Check out the posts from Das Williams and Susan Jordan:

First Susan posts that she met Lilly Ledbetter at the recent Ventura County Democratic Party Kennedy Legacy event. Then minutes later Das Williams posts that he too watched the speech.

To summarize:

Susan Jordan posts that she attended the Lilly Ledbetter speech. A few minutes later Das Williams posts that he went to the Lilly Ledbetter speech. Then a few minutes after that Susan Jordan tops him by posting a picture of her with Lilly Ledbetter and announces that she has Ledbetter's endorsement.

Sure it could all be a coincidence but it looked funny to me.

Susan Jordan, who is running for the Democratic Party nomination in the 35th State Assembly District, recently announced some law enforcement endorsements. For a Democrat running largely on her environmental protection background diversifying her base of support is critical. This announcement shows she is not a single issue candidate. I consider myself an environmentalist but there are many critical issues our state is going to need to deal with in the coming years.

I would like to see endorsements from people that want to reform education and from business groups next. I have invited Susan Jordan to come on here for an interview when she gets a chance. I have already interviewed Republican Mike Stoker and Democrat Das Williams.

The winner of the Democratic Party nomination is expected to be the prohibitive favorite in the general election.

I have more videos and pictures to post later this week. If you have videos of pictures from today you want posted send them to me.

Former State Assembly candidate Ferial Masry has news regarding her intentions:

Candidate for Sheriff Geoff Dean (R) worked the crowd. Here he is speaking to Ventura City Council Members Brian Brennan and Ed Summers. I expect Geoff Dean's list of endorsements will be updated with new bipartisan additions soon.

I ran into a friend of this blog Denis O'Leary of Oxnard. Denis has been a long time activist for a variety of progressive causes.

State Assembly candidate Susan Jordan gave a speech that outlined her life story and the causes she supports. Her opponent Das Williams was there too. I will post his picture later. Das, if you have pictures from today you want posted send them in.

Here are a bunch of polls related to the labor day picnic and candidates that were there.

Click here for the news story from The Star.

Here is a video of State Assembly candidate Das Williams announcing his candidacy:

In his speech he mentions working for the ANC in South Africa, growing up in poverty, and what it will take him for to win.

But my favorite part? The person that brought a cowbell to the speech. More cowbell please.

I interviewed State Assembly candidate Das Williams ( District 35) tonight by using the comments section of this entry. I asked him questions on education reform, marriage equality, budgetary reform and more. Click on continue reading to check it out.

Das, thanks taking questions here on my blog. I appreciate your time! Come back in a few months as the election gets closer.

If you would like to comment on this interview please use the open thread below this entry.

Thanks to statewide blog Calitics for mentioning this interview and posting a link. I appreciate it.

Das Williams is running against Susan Jordan for the nomination of the Democratic Party in the 35th Assembly District to replace termed out Assembly Member Pedro Nava. His campaign kick off announcement was earlier this week in Santa Barbara and in Ventura. I didn't attend the event but his campaign staff sent me some photos to post.

Thanks to his staff for sending them in.

I see Das Williams, Brian Leshon, Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett in the picture and a dog in the picture. Who do you recognize?

Ventura County Star Reporter Timm Herdt had a recent blog entry with the provocative title:

I thought it was celebrity news connected to Susan Jordan before I read more.

Click here to read more from Timm Herdt.

Here is the map of the district:

I reset the poll and made it harder for someone to vote multiple times after a blogger from Ventura had fun with it. Let's try this again:

Santa Barbara City Council Member Das Williams is also making it official by declaring next week he is running for State Assembly to replace Assembly Member Pedro Nava who is prevented from term limits from running again. Pedro Nava is running for Attorney General.

I am not going to be going to the press conferences but I will post any video that is made available.

I want someone that will stand up for the vital services the state runs but will also challenge existing orthodoxies that dominate Sacramento. I want someone that knows the issues and knows when their supporters, interest groups, and party leaders are wrong.

