The issue of Rep. Buck McKeon's practice of paying his wife, Patricia, rather handsomely from his campaign account is destined to be something Simi Valley voters will hear a great deal about in the weeks leading up to the June 5 primary -- in which Patricia McKeon is a GOP candidate in the 38th Assembly District.

A report issued last week by the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington highlighted that the McKeons top a list of 248 members of Congress who engage in that practice. The report found that over the 2008 and 2010 election cycles Patricia McKeon was paid $238,438 "to serve as treasurer for her husband's campaign."

Rep. McKeon's most recent financial report, filed in Janaury, shows that his wife was paid $5,318 a month in salary each month during the fourth quarter of 2011.

Scott Wilk, one of Mrs. McKeon's Republican primary opponents, suggests voters should look to her Assembly campaign finance report to get a sense of perspective. Wilk asked me the other day how much Mrs. McKeon pays her own campaign treasurer.

The answer, from Patricia McKeon's most recent report, which covers activities from Jan. 1 through March 17: Over that 10-week period,she paid the KAL Group a grand total of $450 for accounting services.

As expected, the region's Democratic establishment is rallying around Assemblywoman Julia Brownley of Oak Park in the 26th Congressional District as party leaders and activists seek to consolidate enough support behind a single candidate to ensure a second-place finish in the June primary.

The challenge has been discussed here before at some length: With four Democrats on the ballot, a strong Republican in Sen. Tony Strickland of Moorpark and a strong independent in Supervisor Linda Parks of Thousand Oaks, Democrats are in danger of not qualifying a candidate for the November election under the state's new primary election system, in which only the top two finishers, regardless of party affiliation, make it to general election ballot.

In the past week or so, there have been signs that the effort to rally around Brownley is gaining momentum. Last week, she picked up the endorsement of Rep. Lois Capps of Santa Barbara, giving her a full lineup of the area's leading Democrats that she can use in mailers to Democratic voters to persuade them she is the preferred choice in the party. The lineup includes Capps, former state Superintendent of Public Instruction and longtime local legislator Jack O'Connell and the county's two longtime Democratic supervisors, Steve Bennett and Kathy Long.

In addition, it was announced today that Brownley has picked up the backing of the California League of Conservation Voters, the umbrella group that is the political arm of environmental organizations in the state. That endorsement will serve as another strong cue to Democratic voters, suggesting that she is the party's standout in the race.

In another development, civic leaders and Democratic stalwarts Hank and Leah Lacayo are hosting a fundraiser for Brownley at their Newbury Park home on Saturday. The event is being co-hosted by Long, and among the sponsors are an array of Democrats who are local elected officials: Mark Lisagor and Ramon Flores from the county Board of Education, Moorpark Councilman David Pollock, former Port Hueneme Mayor Murray Rosenbluth and Oxnard Harbor District Commissioner Mary Anne Rooney.

One of the backers of the original "millionaire's tax" proposed by the California Federation of Teachers recently told me that Gov. Jerry Brown was at risk of repeating a mistake he made in his first go-round in the governor's office: underestimating the extent of a wave of public sentiment about taxes.

In the mid-1970s, it was underestimating the extent of voter anger over property taxes -- a mistake that led to the Proposition 13 initiative in 1978. Only after it passed did Brown see the light on that movement, becoming a "born again" tax cutter.

Fast forward to 2012, this source said, and Brown was seriously misreading the wave of public anger about the concentration of wealth in the top 1 percent and the desire that taxes on the very wealthy be raised.

Unable to persuade the California Federation of Teachers to back down on their millionaire's tax, Brown folded parts of that proposal into his -- creating an initiative that can reasonably sold as a tax increase on the very wealthy.

The extent of sentiment in support of that idea was reflected in the recent Los Angeles Times-USC Dornsife College poll, which registered support for the blended tax proposal at 64 percent, with just 32 percent opposed. Even more significantly, independents backed the measure 75 percent to 23 percent.

A separate question on the since-dropped millionaire's tax, which was even more heavily weighted toward taxing the ultra-rich, polled at 69 percent support..

Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg, whose firm teams with the Republican polling firm American Viewpoint to conduct the USC poll, told me on a telephone conference call this morning that not only were the numbers strong but so was enthusiasm for the idea. Half of the 69 percent who supported it said they "strongly favored" it.

Greenberg said the findings in California are consistent with poll findings nationwide on federal proposals to raise taxes on the wealthiest income-earners.

While those associated with the USC poll warned the support could drop if the proposal faces funded opposition in the fall, it could also be possible that this is a moment in time when voter anger over gross income inequality is so strong that the measure would be bulletproof against opposition. That's what happened in 1978, when the business community and the entire state establishment campaigned hard against Proposition 13 but couldn't make a dent in voter sentiment.

In his weekly briefing with reporters today, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg for the first time acknowledged concern about his party's prospects in the 19th Senate District, which covers western Ventura County and all of Santa Barbara County.

Responding to questions about an upcoming fundraiser, Steinberg said that his caucus is "highly motivated" to win enough seats in November to attain a two-thirds majority in the Senate -- to "get to 27 and beyond," is how he phrased it.

And where will the campaign money be needed? There are the three swing districts (including the 27th in eastern Ventura County) and "potentially four, potentially five." No. 4 on the list, he said, is the 39th District in San Diego, where Democrats hold a 7.3 percent voter registration advantage. And the fifth district of concern? "Depending on what occurs, you've got the Santa Barbara race, the 19th," Steinberg said.

(As an aside, someone needs to educate the political players in Sacramento that the 19th is hardly the "Santa Barbara race"; a majority of district voters are in Ventura County.)

It was a surprising statement about a district in which Democrats hold more than a 12 percentage-point advantage in voter registration, and a district that President Barack Obama carried by 22 points four years ago.

Steinberg did not elaborate on what he meant by "depending on what occurs," but it appeared to be a reference to polling done by Oxnard Harbor Commissioner Jason Hodge a month ago. Its findings suggested that if Hodge's Democratic opponent, former Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, ends up in a head-to-head race in November against former Santa Barbara County Supervisor Mike Stoker, the race could be competitive.

There's a very long way to go between here and there, but as the campaign season gets under way, Supervisor Linda Parks of Thousand Oaks has a very good chance of making history this year as independent running for Congress. Which is another way of saying that she could actually win.

That conclusion is based on a poll conducted by Parks' campaign team of Gorton Blair Biggs International, headed by former Pete Wilson strategist George Gorton, whose storied career in political consulting includes a tie-in with Watergate as a youth-vote adviser to President Richard Nixon's 1972 presidential campaign (he paid someone to spy on anti-war protesters) and a major role in helping to elect Boris Yeltsin as president of the Russian Federation (the film "Spinning Boris" was based on that, with Jeff Goldblum playing the role of Gorton).

Parks' team yesterday shared with me a polling memo in the 26th Congressional District. Although short on details of the actual poll, the memo makes three things clear: Parks is now running in a strong second place in the primary, none of the four Democratic candidates is particularly well known, and that the Thousand Oaks supervisor has a statistically significant lead in a hypothetical November matchup against Republican Tony Strickland.

Some details: The poll surveyed 361 likely primary voters from Feb. 26-28 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent. The results, according to the memo, show Parks in a "strong second place" in the primary. If she were to finish second, the polling results (weighted to reflect the expected partisan makeup of a general election turnout) show her leading Strickland 42.6 percent to 35.5 percent in a head-to-head race in November.

As for the Democrats, the memo says they have a tough road ahead:

"None of the Democrats show signs of gaining enough support at this late date to make it through the primary. All of the Democrats, Jess Herrera, Julia Brownley and David Cruz Thayne, are mired at under 5 percent of the vote.

"Brownley, whom some pundits view as the strongest of the Democratic candidates, enters the race as a virtual unknown. Nine in ten voters do not know who she is or do not know enough about her to form an opinion with only a little over 5 weeks to go before absentee voting begins."

It's possible that once the campaign begins Brownley -- or perhaps one of the others -- could consolidate Democrats and emerge as the clear Democratic candidate in the field. I asked Gorton if the poll tested how a generic Democratic candidate (that is, a clearly identifed favorite of Democrats) would fare, but he would not say. He did offer that Parks registers support across the board among Democrats, Republicans and independents, but would not provide specifics.

