Schwarzenegger expected to name McPherson as secretary of state

[cascadiance]

Well, Schwarzenegger appears to have made his move now. Anyone else out there with more of a poop on McPherson to see if he's a "wolf in sheep's clothing" ala Blackwell? At least he's from Santa Cruz, which counts for something...

-- snip --

Schwarzenegger expected to name McPherson as secretary of state

Friday, February 11, 2005

(02-11) 10:01 PST SACRAMENTO, (AP) --

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to name a longtime former Santa Cruz legislator, Bruce McPherson, as California's 29th secretary of state Friday, sources told the San Jose Mercury News.

McPherson, 61, who left the state Senate last year after 11 years in the Legislature, would replace Kevin Shelley, who resigned last Friday while facing numerous investigations into his conduct in office. Shelley's resignation takes effect March 1.

The governor's office scheduled an 11 a.m. announcement on the appointment.

McPherson, a former newspaper editor and moderate Republican, has been a Schwarzenegger ally since the two met in 2002 when Schwarzenegger was pushing an after-school initiative. Schwarzenegger hosted an Orange County fund-raiser for McPherson during his unsuccessful 2002 campaign for lieutenant governor.

He was also among the first to sponsor legislation seeking to put political contributions and lobbying information online, and supports redistricting of state legislative and congressional districts, a key Schwarzenegger goal.

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, said McPherson would quickly be confirmed by the Senate.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/02/11/state/n100118S48.DTL

[Book Lover]

1. So Perata's rolling....

I'll see what I can find on McPherson...

[fooj]

2. I live in Santa Cruz County...McPherson is a moderate!

He taught Political Science at Cabrillo Community College in Aptos...He's certainly not known as a RWer in these parts! He lost his son to a tragic murder in San Francisco a while back...shortly thereafter he announced he would not be running again for his senate seat. I don't remember hearing many bad things about him...he's a reasonable man, I think! My dad knows him-I'll try and get the scoop!

[davidinalameda]

3. more fodder for the Shelley apologists!

whoo hoo!

[Helga Scow Stern]

9. Could you please explain?

[David__77]

4. He's a partisan Republican.

The Democrats will roll over for him because he's a former senator. But his record is bad. He would have lost in 2002, and I'm sure he'll run for election in 2006 if confirmed... This is too bad.

[davidinalameda]

5. what is his record?

?

[Dookus]

15. No

he wouldn't have lost in 2002. He wasn't up that year. But his last win in 2000 was 15 points over his challenger.

He's a very moderate Republican - he'd have to be to get elected in Santa Cruz. He's a strong environmentalist and certainly isn't considered a rabid partisan.

I've lived in Santa Cruz for more than 7 years now, and McPherson is widely considered a pretty decent guy.

[David__77]

18. He would have lost against Kevin Shelley in 2002.

That is what I meant.

[Dookus]

20. ah, I see

He did make a run for Lieutenant Governor in '02, though, and lost to Bustamante.

[David__77]

21. A note on his "moderate" reputation.

Yes, he is mostly pro-choice and votes for ecological legislation (which, for me, is a low-level priority compared with economic issues), he is a solid 100% Chamber of Commerce anti-labor vote, and he also has an abysmal voting record on gay rights, which gets worse each year. He opposes any recognition for domestic partners. I fail to see what makes him so "moderate" other than abortion.

[Dookus]

22. well

let's see. He's pro-choice, very good on environmental issues, supported medical marijuana legislation, supported some good health-care legislation.

He cast the deciding vote to ban offshore drilling in state waters.

He co-authored Prop 59, one of the best laws in the country for open access to government information.

He's been a strong supporter of higher education, and keeping it affordable.

I couldn't find evidence that he opposed Domestic Partnership legislation. He was absent for the vote on AB 17.

However, the Santa Cruz GLBT Alliance which describes itself as "Santa Cruz' queer political organization" drafted a sample letter to him on the issue that began:

"Dear Senator McPherson,

Thank you for your support for the gay, lesbian, bisexual & transgender community and our equality in the past..."

I also found two conservative sites that attacked him for being "too gay-friendly".


Yeah, I think he's a moderate. I've lived in Santa Cruz for awhile now, and it's the second most liberal county in the state, after San Francisco. He's won a number of elections here, and there's no way he could do so if he was much of a conservative.

[naniwa]

19. No and yes

Well he did lose in 2002... He lost in the Lt Governor race to Cruz Bustamante.

