In August, I blogged here about the political dominoes that would come from Riverside County Supervisor Roy Wilson's resignation (and untimely death, shortly thereafter).  As expected, the Governor appointed Senator John J. Benoit (R-37) to the seat.  Why does this matter to Orange County?  Well, Assemblyman Jeff Miller is the front-runner to replace Benoit, thereby opening an Assembly seat that is mostly in Orange County.

Jon Fleischman had an extensive report about the prospective candidates for Benoit's seat: Miller (who represents a sizable portion of the district and has lived in the district for years), Assemblyman Bill Emmerson (who barely represents the Senate district and would have to move to run for the seat), former Assemblyman Russ Bogh (who lost to Benoit in the 2008 primary), and former Palm Springs Police Chief Gary Jeandron (who was the Republican nominee for the AD-80 seat).

With Miller possibly going to the Senate in 2010 (if Miller wins the SD-37 election, the timing is such that under California's Elections Code, there will be no AD-71 Special Election; it will stay vacant until the regular election, much like how Tom Harman was elected to SD-35 and his AD-67 seat wasn't filled by Jim Silva until the regular election), who will run for Miller's seat?

Current names being bandied about include Rancho Santa Margarita Councilman Neil Blais, who lost to Miller in the primary in 2008 by less than 4,000 votes; conservative activist and California Republican Lawyers Association Chairman Steve Baric, who is also Secretary of the California Republican Party and is a former gang prosecutor; and Mission Viejo Councilman John Paul Ledesma, who ran for the seat in the 2008 primary, but dropped out before candidate filing.  All of this is moot of course if Miller doesn't win the SD-37 special primary election, and no one will officially declare until Miller officially wins the Senate seat.