"Her message appeals to both parties. They're is no loyalty to parties as there used to be," Gorton told me yesterday.

Parks' principal message is that partisan wrangling has rendered Congress dysfunctional and that the country needs congressional representatives who are not aligned with either party and are willing to break through the gridlock. That message appeals to all sides, Gorton said, because "it has no conservative or liberal meaning to it."

"This election has the potential to turn California politics on its head," the memo says. ".A major candidate - Supervisor Linda Parks - has entered the race as an Independent and is in a strong second place according to our recent survey, qualifying her for the runoff.

"Specifically, if the primary election were held today, Linda Parks would earn one of the two top spots to advance to a general election vs. Tony Strickland."

The memo cautions that the poll is simply an early snapshot of the dynamics of the race.

"Conditions and attitudes can change," it says. "Campaigns count, message counts, fundraising counts and grass roots efforts count, so nothing is written in stone. Nevertheless, if the general election were held today, Linda Parks would win. Her lead over Strickland is outside the margin of error."

Sources tell me that the poll's findings are generally consistent with what other private polling in this race has revealed. What all this means is that between now and June 5 Parks can expect to be attacked from both sides, as a second-place finish in the primary could spell big problems for Democrats and Republicans alike.

Legislative candidates on both ends of Ventura County are employing an interesting strategy in an attempt to appeal to their own partisan voters. They are essentially arguing that a district that ought to be safely in their party's hands will be in jeopardy in they don't win in the primary.

19th Senate District candidate Jason Hodge of Oxnard was the first to employ the strategy, releasing the results of an internal poll that suggested fellow Democrat Hannah-Beth Jackson had weaknesses that could be exploited by Republican Mike Stoker in the general election.

The implication was clear: If Jackson is the Democrat on the general election ballot, the party will have to spend money and sweat out the results in what, on paper, ought to be a safely Democratic district that includes western Ventura County.

Now 38th Assembly District candidate Scott Wilk of Santa Clarita is making the same argument to Republicans in Simi Valley. In an email to supporters today, Wilk writes: "Polling results show that if either of our Republican opponents makes it into a runoff against Democrat Edward Headington, the 38th becomes a toss up seat. Roughly $5 million to $7 dollars will have to be redistributed to keep this seat instead of using the money and resources on other tight races in California."

It's difficult to judge the validity of these arguments, but this much is certain: They surely serve to motivate Stoker and Headington as they appeal to contributors and make other preparations for what will be uphill campaigns in the fall.

In other campaign news, a couple of new endorsements to report:

Long for Brownley: Supervisor Kathy Long of Camarillo has endorsed Democratic Assemblywoman Julia Brownley of Oak Park in the 26th Congressional District. A Democrat endorsing a Democrat, of course, isn't really big news, but in this case it's worth noting because Long is backing the opponent of a colleague and sometime ally on the board, Supervisor Linda Parks of Thousand Oaks, who is running as an independent.

A labor endorsement for Thayne: 26th Congressional District candidate David Cruz Thayne of Westlake Village has announced the endorsement of Teamsters Local 186, which represents UPS drivers in the county. It's a significant development for Thayne because others have belittled the fact that most of his previous endorsements, largely from members of the Legislature's Latino Caucus, have come from people outside the district. In its statement announcing the endorsement, the Thayne campaign notes that its candidate was "raised in a union family with nine children" and has "experienced firsthand the importance of a living wage."

It's been a wild election year in Ventura County already, and the campaign season hasn't yet quite begun. Just thinking back on the who's-in-who's-out phase makes my head hurt:

Rep. Brad Sherman's moving to Thousand Oaks to run for re-election, no he's not. Sen. Fran Pavley is moving to Oxnard, no she's not. Supervisor Steve Bennett and Moorpark Councilman David Pollock are running for Congress, no they're not. Former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg is running for the state Senate in Ventura County's 27th District, no he's not. Assemblywoman Julia Brownley isn't running for Congress, yes she is. Former Santa Barbara County Supervisor Mike Stoker is going to get a state appointment and not run for Senate, no he's not.