His senate record looks okay
here are some examples for 1996-2000:
Natural Disaster Assistance for Hospitals SB 88
California State Mussel Watch Program SB 62
Inventory on Air Pollution Producers SB 1300
Regulations of Outdoor Woodburning Ovens SB 979
UC School of Veterinary Medicine SB 1484

but he has some wierd things in there (1996-2000):
An amendment to the state voting law that would allow in situations for elections to be conducted entirely by mail. SB 2203
Opening up the Pacific Coast to more cruise ships SJR 19
Allowing cars to be dumped into streambanks to prevent river erosion (wierd) SB 2136
Longer sentences for criminals that are known to be part of juvenile gangs SB 1455

[newyawker99]

23. Hi naniwa!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[xxqqqzme]

6. it does not matter

if he is a moderate or not. It is the rethuglican agenda that is being advanced. California just became a red state folks - get accustomed it. Your votes no longer will be counted.

[democracyindanger]

8. The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

[Helga Scow Stern]

10. Yes. What matters is if he is advised by Conny McCormack.

[Freddie Stubbs]

16. Isn't Conny McCormack a Democrat?

:shrug:

[Wilms]

11. His record doesn't matter????

That's a Freeper-like mentality.

We do a lot better than that, sometimes.

[DBoon]

13. His record does matter, but

how susceptible he is to partisan pressure matters more.

A moderate republican in this office will be subject to incredible partisan pressure. What he does with this is more important in this office than his views on reproductive rights

[cascadiance]

12. Well, I'm waiting to see if he's going to be a Rethug pointman...

and also if anyone turns up some dark secret ties to Diebold, or the like.

Put it this way one of a few futures could happen:

1) We find some dark secret of his or some other evidence that he's going to "Blackwell" California and then out him like we did Gannon of Talon.

2) We can't find anything on him, but he turns around and does the Rethugs agenda in fixing the votes here in California, ala Blackwell.

3) He performs his duties in his office honorably, much like Sam Reed (embattled though he may be) has as a Republican Secretary of State in Washington.

If the outcome is 1 or 2, then I vote that we as Democrats use this as a bellweather event to signal that *NO* Republicans will be viewed as "compatible" or "moderate" by us in the coming elections, and that no matter how in the middle they may seem on many issues, we tell them that if they want our votes, they need to leave the party ala Jeffords. If he screws California's voting process up and screws us in coming elections, we can use this as a poster example of why it is the critical issues like this that the Republican party will "call their chips in" and not serve their constituencies properly.

We've already seen "moderates" like Tom Campbell, Jim Leach, etc. be forced into voting for Clinton's impeachment. We will then need to tell Olympia Snow, and these others that it's either time they leave the party or we'll play hardball and target them to be ousted in coming elections where they have a moderate or liberal constituency.

[jdj]

7. I was expecting this to be Elle McPherson.

Knowing the Gropinator.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[wildflower]

17. LA Times: Former GOP Lawmaker Named Secretary of State

It's official...

Former GOP Lawmaker Named Secretary of State

Former state legislator Bruce McPherson, a moderate Republican from Santa Cruz, today was appointed to serve as secretary of state, replacing Kevin Shelley, who resigned last week amid allegations of financial and official misconduct.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who announced the appointment in Sacramento, hailed McPherson's integrity and reputation as a bipartisan leader during more than a decade in the California Assembly and Senate.

"The secretary of state is an important constitutional office, entrusted with the most wonderful democratic process in our society — free and fair elections," Schwarzenegger said. "The job demands the highest degree of integrity. Now it is time that we worked together and restored the people's faith in that office."

Favored by GOP moderates to fill the post, McPherson represented a politically diverse district during his 12 years in the Legislature. In 2002, he lost a bid to unseat incumbent Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-021105mcpherson_lat,0,2711210.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[ticapnews]

24. Some links for Bruce McPherson

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2004/December/12/edit/stories/02edit.htm
...That system (reapportionment) needs to be changed if California hopes to have anything that resembles competitive election races, and presumably results in the legislative lineup reflecting party registration in the Golden State.

http://www.network-democracy.org/camp/pa/wp/mcpherson.shtml

http://currents.ucsc.edu/04-05/01-10/awards-mcpherson.asp

http://www.kqed.org/w/healthdialogues/letters/mcpherson.html

http://www.digitalsunlight.org/UPDATES/AB1026_1.html

http://www.kovr13.com/04apr02/042302g.htm
"When you go home today, hug your kids." Santa Cruz Senator Bruce McPherson's son was murdered last year...


These are the first few links google turned up. I haven't read them all, but they might yield some useful information. His support for redistricting is troublesome...