We need major reforms at the state level on how we create budgets and I don't want someone that needs approval from interest groups to do what they know is needed.

What do you want?

I don't know if Das Williams or Susan Jordan is that candidate yet.

The latest round of fundraising numbers is expected soon. With that data we can tell if State Senator Tony Strickland is willing to invest serious money into Mike Stoker's campaign. I haven't seen much that would make Mike Stoker have bipartisan appeal yet, but the election is a long time away.

Click on continue reading for the press release.

( Photo courtesy of Sharon Hillbrant. Sharon serves as a volunteer on too many committees to mention but they include the Ventura County Democratic Central Committee and the California Democratic Party Rules Committee.)

The Susan Jordan for Assembly in 2010 campaign announced the endorsement of State Democratic Party Vice-Chair Eric Bauman. He has been a leader of the Los Angeles Democratic Party for years and was recently elected to a leadership position in the state party. He is also a senior staff member for Lt. Governor John Garamendi.

Click on continue reading for the press release.

Click here for my interview w/ Eric Bauman when he was successfully campaigning to be Vice Chair of the California Democratic Party.

Her opponent in the primary, Santa Barbara City Council Member Das Williams, announced that former State Assembly Member and former candidate for State Senate Hannah-Beth Jackson has endorsed her former staff member for state assembly.

Hannah-Beth Jackson is very well known in much of the district after serving in the State Assembly for 6 years and running unsuccessfully against Tony Strickland for the State Senate. She has the ability to help him raise money and to add credibility to his campaign.

Here is an old ad form when Das Williams was running for city council:

Republican State Assembly candidate Mike Stoker has ridiculed this endorsement with his own press release calling Hannah-Beth Jackson "Taxin' Jackson" like Strickland supporters did during the campaign.

I don't know why her critics, like Mike Stoker, don't spell her name correctly. Is it intentional?

We will see when the fundraising reports come out if local Republicans are really getting behind Mike Stoker. He was endorsed by State Senator Tony Strickland but the real sign of commitment will be if Strickland donates a substantial amount early on.

The Republican Party has already endorsed Jeff Gorell in the primary for the 37th State Assembly district nomination. Do they have the confidence to do the same to help Mike Stoker? Large donations and an early endorsement would show they are planning to seriously campaign for this office.

To all the candidates: Let me know when you have a campaign website up or would like to be interviewed.

State Assembly Candidate for the 35th District Susan Jordan joins a rally against cuts to health care funding.

Here is a photo of State Assembly candidate Susan Jordan with other area leaders at the rally:

There was a rally to protest cuts to health care programs in Oxnard today.

Click here for the story from The Ventura County Star.

I expect to see many groups organizing rallies in the coming weeks as Sacramento debates how to fix the budget.

What do you think the chances are that the state will pass a new budget in the next few weeks? It seems that many groups has some sort of veto power over proposals that are being discussed.

Here are more pictures from the annual Ventura County Democratic Party spring fling event. Keep sending in photos you want me to post.

CA 24 congressional candidate Tim Allison campaigns for the Democratic nomination. Check out how many people are wearing his stickers in the photos from the event.

Click here for past entries that mention him. Tim, when you have a website up I will link to it when you are mentioned on my blog. When is the website going up?

Santa Barbara City Council Member and Labor Union Organizer Das Williams was among the many candidates at the event meeting other elected officials and Democratic Party activists.

Das Williams and Susan Jordan are both running to earn the nomination of the Democratic Party for the 35th State Assembly District.

Click here for past entries that mention him.

Susan Jordan has her photo taken with John Ziv ,a leader of the local The Sierra Club. I have heard her campaign was very successful at rounding up endorsements at the event. I expect to see a list in a few weeks.

Click here for past entries that mention her.

In the background is Shawn Stern, a candidate for congress ( CA 24). Shawn, any news from the campaign trail to report?

Click here for past entries that mention Shawn Stern.