Now that we know for a fact who's running and who's not, let the campaigns begin. And that means candidate forums. And, gratefully, that means the involvement of the League of Women Voters, which puts in the hard work to make them happen.

First out of the box is a candidates' forum in the 26th Congressional District, which will take place Friday afternoon from 3:30 to 5 at the Camarillo City Council chambers. KADY-TV will stream it online, and Time Warner cable will air it on its city government channel in Camarillo (Channel 10).

Although there have been a couple events staged by Democratic clubs for (current and former) Democratic candidates, I believe this is the first one put on by a nonpartisan organization -- and, thus, the first to which non-Democrats have been invited. Supervisor Linda Parks, running in this race as an independent, is expected to participate, as well as the four Democrats. Forum organizer David Maron of the League of Women Voters, who will also moderate, says it is not yet clear whether Republican Sen. Tony Strickland will be able to attend.

Maron says the League hopes to host at least one and possibly two more forums in this highly watched contest before the June 5 election.

Meanwhile, some area Latino leaders have scheduled at April 5 Latino Issues Forum for the congressional candidates, to take place that evening at the Courtyard Marriott in Oxnard. I will participate as a panelist in that one, alongside some notable Latino journalists including my former Ventura County Star colleague Frank Moraga.

The campaigns will enter the paid advertising and direct mail stage before long. The next couple of weeks offer good opportunities to actually assess the candidates before the real craziness begins.

As I wrote in my column in The Star today, Supervisor Linda Parks of Thousand Oaks faces a unique set of challenges running as an independent in the 26th Congressional District race.

One thing that will help her in confronting those challenges is if she can demonstrate a level of mainstream support for a candidate who is not a Republican or a Democrat. Toward that end, she has received a real boost with the endorsements of the Ventura County Deputy Sheriff's Association and the Ventura County Firefighers Association.

A press released from the Parks campaign quotes Chris Mahon, executive officer for the Firefighters Association: "Supervisor Parks has a strong record of partnering with Ventura Countyʼs first responders and we know sheʼll continue that effective leadership in Congress."

In another organized labor endorsement in the 26th District announced today, Democrat David Cruz Thayne of Westlake Village secured the backing of Jack Villa, president of the American Postal Workers Union Channel Islands Local 589.

"It is my pleasure to endorse David Cruz Thayne for the U.S. Congress," Villa said in a press release issued by the Thayne campaign. "I believe he will work hard in assisting the American worker, and the problems which face this country and our communities."

Today's campaign updates:

MAKING THE LIST: Emily's List, the national organization of more than 1 million members devoted to providing resources to women running for political office, has put Assemblywoman Julia Brownley of Oak Park on its list.

Brownley, a Democrat, is running in Ventura County's 26th Congressional District. Emily's List is one of the largest political action committees in the nation, having raised $38.5 million in the most recent election cycle to recruit and support women candidates. By putting Brownley "on the list," said President Stephanie Schriock, it means she will now have access to Emily's List's network of donors.

EXCEPT FOR THAT YOUTH CENTER NAMED AFTER ME: Political consultants like to say that they'd much rather run against an opponent who has a record than one who does not. Here's the latest evidence of why:

After 24th Congressional District Republican candidate Abel Maldonado said in an interview with the San Luis Obispo Tribune that he was a strong opponent of congressional earmarks, the campaign of Democrat Lois Capps issued a press release pointing out one component of the 2001 California state budget, adopted when Maldonado was a member of the Assembly.

The budget included $500,000 for the final phase of the Abel Maldonado Youth Center in Santa Maria. A Los Angeles Times story at the time made it clear that there was very little question how that particular item it made it into the budget.

GO TO SCHOOL: 38th Assembly District Democratic candidate Edward Headington has issued an interesting challenge to the three Republicans in the race: visit every elementary school and police station in the district.

If candidates are going to tell voters that the state budget can be balanced without tax increases and without hurting essential services, Headington said, they need to go to schools and police stations to look principals, teachers, police chiefs and officers on the beat in the eyes and tell them how that can be done without harming education and public safety.

