Steve Westly

In a boost to his struggling campaign for governor, state Treasurer Phil Angelides won the Democratic party's formal endorsement late Saturday -- and with it the promise of money and bragging rights as he seeks to reinvigorate his campaign against Controller Steve Westly.

Top 10 donors to political causes Individuals who contributed the most money to California political candidates and ballot-measure campaigns from Jan. 1, 2000, to Dec. 31, 2009: Steve Bing , Southern California businessman... $58,050,783 Steve Poizner , state insurance commissioner, candidate for governor ... $43,205,282 Steve Westly, former state controller, 2006 candidate for governor ... $41,728,277 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ... $25,871,398 Jerry Perenchio , former owner of Univision Communication Inc. ... $23,267,738 Meg Whitman , candidate for governor.

With big-name Democrats passing up the chance to make a run at ousting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the party's June primary is taking shape as a race between two virtual unknowns who appear headed toward a harsh campaign that some party leaders fear could benefit the Republican incumbent. "The Democrats can't afford a bitter and nasty campaign," said state party Chairman Art Torres. "The voters will be turned off by that."

To understand politics, the adage goes, you've got to follow the money. But to understand money, it sometimes helps to follow the politicians. At least three guys who know their way around Sacramento -- former California Controller Steve Westly, former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg and former legislator and Secretary of State Bill Jones -- are trying to make a go of it in the alternative-energy industry.

California's biggest labor group is preparing to throw its support today behind state Treasurer Phil Angelides in the Democratic primary for governor, a move that would fortify his standing as the party establishment's favorite in the race. But even with labor tilting his way, Angelides faces mounting financial pressure and questions among some party strategists about whether he has responded aggressively enough to the threat posed by his June 6 primary rival, state Controller Steve Westly.

When Steve Westly joined EBay Inc. in the summer of 1997, the two dozen or so employees at the online auction house recognized immediately that their little company was growing up. In the middle of the Internet boom, EBay's small crew still came to work in sandals and shorts and gathered weekly in circles to make group decisions. New hires were given kits and told to build their own desks.

The chief of United Way's Silicon Valley chapter has resigned to manage the political campaign of a former EBay executive running for state controller. Greg Larson, who announced his resignation Friday, said it is hard to leave the United Way, but he couldn't turn down his friend, Steve Westly, a Democrat. Larson will leave the nonprofit in January. United Way officials said they hope to have a replacement selected by then.

Top 10 donors to political causes Individuals who contributed the most money to California political candidates and ballot-measure campaigns from Jan. 1, 2000, to Dec. 31, 2009: Steve Bing , Southern California businessman... $58,050,783 Steve Poizner , state insurance commissioner, candidate for governor ... $43,205,282 Steve Westly, former state controller, 2006 candidate for governor ... $41,728,277 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ... $25,871,398 Jerry Perenchio , former owner of Univision Communication Inc. ... $23,267,738 Meg Whitman , candidate for governor.

State Controller Steve Westly on Monday endorsed a proposed ordinance, to be voted on by the City Council today, that would discourage Wal-Mart and other large retailers from opening mammoth superstores in the city. Citing a recent UC Berkeley study, Westly said low-wage workers must rely on state-funded programs for support. "Wal-Mart may save its customers some money at the checkout stand, but California taxpayers are getting the bill," Westly said during a news conference at City Hall.

The most contentious television ad of the Democratic primary for governor revolved around Lake Tahoe and a suggestion that Treasurer Phil Angelides was responsible for dumping sludge into its clear blue waters. Angelides and his backers expressed outrage over the spot by Controller Steve Westly, calling it a gross distortion of the facts. Westly stood by the ad, saying it proved Angelides was no friend of the environment. On Tuesday, the voters closest to Lake Tahoe delivered a split decision.

In a move that could avert embarrassing disclosures about its influential board members, California's state pension fund is invoking a recent law that allows it to keep most of its dealings with venture capital firms secret. Officials of the California Public Employees' Retirement System are citing the law in refusing to disclose several documents related to International Technology University.

The most contentious television ad of the Democratic primary for governor revolved around Lake Tahoe and a suggestion that Treasurer Phil Angelides was responsible for dumping sludge into its clear blue waters. Angelides and his backers expressed outrage over the spot by Controller Steve Westly, calling it a gross distortion of the facts. Westly stood by the ad, saying it proved Angelides was no friend of the environment. On Tuesday, the voters closest to Lake Tahoe delivered a split decision.

To fully appreciate Phil Angelides' triumph over Steve Westly, it helps to recall "The Godfather: Part II." Near the movie's end, Don Michael Corleone orders a hit on his brother Fredo at Lake Tahoe. The exact spot -- the very same little marina -- was used by Westly in an attempt to whack Angelides.

Squabbling to the end, Steve Westly and Phil Angelides stormed across the state in a final burst of campaigning Monday as millions of Californians mulled their choice in today's Democratic primary for governor. The combination of a tight race and an unusually high number of late-deciding voters added suspense and, for the candidates, urgency to the campaign's closing hours.

With the brutal Democratic primary for governor drawing to a close Tuesday, rivals Phil Angelides and Steve Westly are battling over the same question that has convulsed the party nationwide: Would a liberal or a moderate stand the best chance in the fall? Withering character attacks have obscured the ideological contrasts between Angelides, the state treasurer, and Westly, the controller.

With a single day left in the vitriolic campaign for governor, Democrat-on-Democrat clashes broadened Sunday with the state's senior U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein angrily denouncing candidate Steve Westly as untrustworthy because of a television ad he has been running against competitor Phil Angelides. Campaigning with Angelides here, Feinstein said the ad that implied he had participated in the dumping of sludge into Lake Tahoe was "dastardly" and "false."

California State Controller Steve Westly sent a letter to Safeway Inc.'s board of directors asking them to end the 3 1/2-month-long supermarket strike. Westly, a board member of CalPERS and CalSTRS -- two of Safeway's largest shareholders -- said Safeway should not cut its workers' health benefits to compete more effectively with Wal-Mart Stores Inc., a company that provides only "nominal health-care benefits."

Congratulations on John Balzar's (Dec. 18) objective article on ex-Gov. Jerry Brown, warts and all, but give "the gong" to Dianne Klein for her (Dec. 22) one-sided puff piece for the returning Phoenix. Now, how about informing the public on the true grass-roots candidate for the state Democratic Party leadership: Steve Westly, whose Democratic leadership record is little known in Southern California. Steve is the brilliant young man who has earned the post by working his way up through the state Democratic chairs for 8 years, always an advocate of building grass-roots organization, usually against the wishes of the controlling state leadership that has led us to Pyrrhic defeats.

It's all Sen. Dianne Feinstein's fault. That's what I figure. Well, maybe not all of it. But if Feinstein had run for governor three years ago in the Gray Davis recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger would not have dared. That's my guess. We would have been spared that wasteful, costly, divisive special election last year. And Feinstein, 72, would now be a shoo-in for reelection -- not for the Senate, as she is, but for the state's highest office.

Frantic for even the smallest margin of victory in the Democratic primary for governor, Steve Westly and Phil Angelides crossed the state Saturday sniping at each other and searching for a convincing message to turn uncommitted voters their way. As if to shore up their own credentials, each took aim at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the man they hope to battle after Tuesday's primary.