Friday, June 8, 2012 – 02:30 p.m.

The race for runoff positions in the election to represent the 8th Congressional District is in flux this hour.

State Assemblyman Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley) has fallen to second place and is now trailing Tea Party candidate Greg Imus (R-Lake Arrowhead) by 106 votes.

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PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
June 7, 2012 | 5:24 pm

The races aren’t quite over yet in a handful of California primary contests that were so close their outcomes may hinge on the ballots left uncounted on election night Tuesday.

As county elections officials work through the thousands of remaining ballots, candidates in three congressional races and more than a dozen Assembly contests are waiting to see whether they will be on the ballot for the Nov. 6 general election.

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By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Jun. 8, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

The Legislature is warming up for state budget hearings next week.

The public is rolling its eyes.

Nearly two-thirds of registered voters – 65 percent – have little faith in lawmakers to satisfactorily resolve California’s $15.7 billion budget deficit, and their confidence in Gov. Jerry Brown is declining, too, according to a Field Poll released today.

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Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Friday, Jun. 8, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

There was no chance that Democratic legislators would fashion a new state budget before last Tuesday’s primary election, since budget votes could have become campaign ammunition.

However, that leaves just a week before the June 15 constitutional budget deadline – with legislators’ salaries at risk if they don’t make it. And with at least a $16 billion deficit to close, they can’t skate by merely assuming voters will pass new taxes in November.

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