The Hill reports that Ellen Tauscher will go to the State Department as the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security - John Bolton's old job.

This would open up yet another special election here in California to fill the seat. Who would be some of the most likely Democratic candidates to run for the seat?

• Tom Torlakson. Former State Senator, now serving his third and final term in the Assembly (AD-11; his first two terms were from 1996-2000). He's currently planning a run for State Superintendent of Education in 2010, but might be interested in moving to the Congressional seat should it open up. He's probably got the highest political profile of the field owing to his 12+ years in the Legislature.



• Mark DeSaulnier. Replaced Tom Torlakson in SD-7 when he was termed out last year. DeSaulnier and Torlakson are close and would probably not challenge each other for the seat, so if Torlakson decides to stay in California, DeSaulnier could make the move to DC. He has spoken out on the need to fix California's broken government and for action on global warming.



• Joan Buchanan. Elected last November to the Assembly from AD-15. As a newly elected state official she may have a lower profile than Torlakson or DeSaulnier, but can't be ruled out as a possible candidate.

I'm sure there are other possible candidates out there who could fill this seat but those are the folks who have been generating the most discussion in the last 24 hours. We'll see what happens next. Hopefully we can get someone more progressive to represent the 10th District.