From Fox&Hounds:

Sam Blakeslee’s strong showing in the June 22nd special election for California’s 15th Senate District has led to some of the least credible spin seen by political observers in many years – and that’s saying a great deal.

Republican Blakeslee received 49.5% of the vote in a four candidate field, narrowly missing an outright victory by only a few hundred votes. Former Assemblyman John Laird trailed by almost 8 percentage points – a profoundly disappointing showing for the Santa Cruz liberal.

Pundits were surprised by both the strength of Blakeslee’s support and the weakness of Laird’s. Yet Laird is ridiculously attempting to declare victory on a liberal blog with the justification that he barely avoided complete defeat. Laird’s claim to be the winner on June 22nd after losing by 8 points undermines both the Democrat’s credibility and grasp of basic math skills – but it might explain the fiscal chaos that resulted during his tenure as the longtime Chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee.

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