By Kevin D. Korenthal

By far the two biggest reasons that Proposition 93 needed to go down in flames are named Nunez and Perata. Those two stooges have had their time in power, abused that power to the point of instigating investigations into their campaign spending and ethics violations, and are thankfully going to exit the State Legislative stage, at least for now. 

But two other names are just as important reasons for the fake term limits initiative to have failed. Knight & Strickland.

Stephen Knight is the son of famed air force pilot and State Senator William J. "Pete" Knight. Stephen or Steve as he is called is currently serving his 2^nd term on the Palmdale City Council. With Prop 93 taken care of, the way is cleared for Knight to succeed termed out Assemblywoman Sharon Runner  for the 36^th Assembly District Seat. In his short time in office, Steve has proven himself capable of going up against special interest groups, even those which are led by local power broker and Mayor James C. Ledford Jr. Which is a good time to mention that Ledford has pulled papers to challenge Knight for the nomination, a task that will be made all the more difficult by Steve's name I.D., endorsements and considerable campaign war chest.

Another Republican star to shine bright in November is former Assemblyman Tony Strickland, who has been campaigning for Tom McClintock's termed out State Senate seat since the beginning of 2007. Tony is best known for his successful attempt to sue the State of California for access to the specifics of the back room deals that then-governor Grey Davis made with power suppliers and eventually led first to electrical back-outs and eventually the Governor's recall. The 19th Senate District includes Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Moorpark, Camarillo, Ventura, Ojai, most of Santa Barbara County and a small slice of Santa Clarita and has been expertly represented by Conservative stalwart Tom McClintock since 2000. Rumor has it that McClintock will move onto the low-profile but very influential Board of Equalization, a seat currently held by termed out Bill Leonard.

ALSO NOTEWORTHY: A State Senator from Palm Springs announced a few days before the election that the defeat of 93 would mean the loss of seats like those of Tom McClintock.

I hope readers will leave comment with other news relating to who is running in seats that would not have been open had it not been for the defeat of 93.