In the 2010 General Election, the following were elected to the following constitutional offices:
• Governor – Edmund G. Pat Brown, Jr.; Governor from 1975-83 and term limits did not apply to him; defeated Ebay executive Meg Whitman
• Lieutenant Governor – Gavin Newsom; Mayor of San Francisco; defeated the appointed Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado
• Secretary of State – Debra Bowen (incumbent)
• State Controller – John Chiang (incumbent); defeated State Senator Tony Strickland
• State Treasurer – William “Bill” Lockyer (incumbent); defeated State Senator Mimi Walters
• State Insurance Commissioner – Dave Jones; State Assemblyman; defeated State Assemblyman Mike Villines
• State Attorney General – Kamala Harris; defeated Steve Cooley
• State Superintendent of Public Instruction – Tom Torlakson; State Assemblyman who defeated Larry Aceves
• State Board of Equalization:
District 1 – Betty Yee (incumbent)
District 2 – George Runner (State Senator)
District 3 – Michelle Steel (incumbent)
District 4 – Jerome Horton (incumbent)
• United States Senator – Barbara Boxer (incumbent); defeated Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard
The following are new Members elected to the Senate:
• Noreen Evans (D)
• Doug La Malfa (R)
• Anthony Cannella (R)
• Tom Berryhill (R)
• Michael J. Rubio (D)
• Jean Fuller (R)
• Kevin De Leon (D)
• Ed Hernandez (D)
• Joel Anderson (R)
• Juan Vargas (D)
State Senators who won reelection were Ronald Calderon, Ellen Corbett, Lou Correa, Gloria Negrete-McLeod, Alex Padilla, Curren Price, Darrell Steinberg, Mark Wyland, and Leland Yee.
On October 20, 2010, Senator Jenny Oropeza passed away but she won her reelection bid. A special election will be held to fill the vacancy.
The following are new Members elected to the State Assembly:
• K.H. “Katcho” Achadjian (R) • Roger Hernandez (D)
• Luis Alejo (D) • Ben Hueso (D)
• Michael Allen (D) • Brian Jones (R)
• Toni Atkins (D) • Ricardo Lara (D)
• Susan Bonilla (D) • Allan R. Mansoor (R)
• Betsy Butler (D) • Mike Morrell (R)
• Maria Campos (D) • Kristin Olsen (R)
• Gil Cedillo (D) (former Senator) • Richard Pan (D)
• Roger Dickinson (D) • Henry T. Perea (D)
• Tim Donnelly (R) • David G. Valadao (R)
• Rich Gordon (D) • Donald P. Wagner (R)
• Jeff Gorell (R) • Bob Wieckowski (D)
• Shannon Grove (R) • Das Williams (D)
• Linda Halderman (R)
State Assemblymembers who won reelection included Wesley Chesbro, Jim Nielsen, Dan Logue, Ted Gaines, Janet Huffman, Mariko Yamada, Alyson Huber, Fiona Ma, Tom Ammiano, Nancy Skinner, Joan Buchanan, Sandre Swanson, Cathleen Galgiani, Mary Hayashi, Jerry Hill, Paul Fong, Jim Beall, Bill Berryhill, Bill Monning, Connie Conway, Steve Knight, Cameron Smyth, Felipe Fuentes, Bob Blumenfield, Julia Brownley, Mike Feuer, Mike Gatto, Anthony J. Portantino, John A. Perez, Holly J. Mitchell, Mike Davis, Mike Eng, Steven Bradford, Isadore Hall, Bonnie Lowenthal, Warren Furutani, Tony Mendoza, Charles Calderon, Curt Hagman, Norma Torres, Wilmer Carter, Brian Nestande, Paul Cook, Kevin Jeffries, Jim Silva, Jose Solorio, Jeff Miller, Chris Norby, Diana Harkey, Martin Garrick, Nathan Fletcher, Marty Block, and V. Manuel Perez.
The Republicans lost one seat in the Assembly to the Democrats – District 4 in Sacramento.
The following ballot propositions were passed:
• Proposition 20 Redistricting of congressional districts by the State Redistricting Commission
• Proposition 22 Prohibiting the state from borrowing or taking funds used for transportation, redevelopment, or local government projects and services
• Proposition 25 Changing the vote requirement to pass a budget and budget-related legislation from 2/3 to a single majority by the Legislature.
• Proposition 26 Requiring that certain state and local fees be approved by 2/3
Propositions that were defeated at the election included:
• Proposition 19 Legalizing marijuana under California law
• Proposition 21 Establishing $18 annual vehicle license surcharge to help fund state parks
• Proposition 23 Suspending implementation of AB 32 (air pollution control law) until unemployment drops to 5.5% or less for a full year
• Proposition 24 Repealing of recent legislation that would allow businesses to lower their tax liability
• Proposition 27 Eliminating the Stat Commission on Redistricting
With the defeat of Proposition 26, reapportionment of legislative districts and congressional districts will be created by the State Commission on Redistricting in 2011.