There were few surprises with Friday's (almost) close of filing for the June campaigns. Perhaps the most significant, in terms of its potential effect on the outcome, was the decision of Ventura real estate broker Al Goldberg to complete his filing in the 26th Congressional District. That means that Democrats, even after Moorpark Councilman David Pollock dropped out of the race on Thursday citing concerns that having too many candidates could doom the chances of a Democrat finishing first or second in the June 5 top-two primary, will still have four candidates on the ballot.

Goldberg, a conservative Democrat and an extraordinarily pleasant man, is not liklely to raise any money to mount a serious campaign. But he's been around Ventura for a long time and, being in the real estate business, has met a lot of folks. Just having his name on the ballot will complicate the electoral equation for other candidates: In 2000, when Goldberg ran in the Democratic primary against Michael Case, he picked up 8,786 votes, or 6.1 percent of the total.

Another minor suprise was the filing of Democrat Eileen MacEnery of Newbury Park in the 44th Assembly District. Just a couple days before the deadline, she was appealing to friends for help in coming up with the filing fee, but she obviously succeeded. In this case, it probably helps Democrats to have two candidates on the June 5 ballot. Since there is only one Republican, incumbent Jeff Gorell of Camarillo, and one other Democrat, Tom Mullens of Thousand Oaks, either MacEnery or Mullens is guaranteed of finishing in the top two. The experience of campaigning in the spring could help both raise their profile for what will likely be an uphill challenge against Gorell in the fall.

Some other developments of note:

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY -- In his now-abandoned campaign, Pollock says he was discouraged about learning the dreary facts of life of what it takes to wage a serious race for Congress. Under the supervision of campaign staff, and with a clock on him, he says he spent 8 to 10 hours a day on the telephone calling people for campaign contributions. And the worst part, he said, was knowing that even if he won that drill would never let up. "I was told that even if I won to expect to spend four hours a day for the next two years dialing for dollars."

O'CONNELL WEIGHS IN -- Former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, the former Ventura County legislator who has been the most successful Democratic politican to come out of the county in the last 30 years, has largely stayed out of primaries. He didn't endorse a candidate, for instance, in the tough Das Williams vs. Susan Jordan Assembly primary two years ago.

But O'Connell has come out strongly in support of Assemblywoman Julia Brownley in the 26th Congressional District primary. The two worked closely together in Sacramento when Brownley was chairwoman of the Assembly Education Committee during the last two years of O'Connell's tenure as state school superintendent. "She'll be great," O'Connell told me last week. "She's a good fit for that congressional district."

BEST $300 CAMPAIGN EXPENSE EVER: Simi Valley podiatrist Lee Rogers, the Democratic Party-endorsed candidate in the 25th Congressional District,
attended a charity auction for the College of the Canyons last week at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. One of the auction items was lunch for four with Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon of Santa Clarita, the Republican incumbent in the race. Rogers purchased the lunch for $300.

He says he intends to bring along three reporters as his guests. "I would like to sit with the congressman and have a cordial discussion about the challenges that face the communities in the 25th district and the United States," he said in a press release.

One suspects he's already gotten at least $300 worth of publicity about the purchase -- and the best part is the money goes to a good cause, the college's educational foundation.

A PARTISAN SNUB FOR MALDONADO: The Santa Barbara County Republican Party voted over the weekend to endorse actor Chris Mitchum of Santa Barbara in the 24th Congressional District, a setback for former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria.

Maldonado is hardly a favorite of GOP activists because of his 2009 vote in the state Senate in favor of temporary tax increases, his moderate position on illegal immigration and his authorship of the top-two primary system, among other reasons. Because of all that, he was never going to get the GOP endorsement, but he must have been hoping for a "no endorsement" position, given that whatever his ideological failings may be, even the staunchest conservative Republican activists might recognize that he could be the party's strongest candidate in November against Democratic incumbent Lois Capps of Santa Barbara.

The state party board, however, did not follow the Santa Barbara County recommendation. It decided over the weekend to make no endorsement.

