Fabian Nunez

Sacramento mayoral hopeful Kevin Johnson will tap into his campaign manager's extensive contact list in the capital city for a fundraiser Monday.

The fundraiser will be co-hosted by Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) and Speaker Emeritus Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) at the home of Bob and Linda Naylor in midtown Sacramento.

A campaign fund controlled by Assembly Speaker Emeritus Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) received a donation of over $600,000 last week from a voter registration fund.

Nunez, who is termed out at the end of the year, controls the Committee to Protect California's Future, which was the primary campaign fund for the failed term-limits reform measure Proposition 93 earlier this year.

The money came from Voter Registration 2008, a fund controlled typically by the Assembly Speaker, in this case Karen Bass of Los Angeles, who replaced Nunez earlier this year.

Former state Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez endorsed Sacramento mayoral candidate Kevin Johnson today.

“Sacramento should be one of the state’s crown jewels, representing the best California has to offer. Someplace people want to live, visit and invest in,” said Nunez. “That’s why I feel it’s important for me to speak out in support of Kevin Johnson and what he can bring this community.”

“Sacramento needs a more dynamic approach, and that’s what Kevin Johnson provides,” he added.

Nunez’s endorsement comes one day after it was announced that Johnson and incumbent Mayor Heather Fargo would be headed to a fall runoff election. In the June 3 primary, the political newcomer Johnson won 46 percent of the vote to Fargo’s 40 percent.

Since 1911, the number of seats in the U.S. House has been set by Congress, basically at 435. The calculation results in one congressman representing roughly 600,000 of us who constitute a congressional district. Every 10 years, based on the census, seats might move in response to population shifts from one state to another. This is important.

In addition to its 80 state Assembly and 40 state Senate districts, California currently has 53 congressional districts. The map looks like it was drawn on an Etch-a-Sketch during an earthquake.

A plan by outgoing Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez to change the way legislative districts after the 2010 census isn’t likely to gain much steam, especially with Karen Bass poised to become the new Speaker next week. Núñez wants a bi-partisan commission to draw districts – but his newly-found reformer position comes in response to a ballot initiative pushed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to create a different kind of commission. Former Gov. Gray Davis, Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, and AARP are backing Schwarzenegger’s plan.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez's final press conference:

Term-limited Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez has no place to go in elected office for at least two years, so he is talking up the possibility succeeding Art Torres as Chairman of the California Democratic The job suits Nunez’s skills as a fundraiser, but it is doubtful that he will be able to justify the foreign travel and French wines that he has enjoyed while serving as Speaker. 

It’s something of a last hurrah in Sacramento today.

Democratic state Assemblyman Fabian Nunez is holding his final press conference as Assembly Speaker today, one day before heading out on a trip with legislative leaders to Mexico.

A new Field Poll shows that the California Nurses Association has strong credibility among voters on health care issues, but those surveyed also prefer Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s health care plan, which the CNA recently helped defeat.

Thursday's immigration rights rally in Los Angeles: Photo by Getty Images

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez addressed Thursday's smaller-than-expected May Day rally in downtown Los Angeles, his blue shirt looking crisp and every hair in place as he spoke in Spanish and then English to voters and future citizens who will vote.

He joined in the chant of si, se puede! (Yes, we can!), which rounded out the brief appearances by some of California's top Hispanic legislators. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa did not participate in the rally which instead showcased other Chicano power faces such as Nunez, 22nd District State Senator Gil Cedillo and 45th District Assemblyman Kevin de Leon.