To watch the webcast of the inauguration, visit https://debrabowen.com/inauguration.

– Brent

The latest Field Poll, released this morning, shows Debra leading her Republican opponent, appointed incumbent Bruce McPherson, by a 40% - 34% margin.

This is great news! It’s certainly much, much better to be ahead than behind at this point. But we’ve still got a lot of work to do.

So please, in these final 4 days, help us get Debra’s message out — to turn out our voters, as well as to reach the 26% of the electorate that is still undecided.

Whether you “Phone From Home” or volunteer at your local Democratic Party headquarters, please commit to one hour, two hours, or even one day to help us get our voters to the polls!

On to Victory!

– Brent

It’s easy to phone bank — even a cat can do it! Please join us in helping to spread the word about Debra’s campaign for Secretary of State.

Sign up to Phone From Home today — or visit your local California Democratic Party regional headquarters to phone voters from there!

Only 11 days until Election Day. What are you doing to help elect Debra Bowen?

– Brent

Take a look at some of the key passages:

… While McPherson has handled the job with professionalism and a nonpartisan sensibility, one of our concerns is his contentment with the efficacy and impregnability of modern voting systems. He derisively accuses Bowen of running on the problems in “Ohio and Florida,” as if the lingering questions about the past two presidential elections could be easily dismissed…

In Bowen, California would have a secretary of state who is asking the right questions and has the grounding to know when she is getting straight answers. She recognizes that a conversion to electronic voting systems must be accompanied by appropriate safeguards — such as paper trails and open source software — that maintain public confidence in the electoral process.

Bowen’s 14 years in the California Legislature demonstrated her commitment to the issues and values desired in a secretary of state. She has been an effective advocate for open government — pioneering the use of the Internet to make campaign finance and legislative records readily available to the public, and authoring an array of bills to make the initiative process more transparent.

Beyond that, Bowen has proved to be one of the most focused and effective representatives in the 120-member Legislature, especially on consumer and privacy protection. She takes on tough issues, stays with them and gets results. Her work in Sacramento, for example, has produced laws that have reduced the risk of identity theft in California.

Debra Bowen gets our endorsement for secretary of state.

Help us share this great news with other voters across California — sign up to phone some voters, and invite your friends and family to join Debra’s campaign!

– Brent

In yesterday’s debate, Debra clearly illustrated how Californians have not been well served by Bruce McPherson over the past 18 months since Schwarzenegger appointed him.

Secretary of State McPherson has certified voting machines, including Diebold, that are insecure and unreliable with a litany of proven and well-documented flaws. At the same time, McPherson implemented a new voter database that prevented nearly 26,000 new registrants in LA County from voting in the June primary. McPherson’s regulations made it so difficult that only 263 out of those 26,000 were able to vote even though they were entitled to.

Given an opportunity to acknowledge these failures in leadership during yesterday’s debate, McPherson refused to. In fact, he warmly embraced these flawed voting systems. What’s more, he ridiculously accused Debra of seeking to disenfranchise blind and disabled voters by daring to question the integrity of these new, error-plagued voting machines! As Debra said yesterday, that was clearly not McPherson’s finest moment in public service.

In short, yesterday’s debate was a clear win for Debra. You can watch a webcast of Wednesday’s debate here.

What did you think about the debate? Let us know your reaction in the comments.

– Brent

1. Register to Vote. The deadline to register is Monday — 15 days before the election. Click here to download a registration form and return it to your local registrar before the deadline!
2. Watch Debra debate on Wednesday. Debra will be debating incumbent (and Schwarzenegger appointee) Bruce McPherson Wednesday afternoon at 2pm. You’ll be able to watch the debate live at: http://cbs5.com/politics
3. Phone from Home. Help us reach out to undecided voters by calling people in your community. You won’t even have to pay to make a long distance phone call! Click here to start phoning from home!

And if you need any more inspiration to vote, check out this great video from “Women’s Voices. Women Vote.”

– Brent

Calling Debra “the smartest and most diligent legislator on voting issues,” the Mercury News went on to say that “Bowen would bring dynamism and skepticism that the position needs. She is our choice.”

The Merc also provided one key example to highlight the differences between Debra and Republican incumbent Bruce McPherson:

Their disagreement over SB 370, which Bowen sponsored last year, perhaps best illustrates the differences in philosophy and approach between her and McPherson. Now law, the bill required that counties use the voter-verified paper receipt, which touch-screen machines are now required to produce, for recounts and for random audits. McPherson opposed the bill, in large part because county registrars didn’t want it. But SB 370 provides a critical check against fraud and machine malfunctioning, which Schwarzenegger recognized in signing the bill.

McPherson is less likely to challenge county officials. But if county registrars had their way, none of California’s landmark electronic voting reforms, like a paper trail, would be in effect today. A secretary of state must be willing to lead the registrars on issues of voting integrity and accountability. Bowen would do this.

Read the full Mercury News editorial here — and then invite all your friends & family to join Debra’s campaign over these last 28 days!

– Brent

But the race is still extremely close — a 35-33 margin for lead for Debra, based on the latest poll numbers.

Your personal efforts to spread the word about Debra to friends and family could make the difference on November 7th. So please invite everyone you know to join Debra’s campaign today!

– Brent

(I will confess that I had a spot of trouble with my laptop … was it the software that caused the crash? the hardware? something nasty from the Outside World? whatever it was, I’m operational again now.)

Our grassroots outreach is critical to the success of the campaign. The people out there who “get it” are the best ambassadors a candidate could have.

And it was fun to share the news of the “Around the Capitol” poll — having my colleagues, staff in Sacramento and lobbyists deem me “most likely to chair the ethics committee” is an incredible compliment.

So thanks to everybody who joined us for our first wave of house parties last night. I hope you’ll sign up to host your own! Help us spread the word to friends, family, neighbors, and colleagues.

See you on the trail!

– Debra

“Even incumbent Republican Secretary of State Bruce McPherson, from Santa Cruz, trails — though his battle with state Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Redondo Beach, is the closest contest.”

The good news is that Bowen is ahead and climbing at 38% to 35%, despite the power of McPherson’s incumbency. The challenge is for Bowen’s grassroots supporters — perhaps a stronger force than for than any other candidate on the ballot — to help her with the resources to topple Arnold’s candidate and the Republican special interest machine that is unleashed every election cycle like a cyborg monster fueled with dirty money.

We need your help! Sign up to volunteer and contribute today! Then let us know in the comments below how you’re spreading the word about Debra’s campaign in your own community.