Election legislation which was enacted included SB 211 (Simitian) revising procedures for holding special elections to fill vacancies in the California congressional delegation when a large number of vacancies occur in Congress; SB 1007 (Hancock) requiring candidates for election to the Public Employees’ Retirement System and the State Teachers’ Retirement System boards to file campaign reports in generally the same manner and frequency as other candidates for state office and extend existing campaign contribution limits to them as well; SB 1404 (Pavley) requiring voting system vendors and ballot paper manufacturers to notify the Secretary of State of any flaws or defects that they discover in their products; AB 1181 (Huber) lowering the monetary thresholds which trigger mandatory electronic reporting of campaign contributions and expenditures by candidates, officeholders, committees, major donors, and slate mailer organizations; AB 1514 (Hayashi) requiring slate mailer organizations to file semi-annual campaign statements regardless of the amount of payments received or expenditures made to produce slate mailers; AB 1689 (Torres) aligning provisions of state law governing the selection of delegates and alternates to represent the state at a National Convention of the Democratic Party with the standing rules and bylaws of the Democratic National Committee; AB 1717 (de Leon) authorizing the Secretary of State to conduct a voluntary pilot program in five or more counties evaluating the use of post-canvas risk-limiting audits of election results; AB 2023 (Saldana) authorizing the Secretary of State to conduct a voluntary pilot program in five or more counties to evaluate the use of post-canvas “risk-limiting” audits of election results; and AB 2101 (Fong) permitting a court to prevent someone who is convicted of initiative fraud or voter registration fraud from being paid to circulate petitions or register voters.
Vetoed Elections legislation included SB 970 (Corbett) which would have permitted vote by mail ballot dropoff locations to be established on three college campuses in the state, subject to certain conditions; SB 1202 (DeSaulnier) which would have required the state ballot pamphlet to contain information about the largest contributors in support of each ballot measure that will appear on the ballot; SB 1434 (Price) which would have provided that if an affiant of voter registration fails to identify his/her place of birth, the county elections official shall apply a rebuttable presumption that the affiant is eligible to register to vote if he/she marked the box on the affidavit of registration, executed under penalty of perjury, that he/she is a citizen of the United States; AB 814 (Hill) which would have required county elections officials to provide voters with a notification that the voter should receive a voter information guide containing detailed information on the candidates and measures that will be on the ballot for the election; AB 1335 (Lieu) which would have required write-in candidates for the office of superior court judge to include on their statements of write-in candidacy a statement that they satisfy the eligibility requirements for a judge; AB 1681 (Yamada) which would have created a pilot program allowing Yolo County to conduct not more than three local elections as all-mailed ballot elections; AB 1799 (Fong) which would have removed a requirement that a vote by mail voter who requests a replacement ballot must provide a statement, under penalty of perjury, that he/she has failed to receive, lost, or destroyed the original ballot in order to receive a replacement ballot; AB 2088 (Adams) which would have established a process for filling a vacancy in an elected office that occurs after a recall petition has been filed against the vacating officer; and AB 2154 (Solorio) which would have permitted a local elections official to allow voters to apply for vote by mail ballots by telephone.
State Senate
The only change in the Senate Democratic Leadership team in 2010 was the replacement of Senator Jenny Oropeza (who passed away on October 20, 2010) with Senator Alex Padilla on the Senate Rules Committee. The Senate Republicans elected Senator Robert Dutton as the person to be Senate Minority Leader.
In the 2009 Digest of Legislation, it was noted that Senator John Benoit who represented Senate District 37 was appointed by the Governor to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. On June 8th, 2010, Assemblymember William Emmerson filled the vacancy left by Senator Benoit in a special general election. Senator Emmerson defeated former Assemblymember Russell Bogh in the April 13, 2010 special primary election but was unable to obtain 50% plus 1 to win the election outright.
On April 27, 2010, Senator Abel Maldonado was sworn in as Lieutenant Governor to fill the vacancy left by John Garamendi who was elected to the United States Congress in a special election in 2009. As indicated in the 2009 Digest of Legislation, Senator Maldonado had been nominated by the Governor to replace Lieutenant Governor Garamendi, however, his nomination was defeated in the Assembly in early 2010. The Governor, however, re-nominated him and he was successfully confirmed, went on to win the Republican Primary against Senator Sam Aanestad, and was defeated by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in the General Election. On June 22, 2010, a special primary election was held to fill the vacancy in Senate District 15 left by Senator Maldonado’s ascendancy to Lieutenant Governor. At the election, Assemblymember Sam Blakeslee ran against former State Assemblymember John Laird and two other candidates. No candidate won 50% plus 1 in the primary. On August 17, 2010, the special general election was held and resulted in Assemblymember Blakeslee defeating John Laird.
