In a story titled "Top California GOP Legislator Holds the Line on Taxes," Villines is portrayed as "the most influential Republican legislator" in California.

The story highlights Villines's well-known distaste for new taxes and his opposition to major parts of Gov. Schwarzenegger's plan to close the state's gaping budget hole.

"I tell my members, 'We're the only line holding back taxes,'" Villines says in the article. "If we fall, the floodgates will open."

Republicans have long come under fire from Democrats for opposing taxes but not offering real solutions in their place.

In the WSJ story, Karen Bass, the Democratic Speaker of the lower house says of Villines:

"He is a very respectful, pleasant man. We disagree, but we are not disagreeable."

Earlier this year, Villines earned praise from the Journal's conservative editorial page for his opposition to governor's tax proposal. Since then, the state's finances have deteriorated, forcing lawmakers back to Sacramento for an unusual mid-year budget session.

Villines and Dave Cogdill, the Modesto Republican who leads the GOP in the state Senate, will probably find it harder to resist tax hikes this time around. Already, at least one of their members, Sen. Bob Margett, R-Arcadia, has suggested he might be willing to vote for new taxes.

Today, I ran that idea by Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, who dropped by the Capitol bureau for an hour-long chat with McClatchy reporters.

Her response? She just laughed, and then said, "no comment."

Let's just say that the reference letter from California Democrats won't be coming any time soon.

(Watch the exchange, plus other interview hightlights, at CapitalAlert.)

Parra angered her party earlier this year by refusing to vote on a Democratic budget proposal because it was not accompanied by money for dams in the Central Valley, a long-time wish of farmers. The move angered Bass, who tossed Parra out of her Capitol office into smaller digs across the street.

The night before the election, Parra said she was out stumping for Obama in the swing state of Nevada. She has also said she was one of the first California Democrats to endorse him, back when a lot of Golden State Democrats were behind Hillary Clinton.

But Bass's relationship with Obama goes back years, she said.

"I met the senator when he was running for Senate," she said. "What we have in common is we're both community organizers. I will say no more."

Bass conceded that Parra's support of Gilmore might have helped him. But "I don't think that it was decisive," she said. "Nicole has huge negatives as well."

She does not regret booting Parra from her office.

"I was fully aware that she was trying to martyr herself. I knew that and I resisted it up until the end," she said. But "at a certain point in time, making a decision like that that, though, is really about unifying the overall caucus."

Translation: Party leaders must keep renegade members in line.

Parra has also said she might become a lobbyist. If so, Bass suggested she would have problems bending the ear of California Democrats, who are still upset at her endorsement of Gilmore.

"She might have been thinking about the fact that in a few years we'll all be gone and no one will remember what happened," Bass said. "It is true that all of us in office will be gone. But do you know there are hundreds of staffers that are going to have really long memories."

Some Valley Democrats who have already voiced interest in serving -- cough Nicole Parra cough -- may have trouble overcoming intraparty resistance. Sometimes, it just takes one phone call to squelch a nomination, and the former assemblywoman made some enemies in Sacramento. Other potential appointees, or at least people interested in an appointment, have been heard in the mix; former Mariposa County supervisor Art Baggett, for one. Valley lawmakers have pressed Obama to name a Californian to a top Agriculture Department position; though the name of Modesto-area farmer Bill Lyons Jr. has floated up, Lyons may have other priorities for the moment.

Griffiths is well known in Valley Republican circles. She moved to Fresno four years ago from Washington D.C., to run Mike Villines' campaign for Assembly. He won and she stayed on as Villines' district director as he rose to become Assembly GOP leader. She also pitched in on some local races, including helping Fresno City Council Member Jerry Duncan in his unsuccessful run for mayor earlier this year.

Griffiths' stock jumped this year as she ran Republican Danny Gilmore's apparently successful bid for a South Valley Assembly seat. Gilmore's opponent, Democrat Fran Florez, still hasn't conceded, but things look good for Gilmore who holds a 2,164 vote lead with not many ballots left to count.

