In a move that could signal an end to the brewing battle over who will become the next Assembly speaker, current Speaker Karen Bass threw her support behind Assemblymember John Pérez, saying he has secured enough support within the Democratic caucus to succeed her in the post.
"I really very deeply believe that John will be a speaker that reflects the strong Democratic values that brought us all here," Bass said.
Bass said the caucus could vote as soon as next week and that she plans to immediately start working with Pérez to set a timetable for the transition of power.
She said Pérez had secured commitments from at least 29 fellow Democrats. To become speaker, he must be approved with a majority vote in Assembly -- 41 votes -- though the member who wins the support of the majority caucus has in recent years been confirmed to the post without resistance.
The announcement came after another long day of squabbling between members supporting Pérez and those backing his top rival for the job, Assemblymember Kevin de León.
Pérez's supporters have said they picked up more support overnight and are confident they have the votes needed to make the first-term assemblyman the Dems' informal pick for the speaker post.
But de León supporters were still dismissing the victory claims coming from Perez's camp.
"First of all, we have not had a caucus on it. Second of all, we have not had a vote. And if there are 24 to 26 signatures that they claim to have, I haven't seen them," said Assemblymember Ed Hernandez, a de León supporter, adding that he believed his pick still had the support of 20 or so members. "Most people are failing to realize it takes 41 votes to become speaker."
Another de León supporter, Assemblymember Warren Furutani, echoed Hernandez's concerns. He called Bass naming Perez as the speaker elect "at best, premature."
"We haven't had any caucus meetings to discuss this nor have we had a caucus vote," he said. "I'd hope that we'd have an opportunity to vote relative to who our new speaker will be."
Members of the Legislature's Latino Caucus also created buzz that the jockeying wasn't over by announcing this afternoon that its members in the Assembly voted to endorse de León.
But the vote wasn't binding, meaning the caucus' 16 Assembly Democrats won't necessarily vote in a block for de León, and de León won the caucus' support with just seven of 10 members in attendance casting votes in his favor (the remaining seven members of the caucus missed the meeting, one member who was there said).
Though de León supporters gave no indication today of backing off their campaign, Bass said she believes Assembly Democrats will ultimately unite behind Perez's bid for speaker and that he would be confirmed by the full Legislature.
"I don't have any reason to believe that he won't have the same vote I did," said Bass, who was elected speaker in a unanimous vote.
Click here to read today's story on the two top candidates vying for the post.
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