The feisty Rep. Pete Stark, the Fremont Democrat who frequently says things that even his friends wish he hadn’t said, is keeping his presidential preference to himself.

Like most of the undeclared “super-delegates,” the 796 people who will have a vote in the nomination of the the Democratic Party’s choice for president in Denver in August, Stark is being wooed by both sides. (The super-delegates are members of Congress and the national Democratic Party board.)

But the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama camps have had little success with Stark.

“I’m holding out for a new bridge or maybe even a new federal building,” Stark quipped in a light-hearted moment during a telephone a interview late Thursday. “So far, the biggest bribe I’ve been offered is dessert with Hillary (Clinton) in Washington, D.C. But I don’t eat dessert and I wasn’t available that evening. Is that the best they can do?”

Seriously, though, Stark says he will not endorse either Clinton or Barack Obama unless the delegates are unable to reach a deal on the floor of the convention.

“I think it’s got to be decided by the delegates,” said Stark. “We have millions of new people who participating in the process and they are not, as (California Attorney General) Jerry Brown said, going to put up with a bunch of old people going into a smoke-filed room and making the decision. We’ll disengage them.”

Let the delegates vote at the convention and if neither candidate prevails, then let the “delegates work the floor. Let them swap and bargain and if they can’t make a deal in two or three or four days and we (super-delegates) have to the tie-breakers, then we can do that,” Stark said.

Stark says he will take no part in any advance super-delegate meeting where the plan is to hash out the selection of a nominee prior to the convention. Some Democratic Party activists fear a convention bloodbath will make it harder for the eventual nominee to beat presumed GOP nominee and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Lots of folks ask me where to find the best on-line information about the presidential primary race, such as the delegate counts, maps of results, blogs, links to stories, etc.

Some of this, of course, may depend on your political proclivity toward one party or the other. I’d love to hear from you about where you go for the latest political news about the presidential race. But here’s my list and if you send me your favorites, I’ll post them here:

RealClearPolitics.Com

Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire

Washington Post

New York Times

Los Angeles Times

Politico.com

CNN

Fox News

Political junkies may enjoy these tidbits from Contra Costa Registrar of Voters Steve Weir, including the fact the turnout among Democrats may top 74 percent while Republican turnout was 57 percent

Here are Steve’s notes:

-- (John) Edwards received 6,076 from the vote-by-mail ballots and 1,399 from election day ballots.  He finished ahead of “write-ins”  and all other Demo candidates below him received fewer votes that “write-in”.
– In the American Independent Party, “write-in” was the top candidate, and was larger than the total vote for the three candidates.  (64% of the vote cast in the American Independent Party was for a write-in candidate.)
– In the Green Party, Nader came in first, but “write-in” topped the other 6 candidates. — In the Libertarian Party,  ”write-in” came in first beating the 12 candidates in that contest.
– In the Peace & Freedom Party, “write-in” came in first beating all 7 candidates, including Nader.
– For the election night total, over 5,000 people wrote in a candidate for president, or about 2% of those voting.
– Democratic write-in was one half of one percent.  Demos had 1,842 over/under voted ballots or 1.1%.
– Republican write-in was two percent.  Reps had 2,106 over/under voted ballots or 2.7%.
– Democratic turn out looks like 74% and we have 45,000 to add. (This includes cross-over voting from decline to state voters.)
– Republican turn out looks like 57% .
– If one half of the remaining ballots are Democratic, that turn out will approach 84%.

Contra Costa County Registrar of Voters Steve Weir says voter turnout in the county will likely come close to 66 percent by the time his office finishes counting the ballots, a figure substantially higher than the statewide rate of 46 percent.

Counting will continue for quite a few days, though.

In Contra Costa County, voters turned in 26,689 mail-in ballots at the polls and another 5,000 mail-in ballots arrived via the U.S. Post Office by the deadline. They also have 14,000 provisional ballots to count. These are ballots cast by individuals who may or may not have been registered or showed up at the wrong polling place or had some other issue that requires investigation.

For a list of turnout by county, check out the Secretary of State’s web site at http://vote.sos.ca.gov/Returns/status.htm But keep in mind that these percentages will rise as counties complete the counts of their mail-in and provisional ballots; it shows Contra Costa at 56 percent but Weir said that number will change.

GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is dropping out of the race after spending millions of dollars of his own money trying to wrest the nomination from chief rival Ariz. Sen. John McCain and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_8196765?nclick_check=1

Behind the scenes, Republican supporters of Arizona Sen. John McCain are grumbling about what they say was state GOP Chairman Ron Nehring’s glaring failure tonight to publicly congratulate the apparent GOP winner in California. (SEE UPDATE BELOW WITH NEHRING’S STATEMENT ON McCAIN’S APPARENT WIN.)

Starting about 9:30p.m., media outlets projected McCain would take California but Nehring remained silent.

