Jeff Denham

An event last week to help state Sen. Jeff Denham (R-Merced) retire debt from an unsuccessful recall campaign raised more than $65,000, according to a spokesman for Denham's anti-recall campaign.

Kevin Spillane said an August 14 fundraiser in Sacramento raised at least that much, with checks from the event still coming in.

The California Republican Party has released its delegate list for the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul in September.

The full list includes 173 delegates, 170 alternates and over 400 guests. Bill Jones, former California Secretary of State, is the delegation chairman, and the total delegation is the largest of any state at the convention.

His vice chairs are State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, California Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring, former Gov. Pete Wilson and State Sen. Jeff Denham (R-Merced).

State Sen. Jeff Denham will still accept contributions into his anti-recall campaign account from the June 3 primary, but primarily to pay off remaining campaign debts, according to a campaign spokesman.

Denham (R-Merced) has about $300,000 in assets and about $500,000 in remaining expenses, said Kevin Spillane, a spokesman for Friends of Jeff Denham Against the Recall.

The campaign to beat a recall attempt against State Sen. Jeff Denham hasn’t decided how it will spend any leftover funds from the election.

Kevin Spillane, a spokesman for the anti-recall effort, said officials will first concentrate on paying off campaign expenses with money from the fund created to beat the recall, Friends of Jeff Denham Against the Recall.

“We’ve got some overhead that’s still being taken care of,” Spillane said. He expected all outstanding debts to be resolved in about a month.

State Sen. Jeff DenhamA campaign fund created to defeat the recall of California state Sen. Jeff Denham (R-Atwater) remains open and collecting donations nearly two weeks after the recall failed.

Within the last week, the fund Friends of Jeff Denham Against the Recall has received thousands in additional donations after the June 3 election, including $15,000 last Thursday from the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and $5,000 each last Thursday from three groups.

With Senate Pro Tem President Don Perata terminating the effort to recall Republican state Senator Jeff Denham last the week, Denham’s campaign is asking why Perata’s political action committee has transferred funds to the recall campaign.

"Don Perata's actions raise serious issues,” said Denham spokesman Kevin Spillane. “Why is Perata instead transferring six figure checks into the recall committee more than a week after he claims he has pulled the plug financially?"

On Wednesday, Leadership California PAC contributed $110,000 to the campaign to recall Denham, according to filings with the Secretary of State’s office.

And don't forget to vote in this week's Cartoon Caption Contest. The polls close on Friday at noon.

State Sen. Jeff DenhamSenate President Pro Tem Don Perata has terminated the recall campaign against Republican state Sen. Jeff Denham.

"...Today - in the spirit of putting politics aside to solve problems - I'm ending the recall campaign," said Perata Wednesday afternoon.

Perata said the decision came after meeting with Republican Leader Dave Cogdill. Perata said the two discussed how Republicans and Democrats could "clear the decks and start making some progress" in budget talks.

Senate President Pro Tem Donald Perata isn’t ready to let term limits end his political career, so he’s giving strong consideration to a bid for the California Board of Equalization, where incumbent Betty Yee is term-limited.  Democrats are favored to hold this seat – Yee beat David Neighbors by a 2-1 margin in 2006 – but its hardly certain that the party will rally behind the politically powerful Perata.  One matchup that will be fun to watch: a November ’10 race Perata and GOP State Sen. Jeff Denham.

The recall campaign against state Senator Jeff Denham has launched a 30-second television advertisement targeting Denham for accepting pay raises he initially said he was against.

“Jeff Denham has a lot to learn,” the advertisement says. “Don’t we deserve better?”

“This guy got plenty of press for walking around the district saying we shouldn’t be taking pay raises while school funds are being cut. But then he turned around and took them three different times,” said Paul Hefner, a spokesman for the recall effort.