Who gets credit for a Juan Vargas victory?

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Several special interests poured considerable resources into the state Senate Democratic primary battle between Juan Vargas and Mary Salas in the 40th District. A recount there is underway. Since the initial vote tally had Vargas victorious by only a handful of votes, any group who helped him get a few dozen or more people to the polls can claim credit for the victory. The subscription-only newsletter Calpeek: California Political Week, read by insiders in Sacramento, suggests the powerful prison guards union, the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn., may feel Vargas should be particularly indebted to it.

The blind-sourced CalPeek item says the union had 8,500 mostly Republican members in the district. They would be allowed to vote in the primary only if they reregistered as Democrat or decline to state. Says the item: ‘According to our source, CCPOA tried to convince as many of its members as possible to change their registration from GOP to DTS [decline to state]. Those new DTS voters were then urged to support Vargas … CCPOA started this reregistration effort a week before the close of registration.’

Calpeek’s source claims many wound up casting provisional ballots – used for voters whose eligibility cannot be confirmed by poll workers on election day, often because they registered near the deadline. Such ballots get set aside in individual envelopes and are counted once county election officials confirm eligibility of the voters who cast them. ‘Vargas won the provisional ballot count because of this CCPOA effort,’ Calpeek said.

Other interests are certain to have their own stories to tell about why it was they who carried Vargas to victory.

-- Evan Halper in Sacramento