Nehring, reached by phone a few minutes ago from San Diego, where the state party held its Election Night party, called it a non-issue and said he never planned to call the election himself or give a speech from the podium.

“We will absolutely unify behind the party’s nominee,” Nehring said.

The electorate appears unified behind McCain.

He was winning in every California Congressional district, even the most conservative districts in Orange County and in Central California. If the votes hold up, he will claim all the state’s Republican delegates. The party allocates three delegates for each of the state’s 53 Congressional districts.

But McCain is not the choice of the party’s most conservative voices and prominent state party leaders, including many who have spared no opportunity to criticize McCain’s stance on hot-button issues such as immigration reform.

They can’t be happy with this outcome.

McCain also received the endorsement of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, another moderate Republican who angers conservative members of the party.

Moderate Republicans have long said that the party’s platform is too far to the right of mainstream California Republican voters, and tonight’s outcome supports their theory.

12:30 A.M. UPDATE: Nehring sent out a statement at 12:09 a.m. congratulating McCain. Here’s what he said:

California Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring today issued the following statement congratulating Senator John McCain in the California Republican Presidential Primary today.

“Congratulations to Senator McCain for his victory across California today.

“Based on the results reported by the Secretary of State, Senator McCain has triumphed in every part of California, from the Oregon border to San Diego.

“California Republicans know how to win in our state, as Governor Schwarzenegger and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner demonstrated in 2006.

“While the contest for the Republican presidential nomination appears it may continue, we’re confident the issues of this campaign - the economy and keeping America on offense in Iraq and the Global War on Terrorism - will be those where Republicans have demonstrated consistent strength.”

The Bay Area News Group sent three reporters out into the field tonight to the campaign parties. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough room in the print edition for all their fine work.

But here are the full dispatches from reporter Ryan Huff of the Contra Costa Times, political reporter Josh Richman from the Oakland Tribune and Valley Times reporter Lea Blevins.

FROM JOSH RICHMAN AT OBAMA’S PARTY IN SAN FRANCISCO

Hundreds of Obama supporters thronged the Grand Ballroom of the Fairmont Hotel atop San Francisco’s Nob Hill, cheering each time another state was called for their candidate.

Some posed for snapshots next to cardboard cutouts of the candidate, most mixed and mingled; all looked somewhat relieved this hard-fought California battle was coming to an end.

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, the first House member from California to endorse Obama and his national campaign’s western regional co-chairwoman, said seeing CNN call

California for Clinton didn’t dampen her spirits, as Obama still was projected to win a significant chunk of delegates here and had done very well in other states.

“I’m very excited, very pleased,” she said while traveling from the Fairmont back to Oakland for an unofficial Obama volunteers’ party. “I think people recognize that our nation really needs to heal.”

Tuesday’s record turnout reflects that voters “still believe in our country… they want a new direction.”

Federico “Freddy” Chavez, nephew of revered union and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez, took the Fairmont Hotel party’s podium with a loud “Si se puede - yes we can!”

“Don’t be disheartened by what CNN is putting out here,” he said, gesturing to the huge projection screen behind him. “The real fight is for delegates, and we are getting delegates!”

“Tonight does not mark the end of anything,” Tony West of Oakland, a leading California fundraiser and volunteer for Obama, told the crowd. “It is not over tonight, we have a long way to go.”

Offstage, West said he’ll continue raising money for Obama and will “play any role that is helpful to him.”

That includes flying to Chicago later this week to be part of the national campaign’s discussion on “the long, hard slog to the nomination” still ahead. “Because California gave us the delebates we needed, that could prove decisive at the end of the day… We don’t know yet, it’s too early,” he said.

But, he added, the fact that all eyes were on California this Super Tuesday, and that so many states will play pivotal roles this year, is “tremendous and exhilarating.” Moments later, another cheer went up as CNN called Missouri for Obama.

FROM LEA BLEVINS IN PLEASANTON

By 9:15 p.m., McCain supporters gathered at the Hop Yard Alehouse in Pleasanton were already trickling home after the news that their candidate had a strong edge in California.

The boisterous alehouse setting provided a base for McCain campaign volunteers from throughout the Bay Area.

Televisions blared loudly as supporters sipped wine and congratulated one another, surrounded by McCain campaign signs on the walls.

“We’re just ecstatic,” said Don Nelson, San Francisco regional chairman for McCain. “We’re having an excellent night.” Danville resident Jeff Elfont, Contra Costa County chairman for McCain, said about 40 people from all over the Bay Area came out to watch the results in Pleasanton but many were already heading home once TV stations began predicting a win for McCain in California.

Elfont said he was disappointed to see Huckabee take the lead in Georgia and Tennessee over McCain but was staying positive.

“Often in life, you don’t get everything,” he said.

Across town in the Koll Center business park, about 15 campaign volunteers for Romney gathered to cheer on their candidate as they watched Fox News.

