Lt. Gov. John Garamendi

Democratic Lt. Gov. John Garamendi all but declared his candidacy tonight for the congressional seat held by outgoing Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Alamo.

Garamendi delivered a short but eloquent speech to several dozen members of the Contra Costa Democratic Central Committee in what turned out to be an impromptu candidates forum along with appearances by two of his potential challengers.

“A lot of you have told me that this congressional district is where I should run, that I have the experience and the background to have an impact in Washington, D.C.,” Garamendi said. “So, we’re considering it. I’d like you to seriously consider it, too.” (Update: 9:45 p.m. After the meeting, a Garamendi aide said the lt. governor had not yet made a final decision.)

Garamendi, who lives in Walnut Grove, made no mention of his gubernatorial campaign during the roughly 20 minutes he spoke.

Instead, he focused on federal issues such as the government bailout, his opposition to offshore oil drilling, his support for a single-payer healthcare system and what he called the global climate change crisis.

“Those changes are happening in Congress,” Garamendi said. “There is tremendous potential for change.”

Garamendi spoke following short speeches by declared congressional candidate and state Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, and Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, , who said she expects to make a decision in the next week.

But Garamendi’s presence at the monthly meeting of the county’s Democrats was the chief source of the buzz in the room.

Many of the county’s top Democrats were already struggling with a difficult choice between DeSaulnier and Buchanan. They have campaigned for both of them and have worked particularly hard for Buchanan, who ran in a nail-biter in November.

The addition of Garamendi into the mix will certainly spur a lot of debate in the ranks of the Democratic Party.

UPDATE 7:41 AM: In the editing process last night, I dropped a “you” from the last sentence of Garamendi’s quote. Also, a reader pointed out that Garamendi was referring to the generic “you” and did not mean specifically the people in the audience.

The Courage Campaign – a progressive, grassroots online organizing network for California claiming more than 500,000 members – reports it delivered more than 6,000 petition signatures to state Attorney General Jerry Brown today, urging him to investigate whether Republican lawmakers violated California Penal Code section 86 by engaging in vote-trading over the state budget.

I’d first reported on this last week, after the California Labor Federation, the State Building and Construction Trades Council, Sierra Club California and the Planning and Conservation League wrote a letter to Brown urging such a probe. “It’s a serious question and we’re reviewing the matter carefully,” Brown had responded in a statement issued through a spokesperson; GOP legislative leaders called it an unfounded intimidation tactic.

“Illegal is illegal. The California Penal Code explicitly prohibits this kind of vote-trading and the Attorney General is duty-bound to investigate this felonious activity,” Courage Campaign founder and chairman Rick Jacobs said in his news release today. “But Republicans, whose oath to anti-tax extremists supersedes their oath to the constitution, seem to be ignoring the law. If they want to rollback environmental and worker protections — which aren’t connected to the budget — they should do their jobs as legislators and write up a bill and have an honest debate. This should not be tolerated.”

More on grassroots efforts supporting a vote-trading probe, and an example of why you shouldn’t let someone else control your Facebook page, after the jump…
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Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, considered a likely gubernatorial candidate in 2010, would not pardon Paris Hilton if he were governor.

Garamendi delivers this piece of pressing news on his appearance on “Friendly Fire,” a local cable show hosted by Contra Costa County Assessor Gus Kramer.

Of course, Kramer says he would pardon Hilton in the hopes of securing free hotel rooms for life. (He’s kidding, folks. Maybe.)

Listen to Garamendi on this subject, as well as the naming of the wayward whale mama and her baby, on July 21 and July 28 at 2:30 p.m. on Comcast’s public access station. (See your local directory for the channel.)

Was it a slip of the today when an audience member at a luncheon speech today featuring newly elected Lt. Governor John Garamendi began his question of the official with, “Governor …”

It may have had something to do with the fact that earlier that morning, former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown regaled the Contra Costa Council with a list of Democrats eying the governorship in four years.

And yes, Garamendi’s name came up.

“Garamendi’s looking at it,” Brown said, during a lively, hour-long panel discussion about the state of California and national politics.

Garamendi and Brown were guests at the council’s annual Contra Costa USA, a daylong conference that will culminate tonight with dinner keynote speaker Dan Rather.

For his part, Garamendi took the question about his status as 2010 gubernatorial candidate in good humor.

“How long do I have left in my term?” he joked to the packed room at the Concord Hilton. “Three years and 10 months?”

Like any good politician, he never said never. But he says he’s focused on the job he just won.

“I always think the future will take care of itself,” he said. “It’s not impossible. It may happen. It may not happen. But if I waste a day thinking about (running for governor), then that’s a day I waste when I could be working on the issues I have just outlined.”

Garamendi laid out an agenda he called essential for the economic and physical security of California and the nation: the promotion of energy policies that help reduce the country’s dependence on oil and address global warming, new water storage and flood protection facilities, smarter investment in the state’s education system and universal health care.

He was particularly direct to representatives of Contra Costa County’s major oil refineries, who sat prominently in the room as event sponsors.

“Chevron, I’m sorry, but you have to change,” Garamendi said, pointing the table where he had sat for lunch. “And as policy leaders, we must push you. California must take the lead in developing alternative fuels.”

Garamendi also espoused the new post-partisan attitude touted in Sacramento these days.

He spoke highly of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, saying that he had eschewed partisan colleague who urged him to take shots at the Republican leader.

“I like the way Schwarzenegger is headed,” he said.

Postscript:

Garamendi ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1982. But at least one local official says she still has her “Garamendi for Governor” sign, former state Business, Transportation and Housing Secretary Sunne Wright McPeak. Heck, recycling is good for the planet, isn’t it?