Free Republic

At a time when momentum and political pundits seem to favor Barack Obama winning the Democratic presidential nomination, other indicators suggest the LGBT community's support is still largely behind Hillary Clinton, except in Texas. And Texas is one of three large primary states remaining that pundits say Clinton must win in order to stay even with Obama in the contest to secure enough delegates to win the nomination. The latest poll in Texas, conducted by CNN February 15-17 among 529 likely primary voters, found Clinton just two points ahead of Obama. A poll just a few days earlier, by the...

Catherine Stefani has an article up over at the SacBee talking about how she became the head of the Kaliforniastan chapter of Moms Demand Action… Its not much more than a shameless plug and link bait for the civilian disarmament cult, but I thought it was pretty interesting for a couple of reasons… one, I had never heard of Catherine Stefani before this and two, I thought it was incredibly interesting how she talks about how she became involved in MDA:

Most of former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 11th-hour appointments came as no surprise: Friends, allies and administration workers were rewarded – sometimes well rewarded – in a ritual that has become a tradition for outgoing governors. But one appointment stood out. Former state Sen. Carole Migden, a liberal San Francisco Democrat, was named to the state Agricultural Labor Relations Board, the nation’s first state agency created to protect and regulate the collective bargaining rights of farm workers. The ALRB was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown, then in his first term, legislation that was supported by the late United Farm...

(July 7) - The cash-strapped state of California will shell out $335,000 to settle a lawsuit filed over a former lawmaker's crazy driving, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday. Carole Migden, then a state senator from San Francisco, rear-ended another motorist following a wild drive on May 18, 2007, the newspaper said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger officially named San Francisco Democrat Carole Migden to a high-paying seat on the state's waste board on Friday. The job pays $132,178 per year. The first was ex-Assemblyman John Laird. Then came former Sen. Sheila Kuehl. All three are Democrats. All three also happened to be members of the LGBT caucus. A couple years back, she pressed the vote button of an Assembly Republican for her own legislation. Earlier this year, she paid a state record $350,000 fine for campaign finance violations. She pleaded no contest to misdemeanor reckless driving after a 30-mile drive in her state-owned...

Termed-out Sen. Sheila Kuehl has landed a high-paying job on California's waste board, securing the $132,178 per year job despite a previous report that Sen. Carole Migden would land the gig. Kuehl, who has chaired the Senate's Natural Resources and Health Committees during her tenure in the upper house, is leaving the state Senate after eight years and was appointed to the spot on the Integrated Waste Management Board by outgoing Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata. Earlier in the day, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass named Assemblyman John Laird to a spot on the waste board, which has been a...

State Senate officials told Sen. Carole Migden's Capitol staff to go home for the week Thursday after the combustible San Francisco Democrat was overheard berating them. Enedina Hidalgo, the director of personnel for the state Senate, was in the hallway when she heard Migden screaming at the staff, according to a witness to the event. The source said Hidalgo later entered the office while the senator was not present on Thursday, informing the staff of their rights. Soon after, Hidalgo returned to Migden's office with Tony Beard Jr., the chief sergeant-at-arms of the state Senate. They told staff members to...

Sen. Carole Migden's Capitol staff was sent home on Thursday afternoon and told not to report to work on Friday, after the San Francisco Democrat was heard berating them from the hallway. Enedina Hidalgo, the director of personnel for the state Senate, overheard Migden screaming, according to a witness to the event. The source said she entered the office while the senator was not present on Thursday, informing the staff of their rights. Soon after, Hidalgo returned to Migden's office with Tony Beard Jr., the chief sergeant-at-arms of the state Senate. They told the staff to pack up their belongings...

San Francisco Assemblyman Mark Leno used an overwhelming showing in his home city Tuesday to beat former San Rafael Assemblyman Joe Nation and incumbent state Sen. Carole Migden in the Democratic primary for her three-county state Senate seat. With 81 percent of the precincts reporting, Leno had 43 percent of the vote, Nation 29 percent and Migden 28 percent. Leno beat Nation by about 25,000 votes in San Francisco and held Nation's margin of victory in his home base of Marin County to fewer than 3,000 votes. Although Leno still has to face Republican Sashi McEntee of Mill Valley in...

San Rafael, Calif. (AP) -- A state senator with Carole Migden's resume would normally cruise to re-election in the liberal San Francisco Bay area. But a wild ride on Interstate 80, a record fine for campaign finance violations and challenges from well-known members of her own party have made the San Francisco Democrat the most vulnerable incumbent on California's June 3 primary election ballot. "You have all the elements that create probably the most interesting race in the state right here in San Francisco, Marin and Sonoma counties," said Al Pross, a coeditor of the California Target Book, which analyzes...