Campaign volunteer Leslie Barkdull of Pleasanton organized the party that included two rooms for news viewing, snacks and red, white and blue balloons.

Despite McCain’s lead in a number of states, Romney’s supporters were focusing on their candidate’s accomplishments thus far. “It’s exciting to see the results come in,” Barkdull said. “Our hard work is paying off.”

Pleasanton resident Judy Symcox likened the primary race to the Super Bowl, saying the end of Super Tuesday meant we were only headed into the third quarter.

“Did the Patriots have it won at half time?,” Symcox said. “I don’t think so.”

RYAN HUFF IN SAN FRANCISCO AT CLINTON’S CAMPAIGN PARTY

Hillary Clinton’s volunteers and supporters gathered at her Northern California campaign headquarters in downtown San Francisco. More than 150 people walked up a creaky staircase to the third floor of a commercial building to huddle shoulder-to-shoulder around two television sets tuned to CNN.

As network anchors projected Clinton as the winner of various states, the crowd waved blue signs and chanted “HILL-A-RY! HILL-A-RY!”

Clinton’s California campaign director, Ace Smith, told an energetic audience that maybe it was time to put a spin on one of Obama’s trademark chants.

“We’ve heard a slogan tonight of ‘Yes we can!’ How about a new slogan? Yes she can!” Smith shouted over a PA system.

Many Bay Area residents like Stephanie McMurtrie volunteered for the first time on a presidential campaign.

“I’ve always voted, but I wanted to do more this time to help decide who our president would be,” said McMurtrie, a San Francisco resident who has worked phone banks for the Clinton campaign. “I’m really excited it looks like she’ll win California because I thought it would be closer tonight.”

CNN and most media outlets are now projecting that Hillary Clinton and John McCain will win their respective party contests in California.

9:02 p.m. UPDATE: Alameda County has just said polls will stay open until 10 p.m.

The Obama campaign put out a press release that Alameda County Judge John Tiger ruled that precincts in Alameda County which ran out of ballots will stay open until 9 p.m. (SEE UPDATE BELOW ABOUT WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED.)
Voters who are in line by 9 p.m. will be allowed to vote until 9:30 p.m.

Expect to make your choices on a photocopy of the ballot, which won’t be counted tonight. They must be verified through the voter verification process.

State law says no county may release results while the polls remain open anywhere in the state. Contra Costa County Registrar of Voters Steve Weir said he is awaiting instructions from Secretary of State Debra Bowen before he releases his first results.

But observant voters will note that the Secretary of State’s web site does have a few results posted, about 1.4 percent of precincts. I have an inquiry into the state on this question.

Click here to visit the Secretary of State’s results page.

8:40 p.m.

Here’s an update from my MediaNews colleague Josh Richman, reporter for the Oakland Tribune, who is out in the field tonight:

Volunteers were trooping out of the Obama campaign headquarters in downtown Oakland as 8 p.m. approached, some headed to parties and some to polling places to ensure voters still waiting in line at closing time would still get to cast ballots.

But as the hour struck, word came down that Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jon Tigar had issued an order that any polling place which had run out of Democratic ballots earlier in the day — overrun by an unexpected wave of decline-to-state voters who chose to cast ballots in the Democrats’ open primary — would have to remain open until 9 p.m., with any left waiting in line at that hour allowed to vote until 9:30 p.m.

“We have ordered all polling places in Alameda County to remain open if anybody is in line waiting to vote until 10 p.m. at the latest — only if anybody is in line to vote — due to ballot shortages that plagued some polling places in the county this afternoon,” county registrar spokesman Guy Ashley said at 8:25 p.m.

Asked how many precincts had run short of ballots earlier, he replied he wasn’t sure: “I heard about a dozen, but that’s just what I heard in passing.”

8:45 p.m.Update from Richman:

Alameda County spokesman Guy Ashley just called back and said 14 polling places in Berkeley, Oakland, Hayward and Fremont had run short of Democratic ballots.

He also said there was no court order. Although Tigar was involved, it was actually Judge Winifred Smith who checked with the state Administrative Office of the Courts in interpreting the Elections Code, and then advised County Counsel Richard Winnie to advise the registrar’s office to extend the poll hours.

I’m just finished a conference call with Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, whose candidate has done very well in states where the polls have already closed.

CNN has projected Obama the winner in seven states: Georgia, Alabama, his home state of Illinois as well as Connecticut, Delaware, North Dakota and Kansas. CNN projects Clinton the winner in Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee

“We’re ahead in the delegate count, currently, about 606 to 534 in term of pledged delegates,” Plouffe said. “We’re thrilled with the results so far and we think we are going to have a good night when it’s all said and done. ”

Yesterday, Plouffe downplayed expectations for Feb. 5 and said the plan was to stay within striking distance of Clinton in the delegate chase.

Tonight, Plouffe expressd surprise at how well Obama is doing. Of course, California’s polls won’t close for 5 minutes and it’s a big prize.