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Update: 11/17/08: Huber now trails Sieglock by 946 votes. It has been up and down all week, and there are still several thousand votes to be counted in Sacramento County. It is not know how many of those votes are in the 10th AD portion of the county.

As absentee votes get verified and counted, Alyson Huber is eating away at Jack Sieglock's one time lead of 1,025. As of 7:06 PM Huber trailed by only 319 votes according to results posted to the Secretary of State's Web site. Huber has 72,528 (46.5%) votes to Sieglock's 72,847 (46.7%).

This is down from numbers in an earlier email from California Labor Federation leader Art Pulaski which showed Huber trailing by 545. Amador County completed counting all outstanding votes increasing Sieglock's lead by 226, according to Pulaski. Huber, meanwhile, increased her lead in Sacramento County, which still has an unknown number of ballots yet to count, by 706 votes.

The ballots counted so far in Sacramento County are vote-by-mail ballots turned in Friday, Saturday and Monday. That accounts for 36,000 ballots, leaving 85,000 uncounted ballots. Presumably, those turned in on Election Day. There are also an unknown number of provisional ballots yet to be verified and counted.

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Dr. Bill Durston isn't wasting any time planning for a third run at Congress. In an email to supporters, Durston said, "with your support, I will run for Congress again in 2010."

Before laying out plans for a 2010 run, Durston says he is going to take some time away from political campaigning, "carve our some private time," and "return to caring for people in the Emergency Department."

It seems a little soon to be planning another run, but Durston has grown as a candidate over the previous two campaigns and will have plenty of campaign experience going into a third. Since Dan Lungren isn't likely to retire, Durston will also be facing an incumbent who has also learned from this campaign. We can expect to see Lungren beginning his defense much earlier, and probably with much more vigor. He showed vulnerability this go round, and it remains to be seen what effect President-Elect Obama's first two years in office will have on the mid-term elections.

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By Randy Bayne
Chair
Amador Co. Democratic Party
x-posted from The Bayne of Blog

The Amador Democrats would like to apologize to Amador County Fair goers for underestimating Barack Obama’s popularity in our “red” rural county. After less than two days of the four day fair, we ran out of Obama buttons and bumper stickers, leaving many of you unable to show your support. We are truly sorry.

For those who missed out on getting their Obama button and stickers, we will be ordering more and will have them available at our headquarters in downtown Jackson.

Running out of the Obama gear was a pleasant surprise. If that isn’t an understatement, I don’t know what is. Though we have been experiencing a surge in Democratic support and registration in Amador County, Democrats still lag in total voter registration, and most people consider Amador hopelessly lost to the other party. We ordered what we thought would be plenty of Obama buttons and bumper stickers to last the four days of the fair. Response at our booth outpaced our supply, and we had to say words that surprised even us — “sold out.”

This tells me something the numbers don’t. Democratic leanings are on the rise in Amador County. Throughout the weekend dozens of Republicans stopped by the booth and told us they were were going to vote for Obama. When asked why, it came down to one word — hope. Eight years of Bush/Cheney, they explained, left them feeling lost, hopeless, unable to move ahead. It is time for change, and Obama is the only candidate that can bring the change we need and want. John McCain offers continued failure, continued hopelessness, continued dispair.

So, though we apologize for not being more optimistic and having more Obama gear available, we make no apology for changing attitudes in our county. As a matter of fact, we revel in it, and look forward to momentum to push two other candidates over the top in their races.

Dr. Bill Durston is running for the 3rd Congressional District, and Alyson Huber for the 10th Assembly District. Both should benefit greatly from changing attitudes in Amador, and we look forward to an exciting campaign season as we are energized by new found support in a county that conventional wisdom had written off.

Read the rest ...

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Believe!

By Randy Bayne
X-posted at The Bayne of Blog

Recently, the Amador County Republicans opened their headquarters for the fall campaign. However, had it not been for the generosity of a local developer it may not have happened. The property was donated, which isn’t so terrible. I would have been extremely grateful had someone donated office space to us, the Amador Democratic Party, when we were kicked out of our former offices.

Congratulations to the Republic Central Committee on opening their campaign office. We were excited to open our office last month, and I know you are just as excited to get your campaigns off and running. And, of course, we always want to accentuate the positive when we celebrate.

But I have to disagree with a statement our County Republican Chair made at their office opening.

“Amador is a decidedly Republican county,” said Republican Central Committee Chairman Jim Rooney. “Sometimes, when the larger counties surrounding us are at a tie, they look to Amador to break it.”

Yes, the Republicans do have a majority of registered voters, but that is changing here as it is all over the state. Since the 2006 primary election Democratic registration has increased by 217 voters in Amador County, while Republican registration has increased by only 72 over the same period. In spite of picking up 72 new voters, the Republican percentage has actually dropped, and more people have registered decline-to-state (198) than Republican. There may be a majority of registered Republicans in the county, but Amador is hardly “decidedly Republican.” 

When it came time to file for Central Committee last spring 13 Democrats turned in signatures compared to 3 Republicans. Currently, there are no vacancies in the 21 seats on the Democratic Central Committee. A first time feat, I’m told. Democrats are proud and holding their heads high. 

Yes, the Republican Party has more voters, but it is the Democratic Party that is growing in Amador County.

Still, you can’t blame Republicans for wanting to put a little shine on their depressing standing in California, and across the nation really. They have suffered, along with the rest of us, through eight long years of policy stagnation from their own party’s administration which is more concerned about occupying Iraq than occupying itself with taking care of the American people and our struggle within our own borders. That isn’t whining, that’s just fact. Yet, Republicans still believe that another Bush administration under the new McCain name is what America needs.

Rural Republicans are willing to grasp at any glimmer of hope to reverse fast falling popularity and standing. They still believe. Though I’m not sure in what.

Amador Democrats may still be in the minority, but we believe too. We believe we have a lot to celebrate as registration numbers, though still far apart, are trending Democratic. As we look at the wider region, we are excited about the prospects of winning the 10th Assembly District which has even closer numbers than our county. Over the same period as above, May 2006 to May 2008, Democrats have reduced the spread in AD 10 from 4.74% in 2006 to 1.97% in 2008. Republicans have lost 3,344 voters, while Democrats have added 3,118. For all those who have written AD 10 off to the Republicans, just look at the numbers. We can elect a Democrat — Alyson Huber — to AD 10.

Republicans still believe they can win in rural areas of the state. They can, but only if and when the Democrats fail to rally behind their candidates with money and resources. Republicans still believe. Do we? Barack Obama’s slogan, “Change we can believe in,” must be applied, not only to the Presidential race, but to every Democratic challengers race as well. Alyson Huber is “change we can believe in” for the 10th AD.

 Help Alyson Huber win the 10th AD

Read the rest ...

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