Audra Strickland

Jeff Gorell, a Ventura County attorney, has launched a new Web site touting his campaign for the 2010 Republican nomination in the 37th Assembly District.

State Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) will spend the last few days before the election barnstorming statewide to support Democratic Assembly candidates in several hotly contested districts.

Bass, who expressed hopes a week ago that Democrats could win more than two additional seats, will appear in ADs 10, 15, 26, 36, 37, 78 and 80, all of which are held by Republicans, though most of them are termed out.

This mailer attacking Audra and Tony Strickland comes courtesy of the California Democratic Party.

The California Democratic Party is hoping to take down a Central Coast husband-wife GOP legislative team with a series of attack mailers that question their ethics.

The mailers target Audra Strickland, who represents the 37th Assembly District, and husband Tony Strickland, who is vying to represent the 19th Senate District.

The California Republican Party gave $125,000 to Assemblywoman Audra Strickland's re-election campaign on Tuesday. While the party has routinely made similar investments in various competitive races around the state, the donation marked the CRP's first in the 37th Assembly District. The sum, while merely a drop in the CRP's financial bucket, is significant considering Strickland had less than that much in cash on hand at the beginning of the month.

SACRAMENTO - The sliding economy and other factors are giving a lift to Democrats in key legislative races that are coming down to the wire, according to consultants working with those races.

In polls that ask whether likely voters would vote for a generic Democrat or Republican in five state Assembly districts with open seats, Democrats get the nod in all five.

RIALTO - Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico (D-Newark) expects Democrats to pick up at least two Republican seats on Nov. 4. Democrats currently hold 48 seats in the State Assembly, six shy of a two-thirds majority, which would allow them to pass crucial legislation without Republican cooperation.

Independent expenditures in several closely contested state legislative races will get a close eye from the California Fair Political Practices Commission between now and Nov. 4

The commission will post online a daily tally of how much independent expenditure committees are spending in those races, and who's contributing to those committees.

An image problem with the Republican brand is putting several Assembly seats in the "competitive" category this fall, said the co-author of a publication tracking California politics.

Allen Hoffenblum, who writes the California Target Book, put three Northern California Assembly districts: AD 10, 15 and 26, in the competitive category in his latest "Hot Sheet" report this week.