Leno Senate win defies convention

<p>It's almost unheard of in Bay Area politics for a Democrat to challenge an incumbent from within the party. Winning such a race is even less common.</p><p>But that's exactly what happened in Tuesday's Third Senate District primary. Assemblyman Mark Leno handily defeated incumbent and fellow San Franciscan, state Sen. Carole Migden, along with a third candidate, former Assemblyman Joe Nation of Sonoma.</p><p>Leno said Wednesday that ballot domination of his hometown coupled with strong showings in Marin and Sonoma counties catapulted him in front of Migden, who had struggled with several highly publicized missteps since taking office in 2004.</p><p>Leno ended up with 44 percent of the vote in the three-county race, followed by Nation with 30 percent and Migden with 28 percent.</p><p>"I knew going in I had a solid base of support in San Francisco," said Leno, 56. "So from Day One I focused my energies on traveling the counties, meeting Democrats and community activists who I believe were the reason for my victory."</p><p>The race drew intense interest across the state, in part because of the more than $3 million raised, and also because of the candidates.</p><p>Migden, 59, who began her political career in 1991 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, had in recent years developed a reputation as a blunt and sometimes hostile lawmaker in the Legislature.</p><p>A reckless driving conviction in 2007 and a record fine for campaign finance violations earlier this year didn't help.</p><p>She did not return calls Wednesday.</p><p>Leno, who pundits said fell out with Migden over her failure to endorse him for Assembly in 2002, jumped in the race last year, saying voters were ready for change.</p><p>Leno later complained to the Fair Political Practices Commission about Migden's finances, leading to an investigation and a $350,000 fine.</p><p>Nation, 52, who served in the Assembly from 2000-2006, entered the race earlier this year. Many thought Nation's two openly gay opponents would split San Francisco and he would win the race by carrying Sonoma and Marin, which together had slightly less than half the voters.</p><p>Initial polling put Leno and Nation even. The two sparred in debates and recent mailers, almost ignoring Migden. Leno accused Nation of looking out for corporations and Nation said Leno was beholden to labor groups and casinos.</p><p>Although Nation won both Marin and Sonoma, he said relatively low turnout gave Leno a lopsided advantage. Leno got nearly as many votes in San Francisco as Nation got in the three counties combined. He also got 35 percent of the Marin vote and 22 percent of the Sonoma vote.</p><p>Nation had about 11 percent in San Francisco.</p><p>He blamed the loss in part on a barrage of negative mailers sent out in the last week by independent groups supporting Leno and Migden.</p><p>Nation, who launched an unsuccessful primary bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey in 2006, said his political days are probably over.</p><p>"I'm going back to climate change consulting and teaching at Stanford," Nation said.</p><p>Answering past criticism that San Francisco senators tend to ignore Sonoma and Marin, Leno said he would strive to do better.</p><p>"You will see a lot of me," Leno said. "The North Bay will have a very attentive, interested and engaged state senator."</p>