The Skinny: Here come the Dems

The Democrats are coming! The Democrats are coming! Democrats will descend on the Capitol this weekend to say goodbye to Chairman Art Torres and officially elect John Burton as their new leader. The weekend also promises to be an early round in the 2010 gubernatorial race. Already, John Garamendi is checking out, and expected to announce his Congressional candidacy at the gathering. Gavin Newsom is looking to reprise his role at the Demcoratic National Convention in November, appealing to the hip-hop inclined Twitterati with a music showcase that will include former Fugee Wyclef Jean and Biz Markie … The issue of pay raises for Assembly staff caused a Capitol stir this week, after Capitol Weekly and other papers reported Speaker Karen Bass signed off on the pay hikes. While Bass told Capitol Weekly that no “senior staff” received raises, education guru Rick Simpson and Sylvia Castillo — both of whom earn more than $100,000 per year — were among those who received the salary bumps…And yet, most of you want to be like Bass, it seems. According to early results of CW’s new “Which California Legislator Are You?” quiz, which has had more than 700 takers so far, 21 percent of respondents are coming up Karen. Tom Ammiano , Dean Florez and Chuck DeVore also score high among quiz takers with 12, 10 and 10 percent respectively.