Free Republic

Laird vs. Blakeslee-California 15th Senate District Special Election I couldn't find a thread for this race so I decided to create one. I feel so empowered.The race is tight so far at 0% to 0%

SACRAMENTO — The stakes are high and contrasts stark in Tuesday's special election to fill a vacant state Senate seat for a district that stretches from San Jose to Santa Maria, in Santa Barbara County. Democrats can inch closer to a two-thirds majority in the Senate with a victory, a prospect that has pitted powerful interests against each other in a bruising and costly battle over who controls the Capitol. The race features two candidates who represent the opposite ends of the partisan spectrum: former Assemblyman John Laird, an openly gay and liberal Democrat who is backed by labor unions...

Assembly District 15 — the bulk of which lies in Contra Costa County but portions of which also fall in Alameda, Sacramento and San Joaquin counties — is not even close to being the same district it was in 2002, when now termed-out Republican Assemblyman Guy Houston was elected to the first of three two-year stints in office. That the political make-up of the once predominantly Republican region has changed — a fact reflected in shifting voter registration trends — was evidenced Tuesday by Democrat Joan Buchanan's clean victory in the race over Abram Wilson, the well-liked Republican mayor of...