Jimmy Kimmel suggests acting Calif. governor should ‘invade Oregon’

What exactly is going on in the halls of power in California? On Wednesday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,� the host conducted a Skype interview with acting California Gov. Toni Atkins.

Gov. Jerry Brown, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and State Senate President Darrell Steinberg were all out of the state Wednesday on business, leaving Atkins, speaker of the state Assembly, in charge for a chunk of the day.

Atkins’ brief tenure as acting governor -- 10 hours -- was notable because it’s rare for the Assembly speaker to be called on to fill the top spot and because Atkins is the first openly gay person to serve as acting governor.

But in the course of joking around, Kimmel may have touched on an interstate war brewing on the horizon.

“It’s been an uneventful day,� Atkins said to Kimmel. “And I hope that nothing in this interview breaks that streak.�

Kimmel then joked, “Before you go, we should do something fun. We should invade Oregon or something like that.�

Instead of brushing it off as crazy talk, however, Atkins said, “Somebody already made that suggestion. And talked about a few other things.�

Hear that, Oregon? Your neighbors to the south have their eyes on you. Consider yourself on notice.

Twitter: @patrickkevinday