Capps's campaign was quick to make hay of the county GOP's decision. "If he cannot even win the endorsement of his own county party, how will he compete with Rep. Lois Capps in November?" asked Capps' spokesman Jeff Millman in an email sent to reporters last night.

It was curious last month when former Santa Barbara County Supervisor Mike Stoker sent an email to supporters asking them to attend a Feb. 24 event at which he would announce that he would be a Republican candidate in the 19th Senate District, but then told me that the email didn't necessarily mean that he had decided to run.

"Things could change," he said at the time.

Stoker went on to postpone the planned Feb. 24 announcement tour, before finally going ahead with it on Wednesday, when he formally declared his candidacy.

I have now learned what Stoker meant when he said that "things could change." Discussions were taking place at the highest levels in Sacramento to secure for Stoker an appointment to the California Air Resources Board.

Had those overtures succeeded, Stoker would not have run, Republicans would have been left scrambling on short notice to find a candidate, and Democrat Jason Hodge of Oxnard would have been left with a far better chance of advancing to the November ballot by finishing in the top two in the June primary, where he is competing against a better-known Democratic opponent, former Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson of Santa Barbara.

Stoker said yesterday that he has never made a secret about his desire to serve on the Air Board, the powerful state agency that regulates air quality and is overseeing the implementation of the state's landmark global warming law, including the cap-and-trade program on carbon emissions. He noted that he first made known his interest during the administration of former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

He said the ramped-up efforts to secure the appointment were driven by "PACs and the third house" in Sacramento, referring to lobbyists representing business interests.

Their logic went like this: They believe the district is safely Democratic, and they further believe that Hodge would be more sympathetic to their interests than would Jackson. Getting Stoker appointed to the Air Board would have been a win-win for business interests because they would have gained a friendly member of the board and it would have cleared the way for them to openly back Hodge in the primary because there would have been no serious Republican opposition, or perhaps none at all.

Stoker said the reason he had said for the last several months that he was "99 percent certain" to run for the Senate is that "there was one thing that could have trumped that. I said all along that if I could be on CARB, I would be in a better position to make a difference."

He said he believes it is important that agriculture have a stronger voice on the Air Board, and that he could have provided that voice.

High-placed sources in the Capitol tell me that the appointment proposal was actively being considered two weeks ago but that it was ultimately squelched by officials in Gov. Jerry Brown's administration.

Had it gone through, the political result would have been to advantage Hodge. Because he has positioned himself as more moderate than Jackson and because the business community has generally found his wife, Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Fiona Ma, to be a Democrat they can work with, business interests were looking for a way to boost Hodge's chances. They believed that by removing Stoker from the field Hodge would be much better positioned in the primary because he would have had the opportunity to attract some Republican votes.

Hodge told me today that he was aware of the effort, but had nothing to do with it.

"Some people might have been doing it because they thought it would help me out," he said. "I did not like it. I did not appreciate it."

Preparations are being made for homecoming events for Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo, who is scheduled to return at the end of the month from a year-long deployment with the Navy in Afghanistan.

The first, say members of his office staff and political team, is envisioned as a nonpolitical, community-based event that will take place April 4 at California Lutheran University's Gilbert Sports and Athletic Center Arena in Thousand Oaks. Admission is free, but organizers are asking for RSVPs at WelcomeHomeJeffGorell.org.

But a second event, to take place on an undetermined date later in April, will be a fundraiser in Sacramento that will require a campaign contribution to attend. That explains the invitation to a Gorell campaign fundraiser scheduled for this evening in Sacramento that has an admission price tag of $1,000 to $3,900. The invitation promises that those who give the larger amount, the maximum allowed under state contribution limits, will be admitted free to the Sacramento homecoming. "Max out contributions will receive complimentary admission to Jeff Gorell's homecoming event in April," the invitation reads.

The timing of Gorell's return is such that he will find himself in campaign mode almost as soon as he is released from active military duty. While he was on leave from his political/civilian job for most of 2011, his campaign fundraisers were not. His campaign committee raised $163,000 last year. Tonight's event and the April homecoming fundraiser will add to that total as Gorell prepares to launch his 2012 re-election campaign in the new 44th Assembly District.