Campaign 2012: CA StudentsFirst Candidate Squeaks Through*
In one of the most interesting state assembly races you probably never heard about, Democratic scion Ian Calderon (pictured) narrowly defeated his Democratic opponent Rudy Bermudez and moves ahead to a runoff election against a Republican businessmen.
The young Calderon's victory is notable because it comes in part as a result of an influx of campaign cash from StudentsFirst, who supported just two candidates in California, and becuase Calderon's father, a top Democrat in the California assembly, was attached to a LIFO-ending bill that StudentsFirst was until Monday planning to unveil and perhaps introduce in an end-of-session legislative maneuver called "gut and stuff" (or something equally colorful that I didn't quite catch and am too lazy to track down).
Previous post: Strange Times In California
*Update: Reuters' Stephanie Simon has a day-after story about the Calderon and Johnson races (here). Correction*: I was told yesterday that Calderon's Democratic opponent didn't get a much-needed influx of late cash from the CTA but I'm told that's not so (see contributions list here). StudentsFirst wasn't the only reform group to support Calderon, either. Other supporters included EdVoice (see here).
I’m not against the man or anything, but it’s really quite abhorrent that fundraising still is, ultimately, the most important aspect of campaigning.
Posted by: Sarah | June 08, 2012 at 06:54 AM