CA Lt. Gov. Candidate Invokes Stem Cells

John Garamendi, the Democratic candidate in a close race for California's lieutenant governor, invoked the stem cell issue on Monday during a press conference, saying that a vote for his opponent was a vote against stem cell research.

The lieutenant governor appoints five members to an oversight panel for California's Institute of Regenerative Medicine, which was created in when voters approved Proposition 71 in 2004 to fund stem cell research. New appointments will come up in 2010.

Rebecca Vesely of the Oakland Tribune writes:

State Sen. Tom McClintock, Garamendi's Republican opponent in the race, co-authored the official ballot argument against Proposition 71. McClintock and other opponents said they supported the science but that the state could not afford the bond measure. He called the measure "corporate welfare," arguing that the state would have too little control over how taxpayer dollars are spent.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said that McClintock would "undoubtedly go out of his way to wreak havoc on the oversight committee."