Democrat Carole Migden represents the 3rd District in the California State Senate, which includes parts of San Francisco, Sonoma County, and Marin County.[1] She was previously a member of the California State Assembly (1996-2002) and Chairwoman of the California Board of Equalization (2002-2004), the nation's only publicly-elected tax commission. She also served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (1991-1996). Carole Migden is the Chairperson of California Senate Labor & Industrial Relations Committee and the Chairperson of the Senate Majority Caucus. She was previously the Senate Appropriations Committee Chair, until she resigned her chair in November 2005. According to Migden, she resigned to assist State Controller Steve Westly in his bid to win the 2006 California Democratic gubernatorial primary.
Critics dispute this claim, suggesting Migden was forced to resign following a scandal over her September 2005 "ghost vote" incident. On August 31, 2005, she used the voting machine of Assemblyman Guy Houston (R-Livermore) to cast the deciding vote for her cosmetic safety bill, SB 484. In a later vote, Guy Houston voted against the bill. Casting a vote in the other house of the Legislature, using another member's machine, was in violation of the rules of the Assembly, and did not count. Assembly Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) discussed the possibility of banning Migden from entering the Assembly Floor.[2]
As Chairperson of the Board of Equalization, Carole Migden increased the profile of the tax collecting agency and improved domestic partner rights through reinterpretation of the tax code.[citation needed]
While in the Assembly, Carole Migden served as Chairperson of the Assembly Committee on Appropriations and conferee on the state's Joint Budget Conference Committee. She also chaired the San Francisco Democratic Party for eight years and is a member of the Democratic National Committee.
Migden was the author of California's original domestic partner laws. In February 2004, she married Cristina Arguedas, a criminal defense attorney and her partner since 1985, in a ceremony at San Francisco City Hall.[3] That marriage was later annulled by the California Supreme Court.[4]