Dennis Cardoza

The election of Barack Obama to be the United States' next president has started a flurry of speculation as to who from California might be tabbed to join his administration.

Media outlets began the guessing game Wednesday and Thursday, with most speculation focusing on names both familiar and less so.

Seven of the 10 congressional districts most hard hit by foreclosures are in California, according to a firm that tracks foreclosure data and other real estate information.

HotPads.com, a map-based real estate search engine, noted that California's 18th Congressional District leads the nation with foreclosures, at a rate of 4.59 percent, or nearly 10 times the national average of .47 percent.

DENVER - One of the state's highest ranking conservative Democrats said today that Attorney General Jerry Brown, a potential 2010 gubernatorial candidate who was once widely seen as a lion of the left, had re-emerged in recent years as a pragmatic moderate.

Brown "has become more moderate over his career," said U.S. Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Atwater), a three term congressman from the Central Valley who is a member of the conservative House Blue Dog Democrat coalition.

Cardoza, who is here to attend the Democratic National Convention, suggested that Brown had shown strong leadership during his tenure as mayor of Oakland and as Attorney General, a post he has held for nearly two years.

U.S. Rep. Dennis CardozaDemocratic presidential candidate Barack Obama picked up a California superdelegate Friday when U.S. Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Atwater) switched his endorsement from U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) to Obama (D-Ill.).

“This is the most important election of my lifetime. While I continue to greatly respect and admire Senator Clinton and feel she has made history with her campaign, I believe that Senator Obama will inevitably be our party’s nominee for President. He has proven himself to be a thoughtful, knowledgeable, and inspirational leader and will take America in a new direction, which we desperately need,” Cardoza said in a statement.

Cardoza, whose 18th Congressional District spans the Merced area, endorsed Clinton in December and was a co-chairman of Clinton’s National Hispanic Leadership Council.

Rep. Dennis Cardoza will vote for Hillary Clinton at the 2008 Democratic National ConventionDistrict 18 Democratic U.S. Congressman Dennis Cardoza, a Super delegate, tells the Modesto Bee editorial board that he’s endorsing Hillary Clinton.

"It's my intention to vote for her," Cardoza tells the paper. "I think Mr. Obama is a very inspirational leader. I just believe Ms. Clinton has the best set of experiences to do the job."