Datamar has released a report showing the actual election results in several categories up against the last polling done by some of the majors. Interesting compilation for those who like to study this stuff, chew it up, regurgitate it, and spew it out…and probably dream about it as well.

I asked Datamar’s Raul Furlong to comment on the results. Here’s what he had to say:

The election is over and the votes have all been counted — well almost all, and it is time to ask how the pollsters did in testing the voters mood.

Modern political polling has become a big part of candidate and initiative campaigns measuring the sense of the voters and tracking throughout campaigns whether certain ads or messages are working and whether the electorate is coming together in support of a measure, or a candidate, or turning away.

Datamar has been successful in measuring most races. Our polling is based on the concept of keying on high-propensity voters, that is, voters that have consistently voted in past elections, and we expect, will continue to vote in future elections. Past behavior is indicative of future… Read More

From FR reader James Sills:

Sounds to me like AD 80 goes to Garcia eliminating the only possible Dem pickup, and with the Dems preventing a GOP pickup in SD34, the partisan elections are over. Status quo in the State Legislature. Lots of new faces, but no new seats for either party. That said, the legislature is slightly less liberal with a small shift towards the center by Senate Democrats, and a heave-ho to the right for Assembly Republicans as all of the "open-primary babies" of 2000 term out.… Read More

As slow a political news week as it may be, a few things are happening. Thanks to John Dadian for sending along some tidbits….

Assemblywoman Mimi Walters has filed papers to succeed Senator Dick Ackerman in SD 33 in ’08. This may be common knowledge with the OC bloggers…I’ll let them pontificate on the ramifications. In the meantime, I have a call into Mimi and her folks for a quote.

Also, Senator-Elect Mark Wyland, succeeding Senator Bill Morrow, has tapped Senator Dave Cox’s communications director as his chief of staff. Peter DeMarco, longtime aide to Cox, will start with Wyland November 30. Great pick, Mark! Cox is searching for a replacement.

Peter just sent me a "real time" comment, as he’s literally as-I-writewaiting for his bag at San Diego’s Lindbergh Field (sounds like he’s already started). Peter also mentions a ‘btw" need to update the airport…I’ll pass that along to the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority for him.

From Peter:

"I’m looking forward to… Read More

There is virtually no quieter week in political news coverage, barring a major incident, than the week of Thanksgiving right after a general election. While some political reporters take some deserved time off right after the election, virtually every one of them takes this week completely off. There are some exceptions, and there will be some special interest stories that show up that were penned last week — but expect to see a lot of very short news summaries from us this week. Of course, the FlashReport will be published throughout the holiday week, including Thanksgiving Day. One advantage to slow news days is that it takes less time to pull together them main page. Actually, we are using this quiet holiday week to work with a group of new contributors who will be joining our FR Blog — spicing up things for the upcoming year! This is a great opportunity for us to ask for FR reader feedback. It was a great election season for the website — our first election year as a website. By all accounts, we seemed to have a notable impact on California politics. Is there anything that you would see changed on the… Read More

I am very pleased to introduce FlashReport readers to our new Political Law Correspondent James Lacy. For many of you, Jim may not need any introduction, as he has been engaged in the ‘contact sport’ of politics for quite a long time now.

If I had to make a list of the top ten political law experts that I know, Jim Lacy would definately be on that list. So I am very excited that he has accepted our invitation to write for our website. Jim will be able to offer all of us some great insight and perspective on legal issues facing California elections (and all of our various political subdivisions). This will include legal issues on a national level that will have a significant impact on us here in the Golden State.

Jim’s experience is extensive, and you can read more about his background right here.

Of course, Jim’s political insights and expertise will allow him to provide insights on many aspects of… Read More

In the final weeks of the election when Lynn Daucher and family should have been focusing singularly on their own election, they were distracted.

An old grudge with a council candidate in Daucher’s home base of Brea took valuable time, money and energy away from here all-important state senate bid.

I’ve attached a flier that was produced and distributed by the Daucher clan attacking former Council Member Steve Vargas who was running again for his old seat after sitting out a few years tending to his wife who recently made a full recovery from breast cancer. It has yet to be determined whether the flier was illegally distributed by Daucher since there is no disclaimer on the piece and there are reports that paid walkers blanketed the city delivering them.

A couple months ago there was another instance of Daucher’s being distracted from the prize. At the OC GOP Central Committee she had her alternate stand up against Vargas’ endorsement (he was the lone no vote)–an embarrassing blow.

Its too bad we didn’t add another Republican State Senator to our ranks this election cycle. But its not like Lynn Daucher… Read More

I have gotten a few inquiries from folks who have seen that there are anonymous bloggers listed in our ‘blog pen’ to the left, or a fleeting post by "Blogger One" or some such title.

Rest assured that we are not converting to anonymous blogging – we are still proudly attributed-blogging only. But we are transitioning a whole group of new bloggers to the site, and they are listed as being anonymous while they test out the functionality of the site. Once they are comfortable on how to post up on the FR Blog, we will be "revealing" their identities. This morning we introduced one of the new contributors — FR Political Law Correspondent Jim Lacy…

Stay tuned for more… We remain committed to bringing you the very best perspective on California politics from the center-right to the very-right.… Read More

In a decision that has dark implications for all advocacy groups that distribute information about Congressional votes to the public, last week the Federal Election Commission voted in favor of an enforcement action resulting in a $28,000 fine to the Sierra Club, to settle charges regarding a voter guide distributed in Florida in 2004 by the Club. The voter guide purported to inform the public of the comparative environmental records of President Bushand Senator John Kerry in the Presidential race, and also the candidates for U.S. Senate in Florida.

The voter guide predictablywas slantedin favor of Kerry, but it stuck to specific Congressional legislation and the actual position of the candidates on such legislation. It did not contain the traditional words of "express advocacy" as defined by the historic Buckley v. Valeo case, such as "vote for," "vote against," or "support," which generally mark the difference between acceptable "issue advocacy," and regulated "express advocacy" during a campaign. Instead, the voter guides reported on the issues, depicted natural scenes, and then… Read More