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Democratic showdown in Orange County

The Orange County register has a profile of the race for the Democratic nomination in Senate District 34, pitting Assemblymember Tom Umberg against former Assemblymember and current County Supervisor Lou Correa. Interesting is the view from county Democratic leaders that they prefer Umberg because they don't want to lose Correa's hard-fought seat on the Republican-dominated County Board of Supervisors:

Lou Correa might seem like a sure fit for central Orange County's 34th state Senate District. He grew up there, he's part of its large Latino community, and constituents have elected him to the Assembly and the county Board of Supervisors.

But many in the Democratic establishment, including labor leaders, are backing his opponent, Tom Umberg, in the June 6 primary. Umberg is now an assemblyman in the working-class district and rents a condo there, but spends substantial time at his homes in Villa Park and Sacramento.

One reason Correa isn't more broadly supported by Democratic leaders is, ironically, his election success. He made a lot of Democrats happy when, after being termed out of the Assembly in 2004, he won a county supervisor's seat. No Democrat had held that post since the mid-1980s.

"We worked very hard to get Lou Correa elected to that seat. I don't want lose it," said Frank Barbaro, chairman of the county Democratic Party and an Umberg backer.

SD 34 is a key battleground in California for the fall, as Sen. Joe Dunn is termed out and running for Controller (with, by the way, one of the coolest political websites ever. Dunn wrested the seat away from the Republicans in 1998, and it is a district that is almost equally divided between Republicans and Democrats. PowerPAC is watching this one closely.

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