The fallout in the consulting world from two obscure local races continues to reverberate in the Golden State political world. At issue is the involvement of Democratic consultants in two 2012 Democrat-vs.-Democrat California Assembly general-election campaigns.
Two union-backed Democratic incumbents lost re-election to Democratic challengers who were supported by business groups that sent out anti-union mail. Irate union groups and high-level California Democrats began to look into who was behind the mailers.
The Sacramento Bee reports that Steve Glazer, a 2010 campaign aide to Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, was involved in the anti-incumbent efforts as a consultant to the state Chamber of Commerce.
In March, CQ Roll Call first reported that this digging resulted in the breakup of the Mack|Crounse Group, a nationally prominent Democratic direct mail firm.
In an email to the Bee, Glazer defended his participation in the effort, further exhibiting the new world order of California politics.
“The party and labor used to hand pick candidates,” Dan Morain of The Bee writes. “The top-two primary system alters that equation.”