California Democratic Party

STATE CAPITOL - Former state Senate President Pro Tem and U.S. Rep. John Burton (D-San Francisco) hovered about swearing-in activities Monday, with plenty of thoughts on the ugly fiscal situation newly appointed lawmakers will face.

"They're coming into a very bad situation," said Burton, who was termed out in 2004 and is planning a run for California Democratic Party chair next year. "But I think it's unfair to lay the responsibility for a solution totally on Speaker Bass and Senator Steinberg."

The California Republican Party filed a complaint Monday with the Federal Election Commission over four different situations where the party said Barack Obama's presidential campaign and/or its allies are flouting the law.

In one part of the complaint, the party said Obama's campaign failed to disclose its release of a donor list to ACORN, a federal housing rights group under investigation for possible voter registration fraud.

An adult day care home manager who reportedly filled out election ballots for developmentally disabled adults drew a request for an investigation from the California Republican Party Wednesday.

In a press release, the group made note of a KXTV news report Wednesday that said David Simerely, the director at the Thumps Up! adult care center in the foothills town of Sonora, helped 10 or more center clients fill out their Nov. 4 ballot, mostly in favor of Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

Opponents of redistricting measure Proposition 11 decried a new robocall from the measure's supporters because it claimed the measure is supported by Democrats.

Citizens for Accountability, the opposition group to the measure, said the robocall has a recorded voice identifying herself as a representative of the 11-backing state League of Women Voters, and that Democrats support the initiative.

A consultant working with the state Democratic party said she's filed a complaint with the FCC over commercials Republican Abram Wilson is running in his 15th Assembly District campaign.

Robin Swanson of Swanson Communications said the commercials state that they're paid for by Wilson's Assembly campaign, when the California Republican Party actually paid for them.

The anti-Proposition 11 campaign has released its first television commercial, criticizing the redistricting measure for a complicated process of drawing new political districts.

Citizens for Accountability, the anti-11 group that created the ad, said it lays out what commercials for the measure won't: how Proposition 11 would work.

The California Republican Party has filed a complaint against the California Democratic Party and a number of "affiliated groups," charging them with interfering with voter registration activities in Ventura, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.

The CRP issued formal letters to the U.S. Attorney's office and the Ventura County District Attorney, requesting investigations into a number of incidents where Democratic groups filed false reports of alleged violation of voter registration laws.

BURLINGAME - Several hundred protesters are expected to greet GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin here Sunday as she arrives for a fundraising brunch event.

Republican Party organizers have said they expect some 1,500 supporter-donors to join the Alaska governor for brunch at the Burlingame Hyatt Regency starting at 10:30 a.m.

While the re-election campaign of U.S. Rep. David Dreier (R-San Dimas) has refused to publicly comment on Democratic challenger Russ Warner, it began to engage him with negative fliers starting last week, accusing the Rancho Cucamonga resident, the owner of a successful magazine distribution company, of bad business practices. The Warner campaign viewed the attacks as an encouraging sign that Dreier is taking them seriously.