Jack O'Connell

Sacramento mayoral candidates Kevin Johnson and Heather Fargo will rally their supporters one more time Monday night before voters cast their ballots hours later.

Johnson will have an evening event at the Guild Theatre in his home neighborhood of Oak Park that will include state Assembly Speaker Emeritus Fabian Nunez and state schools chief Jack O'Connell.

Prop. 8, the Nov. 4 ballot measure that would ban same-sex marriage in California has been battered by a devastating series of TV ads implying that should the initiative be defeated elementary school teachers across the state would be forced to include the issue of gay marriage in their lesson plans.

As a result, the Yes on 8 camp has continued to enjoy a steady lead in statewide polls.

This week, however, a trio of state educational leaders spoke out against Prop. 8, saying that the Yes on 8 ads are wrong and intentionally misleading.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell endorsed 30th Assembly District candidate and Democrat Fran Florez today, saying her support of career technical education is in line with what the state needs.

Florez is running against Republican Danny Gilmore in the southern San Joaquin Valley district, which represents one of the Republican Party's few chances to pick up a seat in California this fall.

SACRAMENTO - The record delay in settling on a new state budget is having a hugely negative impact on education across California, according to education leaders.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, a Democrat, laid at least some of the responsibility for that at the feet of Republican legislators who have proposed

Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo sent out an advisory for a press event Thursday morning, saying she'd receive a formal endorsement from City Councilman Kevin McCarty. But before the event even happened, opponent Kevin Johnson's campaign poked a hole in it.

In the advisory for the event outside city hall, Fargo noted that McCarty's endorsement would mean that a majority of the eight-member council supported her bid for re-election, with four other council members scheduled to attend in a show of support.

DENVER -- Call it Sacramento on the Platte instead.

During the massive California delegation's first breakfast meeting in Denver, the rancor over the Golden State's way overdue budget surfaced shortly after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was cheered to the podium by a capacity crowd of delegates.

California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell will endorse Sacramento mayoral hopeful Kevin Johnson at a joint town hall meeting tonight hosted by Johnson's campaign.

Johnson, who is seeking to unseat incumbent Mayor Heather Fargo, will focus the town hall meeting on education, as one of eight town hall meetings he plans to have between now and the Nov. 4 election around the city. He also plans to debate Fargo twice, though details of those debates have not been released.

Kevin Johnson will make another appearance with another high-profile politician next week, when he hosts a town hall meeting in Sacramento on education with California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell.

Johnson, who is hoping to unseat Sacramento  Mayor Heather Fargo in the Nov. 4 election, will appear at the Guild Theater with O'Connell on Aug. 20.

An education professor in Sacramento has submitted a statement of intent to run for California's top education post in 2010.

A statement of intent to run for Francisco Reveles, a professor of educational leadership at California State University, Sacramento, was posted online within the last few days.

State Superintendent of Schools Jack O’Connell has been tapped to deliver the keynote speech at Saturday’s Ventura County Democratic Central Committee Spring Fling event, the Ventura County Star reports today.

O’Connell, who is in his second term as superintendent and has also served in the state Assembly and the state Senate, has been widely mentioned as a potential 2010 Democratic gubernatorial candidate.

Mollie Culver, an O’Connell political aide, told PolitickerCA.com that the superintendent would focus his remarks on education and the state budget. “The budget is obviously a very key issue this time of year,” she said.

Culver said that O’Connell, who for two terms served as a state Senator for the Ventura area, had close ties with the Democratic organization.

“This is a group he knows very well,” said Culver.