraising lists/efforts and your polling, Tom?

Frightened that Jerry Brown's campaign coffers aren't rich enough to battle a billionaire to become California's next governor, three separate Democratic and pro-labor groups are poised to raise more than $40 million to start trashing GOP front-runner Meg Whitman.

Over the next week, the Democratic Governors Association and two other groups will pour an unprecedented wave of cash into a negative advertising campaign four months ahead of the June 8 primary.
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All independent of Jerry Brown – so he can take the high road in spending. More hide the ball from the Dems.

Within 48 hours this week, two independent committees were formed that could fundamentally change the way political campaigns are run in California.

Spooked by the prospect of running against a Republican gubernatorial candidate with virtually unlimited resources, allies of Attorney General Jerry Brown have pledged up to $40 million in two separate independent expenditure committees to boost Brown’s gubernatorial ambitions.

The creation of the two committees is a tacit admission that, within the current confines of California’s campaign finance law, Democrats felt they would not be able to compete with the vast personal resources of former EBay CEO Meg Whitman or Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.
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Here comes Big Labor and other left-wing groups laundering their campaign money again.