Ackerman Wins

At the end of last week, it appeared that OC's Dick Ackerman was about to lose his position as Minority Leader in the State Senate. He stood accused by many of his fellow Republicans of being too ready to cut deals with Governor Schwarzenegger and too pro-infrastructure bonds. Sure, voters had already approved the bonds and seem to overwhelming approve of the latest version of Schwarzenegger (the deal-making, semi-Democrat model), but Senate Republicans didn't appear to care. After all, the California Republican Party didn't get where it is today by paying attention to what Californians want.

Going into yesterday's final leadership vote, Ackerman was just one vote away from losing his Minority Leader job. But that final nail in the coffin never arrived.

The Capitol Weekly reports,

Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman fended off an attempt by colleague Jim Battin to oust Ackerman from the Senate's top GOP post. It marks the second time in a year that Battin has sought to dump Ackerman as leader.

"Our caucus has made a decision that Dick will continue on as leader," Battin said immediately after the closed-door vote in the Capitol that followed a two-hour meeting. Battin described the final vote as "razor-thin," but declined to elaborate.

"There were "several votes," he added. "And we had a long discussion on how the leaders should act with the governor."

Jim Battin-- not a gracious loser, but a loser nonetheless.