A John Shimmon

SACRAMENTO -- A. John Shimmon, 80, a Democratic activist whose son is one of Gov. Gray Davis' most generous campaign contributors, was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday as a member of the state Workers' Compensation Appeals Board. Davis' nomination of Shimmon to the $114,191 a year position was approved on a bipartisan 28-2 vote, over the opposition of Senate Republican leader Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga and Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks).

SACRAMENTO -- A. John Shimmon, 80, a Democratic activist whose son is one of Gov. Gray Davis' most generous campaign contributors, was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday as a member of the state Workers' Compensation Appeals Board. Davis' nomination of Shimmon to the $114,191 a year position was approved on a bipartisan 28-2 vote, over the opposition of Senate Republican leader Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga and Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks).

Gov. Gray Davis on Thursday appointed A. John Shimmon, 79, father of one of Davis' biggest campaign contributors, to a $114,191-a-year post on a state board that settles injury compensation disputes between workers and employers. Shimmon, of the Bay Area city of Millbrae, was an employee of the tax-collecting Board of Equalization for 37 years, many of them as a deputy and political advisor to the late George Reilly, a Democrat who was elected a record 11 times.

There must be some mistake, capital reporters thought when Gov. Gray Davis named A. John Shimmon, a retired state tax official, to the state Workers' Compensation Appeals Board at $114,191 a year. After all, Shimmon, 79, was not a termed-out legislator, a known political buddy or a burned-out gubernatorial aide wanting a nice retirement job. That's the sort who commonly win appointment to the handful of state boards and commissions considered the juiciest plums in state government.

Statewide Offices California Results U.S. Senator 99% Precincts Reporting Votes % Democratic Alan Cranston, inc. 1,769,987 81 Charles Greene 162,143 7 John H. Abbott 121,743 5 Robert J. Banuelos 75,816 3 Brian Lantz 63,830 3 Republican Ed Zschau 718,317 37 B. Herschensohn 575,521 30 Mike Antonovich 175,838 9 Bobbi Fiedler 139,540 7 Ed Davis 127,230 6 Robert W. Naylor 59,249 3 Arthur B. Laffer 46,029 2 Joseph W. Knowland 35,160 2 Eldridge Cleaver 22,436 1 George C.

A rare open seat on the little-known but well-paid state Board of Equalization has drawn a field of 11 candidates in the June primary, including three Democrats of modest prominence who have been frustrated in previous attempts to advance their political careers. The scramble for the $82,000-a-year job has been touched off by the retirement after 28 years of Richard Nevins, whose 4th District includes Los Angeles County exclusive of the San Fernando Valley and Westwood-to-Malibu areas.