SACRAMENTO (AP) Democratic lawmakers picked an Oakland legislator Tuesday as the California Senate's new leader, rejecting a candidate who would have been the first woman and Hispanic to head the house.
Sen. Don Perata defeated Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Norwalk, in a caucus vote to select a successor to the Senate's colorful and irascible leader, President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, who is being forced from office this year by term limits.
The vote, conducted behind closed doors, was not announced, but both sides had predicted beforehand that it would be close.
Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, was also a candidate but was believed to have run a distant third.
Perata's victory means that a Northern Californian will continue to hold one of the Legislature's top posts. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez is a Los Angeles Democrat.
Democrats hold 25 of the Senate's 40 seats and can pick a new president pro tempore without Republican help. Perata said the full house would vote on a new leader Thursday.
Both Escutia and Kuehl indicated they would support Perata.
``I stand here as a proud woman and a proud Latina,'' Escutia said. ``I know that in running this race and I fought the good fight it will make it easier for the next woman or the next person of color to become the next pro tem, and I will see that in my lifetime.
``But I am first and foremost a Democrat; I am first and foremost part of a family of sisters and brothers,'' she said as the other Senate Democrats looked on and applauded.
``Just tell the Republicans we are as united as we have ever been,'' Burton said. ``We will be united and we will take it to them in November.''
The lieutenant governor is president of the Senate but rarely presides and only votes to break ties. The president pro tem is the real power in the house.
Burton, a member of a legendary San Francisco political family, has led the Senate for nearly seven years, holding a job that is frequently considered to be the second most powerful in the state after the governor.
An outspoken liberal, Burton has had a hand in shaping virtually all of the major legislation passed since he took the leadership post in February 1998, succeeding fellow Democrat Bill Lockyer, who is now attorney general.
He's also been the Senate Democrats' lead negotiator on the state budget and other major issues, clashing at times with three governors, including fellow Democrat Gray Davis.
And he's been a major fund-raiser for Senate Democratic candidates.
Perata said he hoped to work in a cooperative fashion with Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger but said he would not allow the former movie action hero to strongarm measures through the Legislature.
``I will be as combative as I need to be to get what we want done,'' he said.
Burton, 71, was first elected to the Legislature in 1964, when he won a state Assembly seat. He was elected to Congress 10 years later but didn't run for re-election in 1982, admitting later that he had an alcohol and cocaine dependency.
In 1988, after extensive therapy for his drug problem, Burton was elected to another stint in the Assembly to fill a midterm vacancy, and in 1996 he won a Senate seat.
Perata, the Senate's majority leader and second-ranking Democrat, and Escutia, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, are also liberals, but they have markedly different personalities. Perata is outwardly low-keyed; Escutia is more pugnacious.
Escutia, a 47-year-old attorney, served six years in the Assembly before winning a Senate seat in 1998. She will be termed out in 2006.
Perata, a 59-year-old former high school teacher and Alameda County supervisor, also was elected to the Senate in 1998 after two years in the Assembly, but he doesn't have to leave office until 2008 because he was elected initially to fill out an unexpired term.
Both lawmakers have been hit with negative publicity recently.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that campaign committees affiliated with Perata paid more than $300,000 to a college friend, Timothy Staples, for political work while Staples paid Perata more than $100,000 a year for business development consulting advice.
In one instance, the newspaper said, Perata received payments from Staples while carrying legislation for a company that had retained Staples as a consultant.
But a Senate ethics lawyer concluded earlier this year that there was no need for a full investigation of the relationship. Perata said he severed his business ties with Staples.
The Los Angeles Times reported last month on the close links between Escutia's political activities and those of her husband, political consultant Leo Briones. The Times said Escutia frequently supports candidates and causes Briones works for and, in turn, causes and candidates supported by Escutia often hire Briones.
The husband and wife say they don't coordinate their efforts.
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On the Net: www.senate.ca.gov
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