Republicans have long coveted the seat, held for the last six years by termed-out Democrat Nicole Parra. Fran Florez is the mother of state Sen. Dean Florez.

"We've taken a stab at that [seat] for a long time and Julie was able to put a ground game together that matched the Florez ground game," said Michael Der Manouel Jr. chairman of the Lincoln Club of Fresno County, a GOP group. "Julie is an exceptional political organizer. One of the very best here in the Central Valley."

Her departure means the Valley's "very, very thin" bench of skilled GOP political consultants is now even thinner, Der Manouel Jr. said.

The cupboard is nearly bare because there's not much money to be made running races here, compared with other California cities, he said.

"We have very few high dollar races here," he said. "Mayor and county board of supervisor [races] only come along every so often."

Griffiths originally planned to leave after the Villines race -- but became "entrenched in the community," she said.

After 20 years of campaign work, Griffiths is looking forward to getting involved in policy.
Her new boss is Joel Anderson, R-Alpine, who represents eastern San Diego County in the Assembly. As his chief of staff, Griffiths will run Anderson's office, taking a key role in pushing his legislation.

He is best known for pushing a bill through last year that prohibits the state's two public pension funds from investing money in Iranian companies involved in energy or defense.

In the 19th Congressional District, where Mariposa Republican George Radanovich had no official challengers and two men who qualified as write-in candidates, close to 24,000 voters in the Fresno County portion of the district didn't vote at all. That's close to 27% of the total 19th district ballots cast in Fresno County.

Up north in the Stanislaus County portion of the 19th district, the percentage was even higher -- nearly 37% left their ballots blank.

It was a similar story in the adjacent 18th Congressional District, where Merced Democrat Dennis Cardoza was unopposed. Around 21% of Merced County voters simply didn't vote.

Up and down both districts, the story was pretty much the same.

Fresno County Clerk Victor Salazar wasn't shocked by the blank ballots in the congressional races. Because it is a presidential election year, he said, "that can be expected."

Voters often go the polls specifically to vote for a presidential candidate and are more uninformed about other races, especially ballot initiatives. So, they leave much of their ballots blank.

But still, Salazar was surprised by the high number of blank ballots in Radanovich's district. "That's a big chunk," he said, adding: "There are also those who say 'I don't have a choice.'"

The 19th District covers parts of Fresno, Madera and Stanislaus counties and all of Mariposa and Tuolumne. The 18th District covers parts of Fresno, Madera, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties and all of Merced.

On Saturday Gilmore, a Republican, held a 2,419 vote lead over Florez, a Democrat. The spread is now 1,460.

But almost all the absentee ballots are counted. Florez's only hope is that thousands of provisional ballots are deemed good and that a majority go her way.

"We're just going to let this process play out," said her campaign manager, Bob Sanders. "The fact that Gilmore's lead has been chopped virtually in half is encouraging."

But almost everyone else has written her off.

The Bakersfield Californian called the race for Gilmore days ago. (The Bee will wait till all counting is done.) And recently, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, claimed a post-election 50-30 Democratic edge in the lower house, a net gain of two that does not include a Florez win.

Gilmore, a retired highway patrolman from Hanford, is in Sacramento this week for Assembly orientation. Florez did not make the trip. (only the candidates in the lead are invited).

Florez's best hope is in Kern County, the Democratic stronghold in the district, which also includes Kings county and small chunks of Tulare and Fresno counties. Florez won Kern 65% to 35%. County officials say 10,000 provisional ballots remain in the county, but they aren't sure how many of those are in the 30th District.

State Sen. Dean Florez, Fran's son, guessed there are at least 2,500 provisional in Kern and probably 250 in both Fresno and Tulare counties. Not all provisionals will be ruled eligible, that's for sure.

But Fresno native Monica Carmean, an assistant in Costa's office, kept her lapels neutral. A Northwestern University alumni, she was happy Wednesday to cheer on the appearance of her alma mater's championship women's lacrosse team.

