Congratulations to Lt. Governor John Garamendi who yesterday finished atop a crowded field in the race to succeed Ellen Tauscher as the Representative in the California 10th Congressional District. The sprawling California 10th includes much of Contra Costa County, as well as parts of Alameda, Solano and Sacramento counties.

With 100% of precincts reporting, Garamendi had 26.2% of the vote, Harmer 20.6%, Democratic state senator Mark DeSaulnier 17.6%, and Democratic state assemblymember Joan Buchanan 12.0%. No one else in the 14-candidate primary field drew more than 10% of the vote. Many progressives had backed Anthony Woods, an Iraq war veteran who was discharged under DADT.

With no candidate winning the required 50% of the vote to win the seat outright, the top vote-getter from each party now advance to the November 3rd general election. Democrat Garamendi and Republican Harmer will be joined by Jeremy Cloward of the Green Party, Jerry Denham of the American Independent Party, and Mary C. McIlroy of the Peace and Freedom Party in the runoff.

Democrats hold an 18-point voter registration edge in the district after it was last redrawn in 2002, so the Democrat Garamendi is a strong favorite to be elected to Congress in the runoff and fill the remainder of the term.

The results by county from KCBS-San Francisco.

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With his fourth run for Governor failing to get traction, Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi yesterday announced his plan to run for Congress in the East Bay's 10th District - in a special election to replace Ellen Tauscher.  On name recognition alone, Garamendi will be the front-runner in a crowded field - although State Senator Mark DeSaulnier has key endorsements that will make it competitive.  But while running for Congress is a smart move for Garamendi, it would be far better for Democrats - and progressive politics - for him to run in District 3 against Republican incumbent Dan Lungren.  Tauscher's seat is safe for Democrats regardless of who runs in the special election, while Garamendi is probably one of the few candidates who can win District 3.  He has deep roots in the 3rd District - which includes a large swath of the Sacramento suburbs, along with Garamendi's native Calaveras County.  It is traditionally a "red" district, but Barack Obama carried it last November - and Lungren came unexpectedly close to losing to an under-funded Democratic challenger.  At a time when Democratic activists are pushing the Party to take back"Red California," Garamendi's choice of districts could not be more disheartening and misguided.  Expect this to become an issue at this weekend's State Democratic Convention.

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The increased likelihood of global nuclear annihilation aside, this could be fabulous news for congress:

Word is that Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), chair of the House Armed Services Committee's subcommittee on strategic forces and a staunch superdelegate for presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, is in line for a top post at the State Department, most likely for the undersecretary for arms control and nonproliferation slot.

California's 10th Congressional District was specifically redistricted following the 2000 census for a progressive. While Tauscher quit the Blue Dogs two years ago in preparation for an expected primary, she is still chair of the DLC's New Democrat Coalition (run from her congressional office). Right now, CA-10 is wasted on a major obstacle to Barack Obama's agenda and sound economic policy. With six BART stations in district, a Special Election in the 10th could allow progressives from across the Bay Area to ensure we have a better Democrat.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists would probably have to move the Doomsday Clock a minute or two, but it would be almost impossible for the district to elect a worse representative. Odds are the district could get a good progressive who would be an asset to Obama and a partner for progress.

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Today, a long-overdue bill is being introduced in Congress by Rep. Ellen Tauscher which calls for increasing dwell time for our servicemembers who will serve in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Current deployment policies and operational tempo, which usually consists of a 1:1 ratio of time deployed and time at home, are compounding the wounds of war for our troops. It is a medical fact confirmed by DoD studies (see Mental Health Advisory Team reports IV and V) that repeated exposure to high-intensity combat with inadequate dwell time greatly increases the incidence of service-connected psychological problems.

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It doesn't get much more visionary and ambitious than Al Gore's recent speech on energy and climate change, and this sentence in particular:

Today I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years.

If you missed it, you can find the full text here or read a helpfully annotated version here.

My only quibble with this fantastic speech was that Gore said little about the transportation sector, which is the second largest contributor to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Changing our transportation policies and funding priorities could greatly help us address the climate change emergency. More on that after the jump.  

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