The Future of the D12 Seat

Constant Readers,

By now, I am sure you all have heard the terribly sad news that Representative Tom Lantos passed away yesterday from esophageal cancer.  Others have written much more eloquently than I ever could about his extraordinary life.

Alas, all I have to offer the conversation is my usual willingness to read boring tomes so you don't have to. So, as we try to figure out who will occupy the seat left vacant by Lantos' passing, I give you the rules and status update:

1) Governor Schwarzenegger had 14 calendar days (that's until February 29) to issue an "election proclamation." (Cal. Elec. Code Sec. 10700.) He issued it today.

2) A "special election" has to be held on a Tuesday and least 112 days, but not more than 126 days following the issuance of the proclamation.  (Cal. Elec. Code Sec. 10703(a).) The Govnah issued the proclamation today so that the special election can be held on June 3 (exactly 112 days from today). Which, conveniently, is the date upon which we are already having the Statewide Direct Primary Election. David Tom, the San Mateo elections manager estimates that we saved $500,000 by avoiding a separate special election.

3) However...we'll be using that cash for a "special primary election" that has to be held on the "eighth Tuesday...preceding the day of the special election." (Cal. Elec. Code Sec. 10704(a).) With a June 3 special election date, the special primary election will take place on Tuesday, April 8.

4) Nominees for the special primary election have to file with elections officials no less than 43 days before the primary election, which is Monday, February 25. (Cal. Elec. Code Sec. 10704(a).) All delusional people who think they can beat Jackie Speier need to stop lip-synching in front of the mirror in their mother's lingerie and focus on getting those papers in order.   

5) If, on April 8, one candidate gets more than 50% of votes cast, that person is declared the winner. (Cal. Elec. Code Sec. 10705(a).) So, for example, if 100 people total vote in the special primary and 55 of them are Democrats who vote for Jackie Speier to be the Democratic Party nominee, she would not have to run against the Republican nominee in the June election. Thus far, 30-year-old Jason Lee Jones is the only Dem who has filed to run against Speier. (Robert Barrows is a Dem who has said he will run, too.)

6) If only one party puts up any candidates, whomever gets the most votes in the special primary election will be declared the winner, even if she doesn't get a majority of all votes cast. (Cal. Elec. Code Sec. 10705(b).) Mike Moloney and from the Republican Party and Kevin Dempsey Peterson from the Libertarian Party have apparently asked for nomination papers for the 12th District seat.  (Though I also found information showing other D12 hopefuls: a Republican candidate named Rodney Christopher Edenfield, a Green Party candidate named Barry Hermanson, and a Socialist Workers Party candidate named Gerardo Sanchez. Not sure if these guys are still in it or not.)   

No matter if the interim Congressional Representative is decided on April 8 or June 3, candidates wishing to run for the full two-year Congressional term that commences January 2009 must be on the June 3 primary ballot. In other words, on June 3, we could have a situation in which voters choose between a Dem (say Speier) and Rep (say Moloney) to serve between now and January 2009; and also choose a party representative (say between Speier and Jones) for the same seat on the November ballot. Confused yet? Mission accomplished. 

We shall see if more folks toss their dignity into the blender. But I must say, with sad passing of Tom Lantos, I sure as hell wouldn't want to run against the woman he endorsed as his successor.

--Melissa 

   

Comments

[Greg]

I was trying to recall a situation similar to this when you have someone leave office and then have a special election rigth around the same time as the normally scheduled primary, et al ,but I couldn't come up with one in recent memory.

Pelosi was elected in a special election in 1987 and Gary Condit was elected in a special election in 1989 (which I actually drove out to Modesto to work on as a field hand for a week!) There's been a few others since then but none of them had such an odd situation as the one we have now.

Whoever wins the special election to fill out the rest of Lantos' term will have more seniority than anyone elected in the fall around the country, so that's a bit of a silver lining to the sad news about Rep. Lantos. He was a good guy and did a lot of good for the district. Somewhere in my button collection I have buttons from when he got elected in the early 80s...