Yes, yes. The gubernatorial and U.S. Senate primaries look like snoozers. Which is why one must dig a little deeper for election night intrigue.
In that spirit, here are five results to watch on election night to keep things interesting:
1. Abel Maldonado vs. the top two primary. Who wins a higher percentage of the vote — Maldonado in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor or the measure he spawned, Prop 14?
2. Whitman vs. Poizner… on a dollar per vote basis. One way to spice up the expected Whitman blowout? See how they’re doing on a dollar per vote basis. Whitman is likely to win this big-she’s breaking spending records for candidates– but perhaps Poizner keeps it close.
3. Important local race you’ve never heard of. I’m keeping my eye on Prop G in Chula Vista. It’s a first of its kind effort to ban project labor agreements and other rules to protect the pay of workers involved in public projects. If it succeeds, you’ll see a wider labor-business war on similar measures across the state.
4. PG&E vs itself. Backers of PG&E’s ballot initiative, prop 16, have poured some $46 million into that race. Can they get 46 percent of the vote?
5. Mickey Kaus vs. His Blog. The stunt candidate’s run for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate used to get up to 40,000 daily readers. Can Kaus get that many votes?