No, not the presidential ones. The California June Primary ones

by Pat Keeble 

So the primaries are finally underway nationwide and we are promised that in the next month or so the rain with which we are being deluged will be succeeded by a deluge of TV ads from people running for president.

You wouldn't know it unless you're thinking of running for something else, but in the middle of all that, the countdown has begun for the state's June 3 primary.

June? What about the presidential primary Feb. 5?

Well, yes, that, too. But the first filing period for candidates in the June primary began Dec. 28. Not too many people noticed this in the middle of the week between Christmas and New Year's.

The legislators and governor in their wisdom separated the primaries. That means we have three statewide elections in 2008 instead of two.

The only candidates on the Feb. 5 election will be those running for their parties' presidential nominations. Since it's a statewide election, propositions could be included and there a number of them.

In June, we will vote in the primaries for candidates for Congress, the state Senate and Assembly. There will also be a final vote (barring run-offs) for three of the five county supervisorial seats and nine Superior Court judgeships.

Those offices require the expenditure of a filing fee. The optional filing period which has begun allows candidates who can't pay or don't want to pay the filing fee to substitute petitions in lieu of all or part of the fee with signatures of registered voters supporting them. The number needed varies by office.

Originally designed to help lower income candidates, the procedure has become a practice of proving popularity, as in, "Look, I didn't have to pay the filing fee because so many people already support me." Some candidates even have parties to gather supporters around them to sign the petitions.

The filing period has also developed into a statement by candidates that they are running for the office. Occasionally, it is the first public notice some candidates give that they are running While most voters ignore it, if they even know it exists, it is followed closely by candidates, their staffs and political junkies.

Office holders who are well-established or others who just don't want to bother with the process simply pay the filing fee.

The regular filing of nomination papers for the June election begins Feb. 11 and ends March 7. It is extended five days to March 12 in cases where incumbents don't file for re-election by March 7.

But that latter provisioin has a kink in it this year, related to the early presidential primary. One of the measures on the Feb. 5 ballot pertains to extending term limits for incumbent legislative office-holders.

Under the current law on term limits, State Sen. Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, will be termed out of the upper house this year. He has expressed the possibility he will go back for the final two years he can serve in the Assembly.

That seat is now held by Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord. He has said he will run for Torlakson's Senate seat. The Senate seat is also expected to be sought by former Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla, the Pittsburg Democrat who was termed out of the lower house two years ago.

However, if the term limit initiative on the Feb. 5 ballot passes, Torlakson and DeSaulnier would be allowed to serve more time in their current seats, which would save them from tough campaigning this year, since they would be strong favorites as incumbents in their current seats.

Here's the catch: The results of the Feb. 5 election will be certified March 4. Filing for those offices ends March 7, with the conditional extension to March 12. If it wins, they have only three days to complete the filing requirements to stay in their current seats, leaving other would-be candidates up in the air until nearly the last minute.

Polls show the measure will probably lose. Polls show voters seem to be happy with term limits as they are They might vote to change them if they didn't have to wade through a lot of verbal crocodiles to understand what the new proposal is all about.

Details of  the June primary requirements can be obtained from the brand new County Clerk's building in Martinez or at (925) 335-7800 or www.cocovote.us. It overlooks the infamous beaver dam in the downtown area, so you can visit both sites in one trip.

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Pat Keeble is former Political Editor of Lesher Newspapers, Inc., now known as Contra Costa Newspapers, and of the Contra Costa Insider.