Experts Expound

Experts Expound

Who’s the next speaker of the Assembly? Why?

Curt Pringle. He’s tanned, he’s rested, he’s ready.

In an ideal world, it would be Karen Bass. She’s smart, does her homework and has paid her dues. If MRT’s seat becomes available, however, who could blame Bass for giving the Senate a shot? In the world of term limits, the caucus will likely go for a member of the freshman class simply to have tenure. That bodes well for Ma or Portantino.

Portantino. He’s a freshman who is well-liked, a perfect mix at a time when the Legislature could use a little stability and civility.
Whoever can count to 30, which is what you need to do to get to 25 and cover your double-crosses. Right, Speaker Oropeza?

It really won’t make a difference to the people of California who is the next speaker. It only matters to the third house and special interests because they want to know where the funds are going to need to go. Did I say funds, sorry, I meant to say they want to know to whom they are going to provide support.

Given the number of entrants, Majority Leader Karen Bass should have the edge. She’s got respect, policy experience, fundraising know-how, labor support, and it doesn’t hurt that she’d be the first African American woman to hold the post.

Probably Karen Bass. She’s the next in line and an obvious choice.

Fiona Ma should be the next speaker, since she spent over $300K in the later part of last year. She won’t be.
Ma. She has the power, passion, drive and most importantly the fundraising capabilities.

Karen Bass: Since Hillary can’t seem to do it, maybe another woman can rise to a leadership position.

The people from whom we sought opinions: Andrew Acosta, A.G. Block, Mark Bogetich, Barry Brokaw, Morgan Crinklaw, J. Dale Debber, Peter DeMarco, Jim Evans, Kathy Fairbanks, Jeff Fuller, Rex Frazier, Ken Gibson, Evan Goldberg, Deborah Gonzalez, Sandy Harrison, Bob Hertzberg, Jason Kinney, Mike Madrid, Nicole Mahrt, Steve Maviglio,  Adam Mendelsohn, Barbara O’Connor, Bill Packer, Kassy Perry, Jack Pitney, Adam Probolsky, Tony Quinn, Matt Rexroad, Matt Ross, Roger Salazar, Dan Schnur, Will Shuck, Ralph Simoni, Sam Sorich, Ray Sotero, Gary South, Kevin Spillane, Rich Zeiger.

Want to see more stories like this? Sign up for The Roundup, the free daily newsletter about California politics from the editors of Capitol Weekly. Stay up to date on the news you need to know.

Sign up below, then look for a confirmation email in your inbox.

 

Support for Capitol Weekly is Provided by: