Fran Florez

A Democratic candidate narrowed the gap a bit in Assembly District 10 Friday, but another one in AD 30 slipped further behind and had her race dropped from the Secretary of State's close races watch.

In AD 10, Alyson Huber, an attorney from El Dorado Hills, trailed Lodi Republican Jack Sieglock by 506 votes on Friday evening, with 46.4 percent of the vote to 46.8 percent for Sieglock.

The 10th Assembly District race between Jack Sieglock and Alyson Huber moved in the Republican's favor Thursday, with Sieglock moving to a 943-vote lead over Huber, a Democrat from El Dorado Hills.

Sieglock, from Lodi, had 76,267 votes for 46.9 percent of the vote, to 75,324 and 46.3 percent for Huber.

Meanwhile, another Assembly race moved onto the California Secretary of State's "Close Races" watch, with Democrat Fran Florez now within less than 1,500 votes of overtaking Republican Danny Gilmore in the 30th Assembly District.

The most recent spate of independent expenditures in state legislative races pushed the total over $10 million for the general election, according to the state's Fair Political Practices Commission.

That's in addition to $12 million spent in the primary election earlier this year. Six races, including three Assembly races in Northern California, each had more than $1 million in independent expenditures this fall.

Independent expenditure groups ramped up their spending in Assembly District 15 this week, trying to tip what's expected to be a close contest between Democrat Joan Buchanan and Republican Abram Wilson.

On Wednesday, Opportunity PAC spent $16,000 on door hangers to support Buchanan, adding to their election campaign total of $541,775, the largest of any IEC in an Assembly race this fall.

Final registration numbers for the Nov. 4 election show that Democrats narrowed the lead Republicans had in some contested Northern California districts, but none of those districts outright flipped from one party to another in the last weeks of the race.

In the 4th Congressional District, Democratic registration was nearly unchanged from the 60-day election report, with just over 31 percent. Republican registration dropped from 40 percent to 39.8 percent, while decline-to-state voters - which rose in most districts - went from 17.8 percent to 18.4 percent.

A rumored Democratic target in the 3rd Congressional District saw slight Democratic gains, up from 37.2 to 37.6 percent, and a decline for Republicans, from above 40 percent to 39.8 percent. DTS voters rose as well, to 18.2 percent.

The same players in three hotly contested Northern California Assembly races were active again with independent expenditures midweek, largely assisting Democrats in ADs 10, 15 and 30.

The California Teachers Association Independent Expenditure Committee spent $40,960 Tuesday on mailers to support Democrat Alyson Huber in AD 10, while the Committee for Working Families - California Labor Federation spent $40,200 Wednesday on a mailer opposing Huber's opponent, Republican Jack Sieglock.

Less than a week before the Nov. 4 election, three Northern California Assembly races have each drawn over $1 million in independent expenditures, according to the state Fair Political Practices Commission.

In two of those races, AD 15 and AD 10, respective Democrats Joan Buchanan and Alyson Huber have each had more than $1 million spent on their behalf alone. In AD 30, the independent expenditures are almost evenly split between Democrat Fran Florez and Republican Danny Gilmore, each supported by over $560,000 in IEs.

More independent expenditures flowed to Assembly District 30 this week, with about $51,000 in support of Democrat Fran Florez and another $56,400 spent either to oppose her or support Republican Danny Gilmore.

Farmers and Legal Reformers for a Stronger Economy, which has spent the most of any IE group in the race, with $261,878 so far, spent $17,000 Monday for televisions ads supporting Gilmore. The California Apartment Association PAC spent another $12,718 printing a mailer supporting Gilmore.

Independent expenditure money continued to pour into Assembly District 10, 15 and 30 late last week, with most of it flowing to support the Democrats in those races or oppose their Republican opponents.

The California Teachers Association Independent Expenditure Committee spent a combined $68,384 on mailers in support of Alyson Huber in AD 10, while the Committee for Working Families -- CA Labor Federation spent $40,200 on a mailer opposing Republican Jack Sieglock in that race.

Another spate of independent expenditures saw money spent by outside groups in all four closely watched state Assembly races in Northern California.

The California Labor Federation's Committee for Working Families made the biggest splash, spending $129,921 on unidentified field expenses this week in support of Democrat Alyson Huber in her 10th Assembly District race.