Democrats Close to Choosing Senate Leader

Amid the frenetic final week of California’s legislative session, the most intense, personal and covert politicking is focused on an internal Democratic battle over who will become the next Senate leader.

The decision, which Democratic senators plan to make Tuesday in a secret ballot, will have huge reverberations throughout the Capitol, as it deprives Sacramento of its last leader whose tenure predated term limits.

John Burton of San Francisco, the Senate’s president pro tem for the last six years, is being forced into retirement. He will take with him a unique savvy accumulated over 26 years in California’s Legislature and another eight in Congress.

“He’s the smartest political strategist and legislative tactician that the Democrats have had in quite some time, and when he leaves, a void will occur that will not be easily filled,” said Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga, the former Senate Republican leader.

Although the lieutenant governor is officially president of the Senate, the body elects a president pro tempore to run the chamber’s legislative affairs and a staff of 100, and to oversee the confirmation of gubernatorial appointees. The job pays $113,850.

Traditionally, the majority party -- currently the Democrats -- privately unites behind a candidate, making the formal election among all 40 senators a formality. As the leader of the Democratic caucus, many of the pro tem’s duties are partisan in nature.

Burton’s replacement will have to wrangle with an immensely popular Republican governor, negotiate with a minority GOP Senate bloc that has proved adept at the art of obstruction, and work with increasingly combative Democrats across the hall in the Assembly.

The next Senate leader also must raise money for Democratic candidates throughout the state and promote an institution that is disliked by voters at a time when there are growing efforts to scale back legislative power in California’s government.

“The reality is that the pro tem, whoever it is next year, will be the second most powerful elected official in the state of California and will have a powerful impact on how next year’s budget impasse will be resolved, whether or not there will be a tax increase or cuts in services or both,” said Tim Hodson, executive director of the Center for California Studies at Cal State Sacramento.

The contest to replace Burton has been going on for months, if not years, but so clandestinely that many of the 25 Democratic senators have still not openly declared whom they are supporting.

Polite on the surface, the battle between the two main contenders -- Martha Escutia of Whittier and Don Perata of Oakland -- has been cutthroat behind the scenes, according to senators and others following the campaigns.

Assisted by an influential downstate ally -- Miguel Contreras, the leader of the Los Angeles County AFL-CIO -- Perata has been aggressively courting senators in Escutia’s Southern California power base and offering financial aid to those facing tough races this fall.

One of those, Sen. Betty Karnette of Long Beach, was an early Escutia supporter who a few weeks back wrote to tell her she was switching her allegiance.

In June, Perata held a fundraiser for Karnette’s state Assembly bid at a Sacramento Tex-Mex restaurant. Contreras played a role in Karnette’s switch, Senate officials said.

Both Perata and Escutia have been aggressively wooing Sen. Mike Machado of Linden, who is in the Senate’s tightest reelection race. Both have held fundraisers for him this year and given donations from their own accounts; Machado has not announced whom he is supporting.

But Escutia, who would become the Senate’s first Latino leader if elected -- as well as its first female president pro tem -- has maintained a strong core of supporters among fellow Latinos. “Martha was with me in a very strong way where she believed in the principle of electing women, particularly a Latino in a non-Latino district,” said Sen. Deborah Ortiz of Sacramento, an Escutia backer. “And I share a lot of people’s underestimating our ability to really represent more than just Latinos.”

For Ortiz, who says Perata has been very supportive of her in the Senate, the whole process has been wrenching. “I don’t think there are any two people on the floor that I have a closer personal relationship with than these two,” Ortiz said.

Escutia’s campaign has been aided by trial lawyers, who have found her to be a very supportive chairwoman of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee. Several people involved in the race said that former Los Angeles Sen. Richard Polanco, who is credited with helping build the Legislature’s Latino caucus and electing a number of sitting senators, has been aiding her effort. Escutia insisted she has not asked Polanco, now a lobbyist, to help.

For senators, taking sides is a complicated calculus that involves far more than friendship. For instance, one of Escutia’s strongest supporters is Denise Ducheny of San Diego. Her friendship with Escutia goes back to the early 1990s, when both served in the Assembly. One colleague there nicknamed them “Heckle and Jeckle” for all the time they palled around.

Ducheny could have much to gain with an Escutia victory. People following the race say Ducheny would be interested in becoming chairwoman of the powerful budget committee, a post she held in the Assembly. The current Senate budget chairman, Wes Chesbro of Arcata, declined to say which candidate he supports.

The race is so close that it may well be decided by two factions. The first is a group of senators backing a longshot candidate, Sen. Sheila Kuehl of Santa Monica. If Kuehl drops out after the first round of balloting, as most expect, her vote and those of her three backers -- Debra Bowen of Marina del Rey, Liz Figueroa of Fremont and Dede Alpert of San Diego -- would be up for grabs. Figueroa and Alpert have both indicated they would side with Perata at that point.

More critical votes could come from three senators leaving Sacramento this year because of term limits. John Vasconcellos of Santa Clara, Byron Sher of Stanford and Burton have all been the most elusive in terms of committing their votes. Late last week, Vasconcellos decided to back Escutia.

Another factor that has been much discussed around the Capitol is geographic influence. Traditionally, the Assembly speaker has been from Southern California -- as is now the case with Fabian Nunez of Los Angeles -- and the Senate leader has been from the North.

That division would seem to aid Perata, but there is little evidence that geography is influencing the decision: Tom Torlakson of Antioch, which is in the Bay Area, and Sacramento’s Ortiz are both backing Escutia, while Kevin Murray and Gloria Romero, both of Los Angeles, are behind Perata.

Whoever wins will not have the luxury Burton had of maturing in the job over six years. Term limits will force Escutia out in 2006 and Perata in 2008, and that reality has been on some senators’ minds.

“Sen. Escutia has just two years, and I just see this as such a downside,” Alpert said. “It’s been such a disaster in the Assembly. Because we’re not going to have a leader as strong as John, the most important thing we have is stability.”

A count of supporters has Escutia and Perata about even. Speculation is rampant, but it’s agreed that the nature of the secret ballot makes it impossible to handicap the vote with certainty.

“It’s a lot like poker: No one wants to show his hand until he knows what the other guy’s got,” said Jason Kinney, a former Perata aide who’s helping his campaign.

Though all the Democrats say that all three contenders are qualified for the job, whoever is selected will make a substantial imprint on Sacramento politics.

Escutia is known for her passionate liberalism and interest in immigrant issues. Perata is considered a talented dealmaker who cares about mental illness and gun control. Kuehl is respected for her intelligence and commitment to civil rights and women’s issues.

Right now, what they share is a recognition of how challenging it will be to replace Burton and an acceptance of how uncomfortable the race to succeed him has been.

“I think it has been difficult for senators,” Escutia said. “I’ve been talking to all my members. You can actually see it in their faces, in their eyes, that they are truly torn.”

Perata agreed. “Politicians do not like to hurt somebody’s feelings,” he said. “It’s hard enough to vote against somebody’s bill, much less vote against them.”