San Francisco state Sen. Carole Migden is making the rounds, spending her evenings shaking hands, chatting with voters and asking for their support as she fights to hang on to her political career. Such campaigning is routine for many officeholders, but for Migden, never known as a backslapping pol, it shows how seriously she's taking her June 3 Democratic primary showdown with San Francisco Assemblyman Mark Leno and former San Rafael Assemblyman Joe Nation. In a district where Democrats outnumber Republicans 55 percent to 16 percent, the winner of the Democratic primary will probably be a shoo-in in November's general...

SAN FRANCISCO — Jose Luis Sanchez was a veteran cook at El Balazo, working at the popular Bay Area taqueria chain for eight years before a Friday immigration raid ended his career and left his family's future uncertain."My kids are sad," said the 32-year-old San Pablo resident, one of 63 illegal immigrants employed by the 11-restaurant chain who were arrested Friday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "They want to know if they're going to send me to Mexico."With an electronic surveillance bracelet attached indefinitely to his ankle, Sanchez contemplated his future Monday afternoon outside the Sansome Street high-rise building...

A top Democrat in the state Senate is being investigated for allegedly using credit cards to charge $397,000 in political expenses without disclosing who was initially paid and for what, as required by campaign finance laws. State Sen. Carole Migden (D-San Francisco), chairwoman of the Senate Democratic Caucus, said Friday that she was cooperating with the state Fair Political Practices Commission, which confirmed its investigation of her in a letter obtained by The Times. Investigators are looking at the last seven years of credit card expenses. If found in violation, Migden could face up to $60,000 in administrative fines....

Sacramento -- State Sen. Carole Migden is back on the highway after her wild ride through Solano County four months ago, but she had better keep her eyes on the road, a Department of Motor Vehicles spokesmans said today. The San Francisco Democrat had her license returned to her last week, but another moving violation could put her on the sidewalk again, DMV spokesman Mike Marando said. Migden's license was suspended following her erratic drive on May 18 that ended when she rear-ended another car with her state-issued sport utility vehicle near Fairfield. She pleaded no contest to a reckless...

State Sen. Carole Migden caused a panic among fellow drivers last May when she drove out of control in her state-issued SUV for 30 miles on Interstate 80, according to 911 tapes released late Friday. A series of callers between Berkeley and Fairfield, where Migden's wild ride finally ended after she rear-ended another car, described her as coming perilously close to hitting other vehicles, weaving back and forth across multiple lanes of traffic, and careening repeatedly off the center median barrier. One caller described motorists putting on their vehicles' hazard lights in an apparent attempt to warn others away from...

The California Highway Patrol has recommended State Sen. Carole Migden be charged with one misdemeanor count of reckless driving resulting in bodily injury, an official announced Monday. The Solano County District Attorney's Office now has the CHP investigation and can decide whether to file case, said Sgt. Les Bishop. The investigation concluded that Migden was at fault in two separate collisions May 18, including one in Vallejo. Bishop said Migden was involved in a single-vehicle accident on eastbound Interstate 80 just east of Redwood Parkway. The CHP found she made an unsafe turning movement, Bishop said, when she struck the...

SACRAMENTO - Even before her wild ride last week on Interstate 80 that ended in a collision, state Sen. Carole Migden blazed a jagged political path as a state legislator known for her fiery temper and often impertinent attitude. In one tightly wound package, Migden embodies the best and worst of liberal San Francisco politics. She is an effective lawmaker, without a doubt. But she's also a throwback emblem of political entitlement whose career has been marked with infamous moments, such as the time she pushed an opposing lawmaker's vote button - for her own bill - in the Assembly....

The California Highway Patrol announced Thursday evening that its investigation into crashes involving state Sen. Carole Migden last week has not been completed, and that no determination has been made whether to request that her driving rights be yanked. Earlier in the day, a CHP spokesman had told the Chronicle and other news media outlets that Migden was at fault for two accidents Friday, including one that injured another driver. CHP spokesman Sgt. Wulf Corrington also said that the CHP was going to ask the Department of Motor Vehicles to evaluate whether Migden's driving rights should be suspended. A story...

A looming battle between two of San Francisco's best-known gay and lesbian officeholders already is splitting the Bay Area's Democratic faithful more than a year before their June 2008 face-off. Assemblyman Mark Leno, 55, is taking on state Sen. Carole Migden in her bid for re-election, and plenty of Democrats are unhappy at the prospect of two powerful progressives duking it out in a bloody party primary. In a statement after Leno's public announcement earlier this month, state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, urged Leno to reconsider. Or else. "I am disappointed by Mark Leno's challenge of a...

Monday December 04, 2006 By SAMANTHA YOUNG and DON THOMPSON Associated Press Writers SACRAMENTO (AP) -- California's newly sworn Legislature on Monday picked up where the old one left off, introducing an emotional bill to legalize gay marriage and delving into a power struggle over Central Valley flooding. While legislative leaders struck a bipartisan tone for the session that gets under way in January, rank and file members revived bills that have divided the Capitol. Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, reintroduced legislation that would allow gay couples to marry in the state of California. And Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco,...