CalWatchdog Morning Read – July 11

• Senate race competitive, but…
• VP Biden may be about to endorse the frontrunner
• More on lawmaker giving Veteran of the Year award to her BF
• Dark money dip in CA
• AG wins big settlement against for-profit university

Good morning! Happy Monday.

New polling and a surprise endorsement light up the path to victory for Loretta Sanchez’s quest for the U.S. Senate — but both also illustrate the challenges ahead.

Sanchez — a Democratic congresswoman from Orange County — is hoping to cobble together enough votes from a mix of Latinos, Republicans, independents and Democrats to carry her past Democratic Attorney General Kamala Harris, the frontrunner.

Harris won first place in the June primary by a wide margin — 40 percent to 19 percent — with the vote split between 34 candidates. Polling released Friday gives a clearer picture of how the two candidates stack up head to head, showing Harris in a comfortable, yet surmountable, lead.

And while the polling suggests Sanchez still faces significant difficulties winning over Republicans, Hugh Hewitt, a popular conservative radio host from Orange County, endorsed her on his show on Thursday, giving Sanchez her second high-profile Republican endorsement since the primary.

CalWatchdog has more:

In other news:

• Speaking of high-profile endorsements in the Senate race, Vice President Joe Biden is considering endorsing Harris. The Los Angeles Times has more. 
• The Voice of San Diego dissects Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez’s decision to present her boyfriend an award for Veteran of the Year, finding trouble with the decision and hypocrisy with the reaction. 
• A new report finds the use of “dark money” dipped in California recently, reports Capital Public Radio.
• “Facing a torrent of accusations, a for-profit company that operates taxpayer-funded online charter schools throughout California has reached a $168.5 million settlement with the state over claims it manipulated attendance records and overstated its students’ success,” writes The San Jose Mercury News. 

Legislature:

• Gone ’til August.

Gov. Brown:

• On vacation.

Tips: [email protected]

Follow us: @calwatchdog @mflemingterp

New followers: @Sal_DiCiccio @dandelcampo2