Lois Capps could face at least eight challengers in 23rd District race

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• Lois Capps, Bill Monning pick up endorsements from Tri-Counties Central Labor Council

  Lois Capps, Bill Monning pick up endorsements from Tri-Counties Central Labor Council

  State Senate candidate Bill Monning and Rep. Lois Capps, both Central Coast Democrats, have picked up endorsements for next year’s election from the Tri-Counties Central Labor Council.

  Capps is running for reelection in the 24th Congressional District. Republican Abel Maldonado, a former Assemblyman, state senator and lieutenant governor, has announced that he will run against Capps.

  Monning, an Assemblyman, is seeking the 17th District state Senate seat now held by Republican Sam Blakeslee.

• Democrat John Laird says he won't run for California Senate in 2012

  Democrat John Laird says he won't run for California Senate in 2012

  John Laird, who lost his race against Sam Blakeslee for California Senate last year, announced today that he will not run for the seat in 2012, saying he does not want to leave his job as state secretary of natural resources.

  Laird, a Santa Cruz environmentalist who served in the California Assembly, said Gov. Jerry Brown had appointed him to the statewide post in January and “there is much to do” in “protecting and restoring the state’s natural resources.”

  “I cannot walk away ... right now, given the difficult times we face in California,” he said.

• Republican Chris Mitchum to take on Capps, Maldonado for 24th District

  Republican Chris Mitchum to take on Capps, Maldonado for 24th District

  Republican Chris Mitchum is running for Congress in the newly created 24th District on the Central Coast, joining battle against incumbent Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, and former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado, a fellow Republican.

  Mitchum says on his website that he is running for Congress “to have my children and my children’s children say of me, ‘He did all that could be done.’”

  Mitchum says that in 2008, “socialists took control of two of the three branches of government” after “a bloodless coup.”

• Sheriffs, Rep. Capps give spending cuts thumbs down

  Sheriffs, Rep. Capps give spending cuts thumbs down

  SANTA MARIA — Rep. Lois Capps and the sheriffs representing San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties voiced their opposition Tuesday to proposed legislation that would cut two law enforcement programs that help pay for jailing undocumented workers and support other services.

  Capps, D-Santa Barbara, said that lawmakers are considering a bill that likely will be voted on in September by the House of Representatives that could cut funding to the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program and Community Oriented Policing Services programs.

  Last year, Santa Barbara County received $576,500, and San Luis Obispo County received $175,000, from the SCAAP program.

• Abel Maldonado's short-term loans to campaign raise questions

  Abel Maldonado's short-term loans to campaign raise questions

  WASHINGTON — Former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado looks like he is playing yo-yo with his own money while he pumps up a campaign war chest intended for a high-profile House race in the redrawn 24th District.

  One of several Republicans hoping to challenge incumbent Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, Maldonado has dropped big money into his campaign, retrieved it quickly and then dropped it back in again.

  The rapid cycling of money, timed to fundraising deadlines, could appear like a way to inflate campaign reports and demonstrate political viability. Or, as Maldonado’s campaign consultants say, it could be simple prudence.