Update: 1:50 p.m.: No sooner had Martinez Congressman George Miller announced this morning that he won't run for a 21st term this fall than a potential successor had declared his candidacy.
First out of the gate: State Sen. Mark DeSaulnier of Concord. He told the Sacramento Bee, "I'm playing phone tag with him right now. George is a really good friend," DeSaulnier said. "I wish him well and I would love to replace him in Congress. "It was always my intention to run."
DeSaulnier is a veteran legislator: He served on the Concord Planning Commission and City Council and the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors before being elected to the Assembly in 2006. He served one term there before winning the first of two elections to the state Senate in 2008. He's the chair of the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee, where he's been one of the leading critics of cost overruns and construction problems encountered during building of the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge.
Other candidates mentioned as possible contenders for Miller's seat include East Bay Assemblymembers Joan Buchanan and Susan Bonilla.
KQED's Stephanie Martin spoke with Democratic political strategist Chris Lehane Monday afternoon about Congressman Miller's career, and why many have dubbed him the U.S. House's version of the late Senator Ted Kennedy: