Constituents are pitching in to make Assemblywoman Linda Halderman and her staff members feel right at home in what's called the "doghouse" at the California Capitol.
The Fresno Republican has renamed her shoebox-sized office the Bulldog House in honor of the four-legged Fresno State mascot.
Supporters have contributed decorations and bulldog memorabilia to convert her cramped 391-square-foot digs into a colorful conversation piece.
Giant paw prints lead from the hallway to her office. A bulldog caricature adorns her outer door. A bull's-eye target hangs from her inner door, framed to look like a doghouse.
Halderman, a conservative politician and a medical surgeon by profession, said she has no idea why Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez chose her for the tiny accommodations – and the Los Angeles Democrat has not elaborated.
"I think logic is really unlikely in the Capitol," she said. "I just figure things are random or arbitrary, and we don't really need to know."
Now that she's unpacked, however, Halderman plans to stay awhile.
No bark, no bite, no complaint.
"They'll have to drag me out of that office kicking and screaming," she said.
>MONEY WATCH
If super PAC dollars were votes in the Republican presidential primary, California would already have voted resoundingly for Mitt Romney. Restore Our Future, the super PAC supporting him, collected $2.3 million from Californians last year, according to filings this week. The group boosting Newt Gingrich pulled in a paltry $1,750.
>WORTH REPEATING
"No one believes the Legislature will enact responsible pension reforms."
SEN. BILL EMMERSON, Hemet Republican, commenting Thursday on the Senate floor
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