Senate Republican leader Bob Huff conceded this morning that Democrats appear to have captured a supermajority of both legislative houses.
Not all provisional and absentee ballots have yet been counted, but Huff said that he anticipates the majority party gaining at least the two additional seats in the Senate and two in the Assembly needed to gain a supermajority.
"Any time one party gets complete control, it's a very high level of responsibility," the Diamond Bar Republican said.
"With a two-thirds majority, there will be a tremendous temptation to tax our way to prosperity," he added.
Huff said he felt that Democratic successes Tuesday, both in passing the Proposition 30 tax measure and in capturing legislative seats, were due partly to turnout supporting President Barack Obama and partly to Gov. Jerry Brown's last-minute campaigning at college campuses, coupled with implementation of an online voter registration system expected to be attractive to youth.
Huff said he expects to hold Democrats accountable for overseeing the state's budget and the spending of new tax revenues.
* Updated Thursday to clarify that Democrats needed two additiional seats to claim an Assembly supermajority.
Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway echoed that theme in a written statement this morning.
Conway, R-Tulare, did not specifically comment on - nor dispute -- the contention of Assembly Speaker John A. Perez that Democrats had captured a supermajority of that 80-member house.
"The voters have spoken and I respect the voice of the people," Conway said in her prepared statement. "By no means should the majority party interpret these results as a mandate.
"Millions of Californians opposed the governor's tax hikes and shared our view that job creation is the best revenue generator for the state.
"However, a divided electorate does not mean that we need a divided Legislature. Republicans will hold the majority party accountable for delivering their promise to voters that these tax hikes will go to our classrooms and not big government."
Latest posts:
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.