UPDATE! Harman Not Resigning Until Feb. 28, Special Election Not Until June At Earliest

As I reported this morning, Debra Bowen has officially entered the CA-36 race today. Minutes ago, she sent out the email announcing her campaign to supporters in the district.

I have some exciting news and I wanted to share it directly with you: I’ve decided to run for Congress in the 36th District!

Thank you so much for your feedback and support over the last few days. The strong outpouring of encouragement from friends like you was a major factor in my decision, and I hope I can count on your support during my run for Congress.

But now we face a short-term sprint: While the date of the special election hasn’t been set yet, it will be held in the next two to four months, so there isn’t any time to waste....

As a legislator for 14 years and your Secretary of State since 2007, I’ve taken pride in making our government work better for the people it represents, while making it more transparent, accessible, and accountable every step of the way. That’s a fight that I’ll continue in Congress.

Emphasis mine. Venice For Change has just learned that the open primary to fill Jane Harman's seat won't have happen until the middle of June at the earliest, not April 12, as I had previously reported.

Jerry Brown, after asking Jane Harman to resign this week to facilitate an earlier date for a the CA36 special election, has evidently had a change of heart and has asked Harman to delay her resignation until Feb. 28.

I've been told he's done this because he's trying to delay announcing the date for the CA36 special election as long as possible. Brown's goal is to piggy-back the CA36 election on the same date as the special budget initiative election he wants to call in June. The problem is, the initiative election date isn't up to him, it's up to the legislature and their ability to come up with a budget in time to allow for a June election (they have to set a date 90 days out).

Since Brown has to call the date of the election within 14 days of Harman's resignation, he's trying to buy as much time as possible. This could still all fall apart if the legislature fails to act by the middle of March.

But regardless of the outcome of the budget initiative election, this means CA36 primary would not happen before the middle of June, and if no one candidate gets 50%+1, it means the runoff election won't happen until August at the earliest.

I've been told Brown will be putting out a statement about the CA36 election later today.