On July 13, 2010, Senator Dave Cox passed away leaving a vacancy in Senate District 1. A special primary election was held on November 2, 2010 to fill the vacancy in which Assemblymember Ted Gaines defeated Assemblymember Roger Niello. As a memorial to Senator Cox, the State Senate named the Senate coffee lounge Cox’s Club House.
The following State Senators were termed out in 2010:
Years of service Years of service
in the Senate in the Assembly
Samuel Aanestad 8 4
(Unsuccessful candidate for Lt. Governor at the 2010 Primary Election)
Roy Ashburn 8 6
Gilbert Cedillo 8 4
(Successful candidate for the State Assembly)
Jeffrey J. Denham 8 0
(Successful candidate for U.S. Congress)
Denise Moreno Ducheny 8 6
Dean Florez 8 4
Dennis Hollingsworth 8 2
Gloria Romero 8 5/6 2 1/6
(Unsuccessful candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction in the June 2010 Primary losing to Assemblymember Tom Torlakson)
Senators Dave Cogdill and Pat Wiggins did not run for reelection after serving four years in the Senate.
Senator Tony Strickland was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for State Controller in the November General Election; Senator George Runner was the Republican candidate for State Board of Equalization seat 2 which he was elected to; and Senator Mimi Walters was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for State Treasurer.
State Assembly
In the Assembly, the Democrats elected Assemblymember John A. Perez as their new Speaker to replace termed-out Speaker Karen Bass. Other members which became part of the Democratic leadership team in 2010 included the following:
• Fiona Ma Speaker Pro Tem
• Isadore Hall Assistant Speaker Pro Tem
• Charles Calderon Majority Leader
• Kevin De Leon Assistant Majority Leader
• Mike Feuer Majority Policy Leader
• Noreen Evans Majority Whip
• Jerry Hill Caucus Chair
• Nancy Skinner Rules Chair
• Felipe Fuentes Appropriations Committee Chair
• Robert Blumenfield Budget Chair
The Assembly Republicans, in January 2010, elected Assemblymember Martin Garrick as Minority Leader replacing Assemblymember Sam Blakeslee. Other members of the 2010 Assembly Republican leadership team included the following:
• Connie Conway Caucus Chair and Appropriations Vice Chair
• James Nielsen Assistant Minority Floor Leader and Budget Vice Chair
• Curt Hagman Assistant Minority Floor Leader
• Nathan Fletcher Chief Republican Whip
• Ted Gaines Whip and Vice Chair of Rules
• Bruce Nestande Whip
• Cameron Smyth Whip
In November 2010, Connie Conway replaced Martin Garrick as Minority Leader.
On January 12, 2010, Chris Norby won the 72nd Assembly District special general election to fill the vacancy left by Assemblymember Mike Duvall who resigned from office in 2009. On June 8, 2010, Mike Gatto won the 43rd Assembly District in a special general election to fill the vacancy left by Assemblymember Paul Krekorian who was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2009.
The following Assemblymembers were termed out, ran for other offices, or opted out from seeking re-election in 2010:
• Anthony Adams Not running for re-election
• Joel Anderson Termed out; successful candidate for State Senate
• Juan Arambula Termed out
• Tom Berryhill Successful candidate for State Senate
• Anna Caballero Unsuccessful candidate for State Senate losing to Anthony Cannella
• Joe Coto Termed out
• Hector De Leon Not running for re-election; unsuccessful candidate for State Attorney General in the June Primary
• Chuck De Vore Termed out; unsuccessful candidate for United States Senate
• Noreen Evans Termed out; successful candidate for State Senate
• Danny Gilmore Not running for re-election
• Edward Hernandez Successful candidate for State Senate
• Dave Jones Termed out; successful candidate for State Insurance Commissioner
• Ted Lieu Termed out; unsuccessful candidate for State Attorney General in the June Primary
• Pedro Nava Termed out; unsuccessful candidate for Attorney General in the June Primary
• Roger Niello Termed out; unsuccessful candidate for Senate District 1 Special Election
• Ira Ruskin Termed out
• Mary Salas Not running for re-election; unsuccessful candidate for State Senate in the June Primary losing to former Assemblymember Juan Vargas
• Audra Strickland Termed out
• Tom Torlakson Termed out; successful candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction
• Albert Torrico Termed out; successful candidate for State Attorney General in June Primary
• Van Tran Termed out; unsuccessful candidate for United States Congress
• Mike Villines Termed out; unsuccessful candidate for State Insurance Commissioner losing to Assemblymember Dave Jones