Don Perata

The supporters of Prop 11, the California ballot initiative to change how legislative districts, have an uphill fight. Redistricting reform, however well-conceived, always loses in California because of opposition from Democratic and Republican partisans. But every time I approach 100 percent certainty that redistricting will fail again, Don Perata gives me pause.

No politician in California better represents the dysfunction, immaturity and just plain incompetence of the state's elected leadership. Perata has been under investigation by the FBI for his entire time in leadership. (No charges have been brought yet). He's been the person who blocked any number of bipartisan compromises that would advance public policy in the state, most notably on water and health care. And he has misled the public about his intentions to advance political reform, specifically redistricting reform. Again and again, he promised that he and the legislature would produce a redistricting measure. He never followed through. 

This picture from the Sacramento Bee is of the chief of staff to Democratic Assemblywoman Nicole Parra packing up her office after Assembly Speaker Karen Bass kicked her out of the Capitol. Parra's crime? Showing a little independence. Parra, a Central Valley moderate Democrat from one of the few competitive legislative districts in the state, refused to vote for the Democratic budget proposal for a simple and good reason: the legislature refuses to pass a badly needed water bond even after it was presented with a bipartisan compromise fashioned by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

Under the category of What Doesn't Kill Us Makes Us Stronger, here comes Jeff Denham, the Republican state senator who survived a recall attempt Tuesday. In fact, the recall was something of a victory, with more than 80 percent of voters in his district casting ballots against. In a time of bipartisan anger at California's elected leaders, such a vote is a sign of strength. Denham also showed a talent for raising money--even after Don Perata, the state senate's Democratic leader, who organized the recall, announced he was abandoning the campaign against Denham. More than two decades ago, San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein got an enormous political boost by easily beating a recall effort. Could Denham benefit in a similar way? He's the sort of moderate Republican who can win statewide -- if the public learns who he is.

State Senator Jeff Denham, target of a June 3 recall vote, has filed two criminal complaints against the main backer of the recall, the Democratic Senate Leader Don Perata. In the complaints, filed with the state attorney general's office, Denham charges Perata is using government staff and resources to back the recall. The Sacramento Bee has the details and the full complaints. This is as much public relations as anything else, amplifying reports about Perata pushing legislative staff to participate in the campaign. If there is an investigation, it's unlikely to be completed before the vote.

The first ads have gone up in the effort to recall Jeff Denham, a Republican state senator in California. This would be the first legislative recall in California in 13 years. Don Perata and labor are behind the measure. Denham, a moderate who was one of the few Republican legislators to vote with Democrats, is accused of treachery by Perata for not voting for last year's budget (Given how quickly that budget fell apart and led to the current budget crisis, that vote is highly defensible).

But the attack of this ad is more personal. It's at once, funny, unfair and probably effective in getting voters to pay attention to the recall.