‘We’re not San Francisco’
That’s what former state senator and assemblyman Wes Chesbro told a Sacramento TV reporter recently in a casual conversation.
If you follow local Democratic politics, you know that Chesbro is preparing to run for the North Coast Assembly seat currently occupied by Patty Berg. Berg will be term-limited out of that seat at the end of this year.
Unless.
If voters approve Proposition 93 in the presidential primary election Feb. 5, Berg will not be term-limited out this year and can run again if she chooses. So would Chesbro challenge Berg for the Democratic nomination in the June statewide primary if Prop 93 passes?
No, Chesbro told said TV reporter who asked him that question last month in Sacramento, where Chesbro, who under current law is term-limited out of the Senate but not the Assembly, serves on the state Integrated Waste Management Board. “We’re not San Francisco,” Chesbro said.
If you follow state Democratic politics, you know that Mark Leno, a San Francisco Assemblyman who will be term-limited out after this year, is planning to challenge fellow Democrat Carole Migden in the June primary for the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat Migden currently holds. Leno’s announced intentions has stirred up some resentment among Dems in the Bay Area, who consider the seats they hold in the Legislature and Congress safe for the incumbent until the incumbent decides not to run again or is term-limited out. State Senate President Pro-Tem Don Perata has admonished Leno for his chutzpa. And reportedly Nancy Pelosi is not happy.