Kevin McCarty

Media outlets reported Thursday that final-term Assemblyman Dave Jones (D-Sacramento) will make a bid for state insurance commissioner in 2010.

Current commissioner Steve Poizner, a Republican, is planning a run for governor that year.

Jones could not be reached for comment Thursday evening, but told The Sacramento Bee that he already had endorsements from Democrat state Controller John Chiang and incoming state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento).

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.