Abram Wilson

State Assembly candidate Abram Wilson added the controller in Contra Costa County Monday to his list of endorsees for his race against Democrat Joan Buchanan.

Wilson, the mayor of San Ramon, announced that Auditor/Controller Stephen Ybarra had endorsed him, joining county Treasurer Bill Pollacek and Assessor Gus Kramer in doing so.

San Ramon Mayor Abram Wilson picked up his second endorsement in less than a week from a prominent small-government group, announcing the support Friday of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association.

The group's president said Wilson was being endorsed in the 15th Assembly District race for many of the same reasons that Ted Costa, CEO of the anti-tax group People's Advocate, endorsed Wilson a week ago.

The Democratic candidate is out-raising her Republican opponent in one of her party's targeted state Assembly districts for November.

Democrat Joan Buchanan, running in the 15th Assembly District, raised $106,809.42 in the most recent fundraising period, which ended June 30. She had an ending cash balance of $216,564.80.

San Ramon Mayor Abram Wilson picked up the endorsement in his 15th Assembly District race of a familiar name to California residents who are stridently against new taxes.

Ted Costa, CEO of the government watchdog group People's Advocate, called Wilson, a Republican, a committed steward of public monies in Wilson's role as San Ramon mayor.

His narrow primary victory in the books, San Ramon Mayor Abram Wilson is looking ahead to what many expect will be a tough fight to represent California's 15th Assembly District,

By a little over 200 votes, Wilson triumphed over small businessman Robert Rao of Livermore in the GOP primary, and will now face Democratic winner Joan Buchanan, a San Ramon Valley Unified School District trustee.

That matchup favors the Republican, said Matthew Del Carlo, Wilson's campaign manager.

Certified results from the Contra Costa County's elections office make Abram Wilson the winner of the Republican primary in the California 15th Assembly District.

Wilson, the mayor of San Ramon, won by about 300 votes over Robert Rao, a small businessman from Livermore.  That gave Wilson about 30 percent of the vote and Rao 29.5 percent.

San Ramon Valley Unified School District board member Joan Buchanan said she'll be ramping up her campaign for California's 15th Assembly District seat by August.

Buchanan, a Democrat from Alamo, will be doing so while the final word on who her Republican opponent will be is still up in the air. Buchanan believes she'll ultimately face San Ramon Mayor Abram Wilson, who led Robert Rao, a small businessman from Livermore, by less than 300 votes in the most recent tally from the June 3 primary.

Republican Assembly candidate Robert Rao said he's not ready to concede the 15th Assembly District primary until all votes are counted.

Rao, a small businessman from Livermore, is about 280 votes behind San Ramon Mayor Abram Wilson in the district, with about 2,500 provisional and absentee ballots still to be counted in Contra Costa County.

Nurses on strike at eight Bay Area hospitals are wrapping up their ten-day action as their union makes plans to support two Democrats vying for open state seats in moderate Republican districts.

The California Nurses Association has had 4,000 of their 80,000 members picketing the Sutter Health medical facilities since March 21. This is CNA’s third strike against Sutter since November and it ends Sunday. The CNA is known for aggressive public actions like this and over the years it also has protested Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger when he’s appeared at various women or health-related events, loudly promoting bills he has opposed such as single-payer health care.

This year the nurses union also is backing two Democrats vying for open seats which are being vacated by Republicans.