The Skinny

This week, Assemblyman Paul Krekorian was elected to the Los Angeles City Council, proving again that a tour of duty in the legislature is, more often than not, seen as a stepping stone to local office. But for our purposes, Krekorian’s election means a couple of things. Yes, it means there will be one less budget vote – assuming we need to vote on a state spending plan before June. But it also means there will be another special election sometime this spring. Krekorian’s Assembly race in 2006 was the scene of a hard-fought Democratic primary between Krekorian and Frank Quintero. The race was a major primary target for the Latino Caucus, and a mailer in the race attacking the Armenian National Committee caused some bad blood between Latinos and Armenians in the district. This time around, another Armenian candidate, Krekorian’s chief of staff, Adrin Nazarian is a strong contender for the race. Mike Gatto, a former staffer for Rep. Brad Sherman, is likely to enter the race as well. Others who have been mentioned as possible candidates include Quintero, Democratic Party official Eric Bauman, Herb Wesson, staffer Andrew Westall, and Anita Quinonez-Gabrielian, who works for AT&T…Another longtime staffer is leaving for the private sector. Randy Chinn, who has been the lead consultant at Senate Utilities for more than two decades, is leaving the building. Chinn will put his utilities expertise to use in the governmental affairs department of Southern California Edison.