Lincoln was chosen because 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of his birth.

Then, this summer the California Museum in Sacramento will host the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition. The museum will be the first of five stops for the exhibit and the only one in the western United States, according to an announcement made today.

"The 3,500 square foot exhibition will chart Lincoln's growth from prairie student to international legend, addressing the controversies that marked the road to his presidency and how his words still resonate today. Particular attention will be paid to his key presidential order, the Emancipation Proclamation," the museum said.

Read more here.

On the list was Danny Gilmore, who ran against Democrat Fran Florez for the 30th District seat in the South Valley. But they are still counting absentee ballots in the district and Florez hasn't conceded yet.

In an interview, Villines said he was confident Gilmore would hang on to the close victory.

Dean Florez, son of Fran and a state senator, has another view. In an email, he said:

"Villines? Is he down in the Kern County's office counting ballots or something? Let's wait till every voters ballot is counted. He can't wish his way to a new member. Let's just count all the votes."

According to the state Secretary of State Web site, Gilmore leads 37,701 to 35,282.

First, a Perea supporter at Palomino's restaurant forcibly ejected a camera crew from ABC 30.

Later, Perea didn't call Swearengin to congratulate her once it was clear she had won. On Thursday Swearengin staffers said the call still had not come as far as they knew.

Perea has not returned phone calls from The Bee since about 10 p.m. on Tuesday.

Mayor Alan Autry, who endorsed Swearengin late in the campaign after he became frustrated with what he called Perea's negative tactics, said on Wednesday that Perea's behavior shows that he isn't ready to serve as mayor.

"How someone handles success tells you a lot about that person. How they handle failure tells you even more. Ashley has handled herself with a level of class and maturity that is obviously missing from his campaign," Autry said.

Perea supporters gathered at Palomino's restaurant in the Tower District to watch election results, and though there was no list it was apparently an "invitation only" event.

At least that the reason given for forcibly ejecting a cameraman from ABC 30.

The cameraman was trying to record images of Perea entering the restaurant, along with crews from every other Fresno television station, when former City Council Member Brad Castillo put his had on the camera lens and pushed the cameraman out of the restaurant, saying "Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye."

Castillo said it was an exclusive event, and the crew from ABC 30 wasn't welcome. They were the only news crew kept outside.

Tracey Watkowski, news director for ABC 30, said it was unfortunate that the Perea campaign kept the cameraman from doing his job.

"Action News has been committed to covering the Fresno Mayoral race fairly and accurately for our viewers. It is unfortunate the Perea campaign folks felt could keep us from doing our jobs, by keeping us outside the party. When results started coming in, and it was clear Ashley Swearengin would win, Perea's party became a non-issue for us," Watkowski said.

Later, when the results showed that he had lost the election, Perea left the restaurant quickly.

Autry said he still believes Perea has a political future, but he will have to repair some damage he's done to his reputation.

"There's a lot of pressure on you during a campaign, but you can't just walk away if you lose. You have to show appreciation for those who helped you, and there are protocols you follow, including congratulating the person who won. That's just the right way to do things," Autry said.

With House Republicans losing nearly two dozen seats, heads are starting to roll among party leadership. That, of course, creates openings. Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, on Wednesday was among those being bandied about as a potential candidate to run the House Republican Conference. It's a lower-level leadership slot, which sometimes is a launching pad for higher office.

"It is absolutely a possibility," Nunes said Wednesday afternoon.

But Nunes also faces other considerations, including the possibility of becoming a ranking Republican on a House subcommittee, part of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. His colleague, Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, likewise looks like he will be moving up in seniority on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

But you have to find your silver linings where you can. Villines took comfort in the fact that California Democrats did not achieve a two-thirds majority in the Assembly -- always a longshot. Shane Goldmacher with The Sacramento Bee's Capitol Alert has more on Villines' assessment.