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The Skinny: Up for grabs

When we saw that President Obama had tapped Rep. Ellen Tauscher to help keep the world safe from a nuclear attack, our immediate reaction, of course, was: “Who’s going to run to succeed her in Congress?” That’s normal, right? Well, it is for us, as we look ahead to what is sure to be a wild election, or two, or three, depending on who winds up going to Washington. So, it’s time for our favorite parlor game of legislative dominoes. The potential list of candidates is long, and ripe with residual implications. It includes Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan or even our old friend Joe Canciamilla. On the Republican side, we’re just guessing that Guy Houston and Sunne McPeak have to be looking at the race. The implications are too varied to go into fully in this space. Torlakson is currently running for state Superintendent of Public Instruction against Sen. Gloria Romero. His election to Congress would obviously affect that race. If DeSaulnier runs and wins, there would be a fierce battle for the Senate seat that would include Buchanan, perhaps Canciamilla and maybe even Abram Wilson, Buchanan’s Republican challenger for the Assembly in 2008…

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