I am going to be interviewing a candidate for state assembly soon. Obviously the budget is the most important issue but I also want to know the positions of the candidates on education reform. Any specific questions you want me to ask?

Ever get the idea that advertisers are reading your email or website to target their message? My latest advertiser on this blog is the CIA. Something I wrote might mean that my readers are targets for recruitment into our clandestine intelligence services. For this week when you are coming up with screen names try to see if you can reference spies from history or fiction.

I thought the ad placement next to this event listed online was really funny:

Remember when some liberals were saying they were going to leave if Bush won? I guess some Canadians are now trying to recruit Republicans!

Click on the appropriate button below to share this entry on a social network like Facebook.

Republican Mike Sroker has entered the race for 35th Assembly District. The 35th Assembly District is thought to be a safe Democratic district but he is hoping to change that in the 2010 election.

Click here for an article on the subject from Ventura County Star Reporter Timm Herdt.

Timm, what is a district consultant? How much does that job pay?

He has already been endorsed by State Senator Tony Strickland, which should help to clear the primary field. I will hesitate to say State Senator Tony Strickland is supporting him until I see campaign finance reports showing he has actually donated money. As of now I don't know if Republican leaders are really going to be supporting Mike Stoker with their wallets.

Mr. Stoker said he would run on a platform to reduce the state workforce, while protecting police and fire and increasing education funding.

Click here for the story on SantaBarbarasBlog.com.

So, he wants to reduce the state work force but police, fire, and education funding won't be cut? Does he include prisons as part of police protection? Maybe he means he will increase funding but cut positions? Does that mean he wants less teachers but higher pay?

Click here for the Santa Barbara Independent story on his campaign announcement.

Does that 20% include local law enforcement? Prison workers? Teachers? Does he mean only state government employees?

When he sets up a website with clear policy positions I will post another entry.

I don't live in the district but I will support the candidate that has the most serious positions on moving forward out of our current problems.

Mr. Stoker, send me any campaign updates you want me to post.

I posted this entry in a rush getting out the door because I said I would by the end of the week. If you see any mistakes please correct me. Thanks!

I didn't go to the Ventura County Democratic Spring Fling but I am posting pictures that are being sent in. Send me any photos from the event you want posted.

Did you go? What's the buzz? From early reports the place was packed with activists and elected officials.

Here are some photos from the event:

State Senator Fran Pavley back from meeting with President Barack Obama speaks to elected officials, candidates, and party activists. Fran Pavely, a former Moorpark teacher, is really popular with environmentalists for her leadership on pushing for new regulations on cars and trucks.

State Assembly candidate Susan Jordan met with many elected officials and party activists at the event. My early reports say her staff was really successful and getting endorsements at the event.

In this photo she is standing next to Ventura County Firefighter Jason Hodge. Jason is a party activist and union leader. He posted guest blog entries from DC when he attended the inauguration. Click here to see his guest blog entries. Jason, my first instinct is to tease you for your new beach bum hair but with the little hair I have I am not going to start something.

Did you go to the event? Which speakers impressed you? What elected officials did you see?

Sidenotes:

1. I will post a Michael Stoker for State Assembly entry this week. Thanks for the links to his campaign announcement.

2. The comments have become increasingly nasty in the last week. Please keep it classy. If you see something that goes over the top send me an email. I don't post which readers asked for a comment to be removed.

3. There are many profound issues of our time that I don't write blog entries on. That doesn't mean I am not interested in them. Oftentimes there are better outlets with more resources to cover them. This includes the stimulus, Afghanistan, Iraq, terrorism, religion, elections in other states, Israeli/Palestinian relations, the assassination in Kansas, details of the state budget and more. I started this blog because I wanted to learn more about our local politics, and I imagine that is why you read it.

Thanks for reading and commenting on my blog.

If you want to share this entry on a Social Network (Facebook etc.) please click on the appropriate button. On Facebook you can then tab to choose which photo from the entry to post. Thanks for your support.