Confirmation battle brewing as Shelley vacates office under cloud

[davidinalameda]

http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/12528226p-13383668c.html

Occasionally - about once a decade, on average - one of the state's lesser statewide offices falls vacant due to an incumbent officeholder's death or resignation, the latter usually due to some scandal.
Two things happen when these vacancies occur: The chief deputy in the office, whoever that might be, takes over until a successor is confirmed, and the governor decides whether to fill the office with a political aspirant, or settle for a caretaker.

Cathy Mitchell, a career employee in the secretary of state's office, has taken the job in the wake of Kevin Shelley's scandal-tinged departure last Friday, thus setting in motion what could be a protracted battle between Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Democrat-controlled Legislature over confirmation of his appointee, former GOP state Sen. Bruce McPherson.