Perata Edges Out Escutia in Bid for Top Senate Post

Don Perata of Oakland, a former schoolteacher who became an exceptional Democratic dealmaker and fundraiser, was selected Tuesday to be the next leader of the California Senate, traditionally considered the second most powerful position in the state.

After three secret ballots that capped days of tension in the legislative session’s last week, the Senate’s Democratic caucus selected Perata over Martha Escutia of Whittier. If elected, Escutia would have been the first woman and the first Latino to serve as president pro tem of the upper house.

“This is a caucus I am proud to be a member of and proud to be the leader” of, Perata said. “This was not an easy process. It turned longtime friends into short-term adversaries. But now we Senate Democrats stand united.”

On Nov. 30, when he is scheduled to take over, Perata will have the opportunity to put his stamp on major state decisions affecting the lives of Californians. He will become the upper house’s chief negotiator with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The outgoing Senate president, John Burton of San Francisco, has been the leader of the liberal Democratic opposition since 1998, spanning the terms of three governors.

Burton imprinted his personal agenda -- particularly protecting poor people, inmates and other powerless Californians -- on every state budget and countless laws. Perata will be in a position to do the same with some of the subjects, including mental illness and gun control, on which he is most passionate.

Although the lieutenant governor is the constitutional president of the Senate, the president pro tem runs the legislative affairs of the upper house. He is in charge of gubernatorial confirmations, assignment of influential committee chairmanships and Senate Democratic election strategy.

“Don Perata is Burton in training,” said Barbara O’Connor, director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and Media at Cal State Sacramento. “He has been Burton’s right arm, his enforcer and dealmaker. He is more controlled, less irascible, more polished but very competent at putting together deals. He will represent Northern California and liberal interests.”

Burton must leave the Senate at the end of the year because of term limits, but Democrats plan to have the official transition of power after the fall election. The Senate president pro tem is formally elected by a vote of all 40 senators, but the Democrats’ decision Tuesday to coalesce behind one candidate makes Perata’s succession all but certain.

In their selection of a new leader for the first time in six years, the Democrats chose stability over change. Perata has four more years to serve in the Senate before term limits force him out, while Escutia has only two. Some had feared that the race to succeed her would have begun almost as soon as she took the new post, and believed that Perata would have more time to mature in the job.

The Oakland senator’s victory was particularly important for Northern California, where leaders and others had openly fretted at the possibility that they might not have any of their representatives directly involved in legislative negotiations. Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez are both from Los Angeles, and the two Republican legislative leaders come from south of Sacramento.

The issue was highlighted by two pressing topics in the Capitol: a proposed mega-casino in San Pablo and a debate over whether the entire state or just the Bay Area should have to pay for repairs to the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge that are running billions of dollars over budget.

“Perata’s election means a great deal of protection for all the drivers of the Bay Area,” said Sen. Jackie Speier of Hillsborough.

Senate Republican leader Dick Ackerman of Irvine said Perata was “an easy person to work with, he’s got common sense and a good working relationship with the Republicans.”

But Escutia had strong backers throughout Sacramento who favored her not only for the precedents her election would have set but also because of her devotion to public policy, which many said was greater than Perata’s. She wrote the country’s first air quality standards based on children’s health needs rather than those of adults, and the first bill to set nutritional standards for food in public schools.

The drama leading up to the selection was intense. As the afternoon progressed, Escutia, wearing an orange shawl, bounced around the chamber, chatting with members, while Perata was mostly stone-faced in between bursts of smiles. Even some Perata supporters presumed that their candidate had lost.

Shortly before 5 p.m., all the Democrats withdrew to their private caucus room, and the Senate sergeants-at-arms took the unusual step of clearing everyone away from the hallway. Inside, Burton called out the names of his 24 colleagues and handed out unmarked paper ballots, senators said afterward.

With each round of balloting, Burton and one supporter of each of the candidates went to an unoccupied ladies’ restroom to count the ballots.

In the first round, Escutia had 12 votes -- one short of victory -- while Perata had eight. A third contender, Sheila Kuehl of Santa Monica, received four votes and dropped out of the race.

In the second round, Perata and Escutia were tied at 12 votes each, with Burton not voting. Perata clinched it in the final round, 13-11.

“When the final vote was announced, Escutia and her supporters were shocked,” Kuehl said. “Don looked relieved. I think they both expected to win it.”

Afterward, all the senators moved to a hearing room in the Capitol to announce the results. Escutia entered last and stood directly in front of Perata as Burton said, “I would like to introduce you to Sen. Martha Escutia, who will introduce you to Don Perata, who will be the Democratic leader.”

Escutia said, “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to have the audacity to dream.” She added, “From running this race -- and I fought the good fight -- I know it will make it easier for the next woman or the next person of color to become the next pro tem.”

Perata, 59, was born in Alameda, the son of a milkman, and graduated from Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga.

A former English, religion and civics high school teacher and Alameda County supervisor, Perata was elected to the Assembly in 1996 and moved up to the Senate two years later. His district encompasses much of the East Bay.

Perata has been an aggressive fundraiser for Democrats. Since 2003, he has raised $351,600 for the party, more than any other senator except Burton. But state campaign finance regulators have twice fined Perata, who runs his own political consulting firm, for violating election rules.

He wrote California’s laws curbing “Saturday night specials” -- the inexpensive guns that are frequently used in crimes -- and assault weapons. He co-wrote the state law that requires healthcare insurers to provide the same coverage for mental illness as they do for physical ailments.

Perata has been an aggressive advocate for his 9th District, securing $100 million to help bail out the bankrupt Oakland Unified School District and millions for the area’s roads and bridges. Much of his legislation focused on problems that affect poor, urban areas, such as groundwater pollution from gasoline additives and the presence of arsenic in water.

“Partisan leanings aside, Perata is a much more experienced, a much more effective legislator,” said Dan Schnur, a GOP consultant.

“He’d be much better equipped to serve the Democrats’ cause in the Capitol.”