It's been a night of mixed results for attorneys running for state offices. It's been a better night for attorneys throwing big money into legislative races.
Alyson Huber, the Bartko, Zankel, Tarrant & Miller associate running for the Central Valley's 10th Assembly District was losing to business consultant Jack Sieglock by about 2,000 votes with 96 percent of the votes tallied. Huber proudly touted the fact that she's an attorney, even though her opponent tried to cast her as one of those n'er do well trial lawyers.
Consumer Attorneys happy with early returns, after the jump
It's been a good night so far for Martin Block, a Democrat and former counsel at San Diego State University who's seeking the 78th Assembly District seat. Only 40 percent of the precincts have reported in yet, but Block is leading Republican John McCann 52 percent to 48 percent.
The 78th AD was one of the battlegrounds in the traditional election year proxy wars between the Consumer Attorneys of California and business groups, often represented by the Civil Justice Association of California. The CAOC's independent expenditures supporting Block and bashing McCann totaled more than $320,000 through Monday, according to state records. A coalition of insurers and Big Pharma countered with $113,000 of independent spending on the race.
The trial lawyers, allied with labor groups and environmentalists, also spent almost $518,000 (as of Monday) to defeat GOP candidate Tony Stricklandin the 19th Senate District. Business interests spent almost $1 million to elect Strickland and to beat his opponent, Democrat Hannah-Beth Jackson.
Jackson, a former assemblywoman, had a slight lead early Wednesday morning as vote tallies trickled in.
— Cheryl Miller
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