Posts Tagged: top

Bay Area advantage — Is being from LA a statewide political liability?

A view toward the Bay Bridge, via Chinatown. (Photo: Christian Mehlfuhrer)

by ANTHONY YORK posted 04.23.2014

ANALYSIS: Los Angeles County is home to more than 26% of all Californians. But when it comes to running for statewide office, being from Los Angeles may be more of an obstacle than a political advantage. While the people may be in Los Angeles, the largest chunk of the state’s voters – those who actually cast ballots — come from the nine counties in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The 10 lobbying firms in Sacramento brought in more than $40.4 million during 2013, including more than $11.5 million during the final quarter of the year alone. The figures were listed Monday in the Capitol Morning Report, which provides detailed scheduling, employment, campaign and job information to elected officials, government employees, trade groups and lobbyists, among others.

Foes of a $250 million tribal casino-hotel north of Madera have qualified a referendum for the November 2014 ballot – a move that delays construction on the 305-acre site until voters decide the issue next year.

Another year, another Top 100 list, but there’s a big difference in this go-round: This is the first time we’ve put the list into a dedicated booklet and we think that’s pretty snazzy. The list, like Capitol Weekly itself, is now being published by the public benefit corporation Open California — and that’s cool, too.

And there’s a need for full disclosure. Four of those on the Top 100 are members of our 13-member governing board of directors, although it should be noted that all were on the list before we even had a board. Capitol Weekly has personal ties to the California Professional Firefighters – my daughter is their legislative director. One of our board members on the list represents TASIN, a longtime supporter of Capitol Weekly and, before that, the California Journal. And the president and CEO of the California Endowment is on the list, as is the Endowment’s senior vice president in Sacramento. The Endowment is a financial supporter of Open California.

20.Tom Steyer California has its share of billionaires and most of them aren’t on this list — and rightly, too. But Steyer, a hedge-fund wizard from Stanford with a deep political gene and passion for environmental protection, is making waves. As we go to press, the rumor is that he will push for an oil-extraction

40. V. John White V. John White is the veteran executive director of the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies and a lobbyist for a number of alternative-energy companies, which means he not only spreads the gospel for solar power and conservation, but also serves as an advocate for their use. White – “V.

60.Charles Munger Jr. Charles Munger Jr., a Stanford physicist, has become a significant political figure in California politics, starting with his support of the landmark Proposition 10 in 2010, which extended independent redistricting to congressional seats. Voters earlier approved similar political mapping for legislative and Board of Equalization seats. Munger – he’s the son of

80.Richard Temple With over 25 years of experience in the capitol, Dick Temple is one of Sacramento’s best-known political consultants. Temple has spent the last 20 years of his time in California politics at McNally Temple Associates, one of the state’s premier PR and political consulting operations. As the firm’s executive vice president, Temple knows

100.Soyla Fernandez Soyla Fernández, a leading Capitol lobbyist, has over 20 years of experience with California’s state and local legislative and policy issues, and heads one of the state’s most prominent Latina-owned and operated lobbying firms. Fernández Government Solutions was formed in 2004, with clients that include Southern California Edison, the North Fork Rancheria, the