Groper-Negra Resigns Immediately (Who's Next? What's Going On in Sac-Town?)

Raul Groper-Negra resigned effective today, according to numerous reports, including his own Facebook page.

This was no surprise to me. He was not going to get away with staying in office for a year as more women came forward with allegations against him for sexual assault and battery. As a staffer, he had assaulted a women, received a reprimand for his perverse behavior, and then went along climbing the political Democratic foodchain. He was supposed to be the next Speaker of the Assembly after Tony Atkins, but a little-known challenger named Patty Lopez knocked him out office in Election 2014. It was another stunning upset in Los Angeles County politics. A young outsider, not connected to any corrupt political machine, knocked out the would-be Speaker of the Assembly.

Sometimes, I wonder if Speaker Anthony Rendon and his cronies conspired to ensure that he would get knocked out, so that he would be the next in line as Speaker of the Assembly. At any rate, Bocanegra was out for one term, then roared back in 2016 to retake the Tujunga-San Fernando Valley region.

Ugh. The trash never tsops getting recycled in Sacramento.

Then the #MeToo exposés roiled Sacramento, and Bocanegra was exposed as a serial philanderer and womanizer. This is beyond disgusting. Why are we the voters, the wakeful and eventful of California learning about this now? What took so long? The Assembly Ethics Committee, chaired by Lyin' Ted Lieu at the time of Groper-Negra's indiscretions, sent him a reprimand and told him to stay away from other women.

That perverse behavior occurred a decade ago, when Bocanegra was the chief of staff for Felipe Fuentes. That same Fuentes went onto become a LA City Councilman, who would then resign early to become a lobbyist, most likely because of sexual misconduct of his own. Yes, he's a lobbyist now.

I want to add before I go into further analysis that I called this! I knew that Boca-Raton (RAT!) would have to resign following further pressure and ongoing reports, especially 8 more women coming forward to call him out for sexual perversion.

Imagine that?! The local press is actually doing it's job to some extent. The Los Angeles Times refused to let this story go, and she refused to walk away from allowing one more Democratic lawmaker get away with abusing staffers. This indiscriminate hatred of women and the natural dignity of men and women must cease, especially among our representatives.

Now, the next question arises: who's next on the #MeToo chopping block?

That's pretty easy? Tony Mendoza. The California State Senate leadership has already stripped him of his committee assignments. President Pro Tem Kevin De Leon has moved out of the home which the two state senators were sharing. De Leon is going to have his own serious problems next, of course,  as he struggles to raise major money to take on Dianne Feinstein.

Mendoza is facing more pressure to quit, since more women have come forward about his sexual improprieties, and staffers were fired from his office because they reported his inappropriate behavior. I can't see this guy surviving much longer, either. He is up for re-election, and no doubt the newly minted CA Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman is going to tell Mendoza to think seriously about whether he wants to continue serving in the legislature … or not.

Mendoza is going to be gone in the next month. Merry Christmas, Californians!

The next question, which ties into something I had written previously: What's going on here? Why are we learning about this crime and corruption among these lawmakers so late in the game? Bocanegra did run for office in 2012, and he got elected, did he not? Where were the political opponents or the opposition researchers to expose this guy?

The Ethics committee did slam him for his abusive behavior. Staffers would tell the men and women working in his office to stay away from him, because Boca-Nono couldn't keep his hands to himself. "He needs to learn to not touch other people," one friend remarked. That's not acceptable!

Ten years later, and only now does Groper-Negra step down. Why?

Because there is an bitter power struggle upending the California Democratic Party, and the more Establishment, Bay Area wing of the party is beating back the Progressive, La Raza, Southern California wing of the party, simple as that. The Democratic Establishment has been leaking all this information out to the public, dragging down the more progressive wing. This is a power play, pure and simple.

The Democratic Establishment has lined up behind Gavin Newsom for Governor and Dianne Feinstein for US Senate. They want the money, the big contracts, the crony capitalism that fuels political cronies like Eric Bauman and Co. getting rich off of everyone else. They are not the idealistic leftists that the restless Bernie-crat contingent wants. But the Establishment is not going to let these pesky Latinos get in their way, right?

Bocanegra is gone, Mendoza is next, and some sources indicate that State Senator Ed Hernandez will be on the way out, too. Who's angling for power in the state legislature? More of the white establishment, with Bob Hertzberg angling to replace De Leon. Who wants Rendon's seat, I wonder?

Ian Calderon, perhaps?

Back to the turmoil following the roll-out of the salacious crimes and corruption out of Sacramento …

These allegations of sexual assault and abuse are tying the rope tighter around Kevin De Leon and hurting his bid for US Senate against Dianne Feinstein. They will certainly knock into former LA City Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's political ambitions, too, especially since the former Mayor wants to list himself as a working man's alternative to the elite, effete Gavin Newsom.

One can only hope that the two wings of the Democratic Party tear each other apart widely enough that a Republican can sneak into the Top Two general election in 2018. At any rate, the voters and activists in the state should double-down on the #MeToo exposures and demand a full clean out of the bacchanalian stable.

For now, let's celebrate that Groper-Negra is gone, that Mendoza will be on the way out, too, and the Democratic caucuses in at least one chamber will lose their pure supermajority going into Election 2018.