Copyright© 2000 by School Services of California, Inc.
New Faces Flood the State Legislature
In the one of the largest turnovers since the passage of legislative term limits ten years ago, 29 new faces are poised to join the 80-member California State Assembly when it convenes in early December. While technically there were 32 new Assembly Members elected on November 7, 2000, two of the seats were filled by former State Senators Tim Leslie (R-Tahoe City) and David Kelley (R-Idyllwild) and one seat was filled by Republican Phil Wyman, who represented a Kern County Assembly District prior to the enactment of term limits.
Interestingly, of the 32 new incoming Assembly Members, more than half come from local government, having served either on the county board of supervisors or city council. Only three members have served on local school boards. Mark Wyland (R-Carlsbad) served on the Escondido School Board and Gloria Negrete-McLeod (D-Pomona) served as a trustee on the Chaffey Community College Board; and Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles) served on the Los Angeles Unified School District Board. Additionally, Carol Liu (D-Glendale) served as a former teacher and teacher union administrator. Not surprisingly, a central theme included in almost all of the local campaigns was the issue of public education.
In other Assembly action, Bill Campbell (R-Villa Park) was elected by his Republican colleagues to serve as minority leader when the Legislature reconvenes. Campbell is the vice chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee and sits on the Assembly Education Committee.
On the Senate side, elections were held in half of the 40 Senate districts. Democrats maintained their majority and may have even gained one additional seat, although another race is still to close to call. Former Assembly Member Mike Machado, a Democrat from San Joaquin County, holds a razor-thin lead over Republican Alan Nakanishi for the 5th Senate seat formerly held by former Democrat Senator Patrick Johnston. With only 607 votes between the two candidates, it is likely that the outcome will not be known until the final certification of the ballots on November 27 or 28.
Returning incumbents include many of the Senate's "powerhouse" legislators,
including:
Nine termed-out Assembly Members played musical chairs and were elected as the newest members of the Senate. They include Rico Oller (R-San Andreas); Tom Torlakson (D-Antioch), who defeated incumbent Republican Richard Rainey; Tom McClintock (R-Granada Hills); Jack Scott (D-Altadena); Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica); Ed Vincent (D-Inglewood); Bob Margett (R-Arcadia); Dick Ackerman (R-Fullerton); and, Jim Battin (R-LaQuinta).
Additionally, two Senators-Hilda Solis (D-El Monte) and Adam Schiff (D-Burbank)-vacated their Senate seats to run for Congress. Both were successful and former Assembly Member Jack Scott won Schiff's seat and a special election will be held next year to fill the Solis vacancy.
The election also created several vacancies on key Legislative committees. The Assembly Higher Education Committee needs to fill at least four vacancies. The 14-member Senate Education Committee will need to fill two vacancies and the Senate Appropriations Committee will need to fill four vacancies. In the Assembly, seven vacancies exist on the 18-member Assembly Education Committee and there are five vacancies on the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Also, there will be a new chairperson of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee #2 for the third year in a row.
Additional information regarding the backgrounds of the new legislators will soon be available on the Senate and Assembly legislative websites. See www.sen.ca.gov and www.assembly.ca.gov.
--Nancy LaCasse