Assemblyman Mark Leno is all but assured a seat in the state Senate after decisively defeating former Marin Assemblyman Joe Nation and state Senator Carole Migden, who has held the seat for the last four years, in Tuesday's Democratic primary. Leno is set to become the first openly gay man to serve in the Legislature's upper house.

Due to the heavy Democratic make-up of the district, Leno should easily win the November election when he faces off against Republican challenger Sashi McEntee, potentially keeping the Senate seat in gay hands for the next eight years.

According to unofficial returns Wednesday, June 4, Leno netted 43 percent of the 102,109 votes cast in the race. His 43,853 vote total far outpaced his nearest competitor, Nation, who took second place with 29,902 votes, about 29 percent of the total. Migden trailed in third place with 28,354 votes, with about 28 percent.

In San Francisco, Leno walked away with 57 percent of the vote, more than 22,200 votes ahead of Nation. It was a large enough margin to compensate for Nation's strong showings in his home ground of Marin and Sonoma counties.

"It's very thrilling. It's really a night of elation," said a beaming Leno, who was so confident of victory he scheduled a party in Nation's turf prior to showing up at a Castro celebration at Lime shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday night.

The presumptive senator walked in to boisterous applause and chants of "Leno, Leno, Leno," as he was greeted by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco), who easily won her re-election primary Tuesday – and city Supervisors Bevan Dufty and Tom Ammiano, who will replace Leno in the Assembly.

Dufty, in a not so subtle jab at Migden's reputation for being a hard-nosed legislator, said Leno's victory proves that "integrity rules, hard work rules, being respectful and decent to other people rules, and playing by the rules rules."

By 9 p.m. Tuesday night, with just absentee votes and some Marin precincts reporting, Migden basically conceded the race in a short speech to supporters gathered at her campaign headq

State Senator Carole Migden addresses supporters Tuesday as she conceded the race. Photo: Rick Gerharter

She told reporters that, "regardless of the outcome I feel very grateful for my years of service and the wonderful people who stood with me."

The election pitted Leno and Migden, two of the city's most powerful gay lawmakers, against each other in an 18-month-long campaign that caused deep divisions among progressives and the city's LGBT community. The former city supervisors had once been close allies until Migden opposed Leno's successful 2002 bid for her old Assembly seat and instead urged former Supervisor Harry Britt to enter the race.

Asked about healing the divide, Leno said just as he did in 2002 he intends to represent "our entire community" and expects any hurt feelings will quickly subside as the community rallies together to defeat an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

"The challenge to the Supreme Court ruling [that same-sex couples have the right to marry] is a perfect opportunity for all of us to join hands and fight the real evil, which is the religious right," said Leno, who twice spearheaded passage of gay marriage legislation by the Legislature only to see it vetoed by the governor.

Leno's announcement in early 2007 that he would seek Migden's 3rd District Senate seat broke with long held Democratic Party tradition that candidates would not take on incumbents from their own party. Forced to give up his 13th District Assembly seat due to term limits, and unswayed by arguments that he should run against Mayor Gavin Newsom last year, Leno instead opted to jump into the Senate race saying voters deserved to have a choice.

Many dismissed his decision as little more than payback for Migden's betrayal six years ago. Others argued having two San Franciscans in the race opened the door for a North Bay candidate to claim the seat. Historically, more of the district's voters in Marin and Sonoma counties have headed to the polls than San Franciscans.

Yet for months the contest basically remained a two-person race, with several lesser candidates jumping in – and then out – of the race. Then Migden's troubles began to mount. She caused a four-car accident on Highway 92 in Fairfield last May and subsequently revealed a 10-year-long battle against leukemia, claiming the medications she takes led her to lose control of her vehicle.

In August she pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving, paid a $710 fine, and agreed to two years of court probation. Last fall Migden found herself in an escalating feud with the state's political watchdog agency, which culminated this spring with her agreeing to pay a record $350,000 fine for campaign finance violations, including using surplus funds for personal use.

She then sued the agency in federal court after it had barred Migden from tapping into $650,000 from her old accounts for her latest campaign. A federal judge overturned that decision, ruling in April she could use the money while the case is pending.

Sensing Migden was now in the political fight of her life, Nation entered the race in January. Polling soon showed Nation and Leno in a virtual dead heat to unseat Migden, who trailed in third place.

In recent weeks, as polls showed Leno edging past Nation as the frontrunner, the two took daily swipes as each other and all but ignored Migden. Leno pegged Nation as a corporate tool with similar views as President Bush; Nation tarnished Leno as being in the pocket of casinos and adult entertainment interests. Outside groups pumped more than a million dollars into the race, most of it on negative mailers.

Migden won the backing of the city's two gay newspapers but was unable to hold on to her longtime champion, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, which made the surprise decision to endorse Leno in the race. The San Francisco Chronicle followed suit, and Leno also received last minute boosts over the weekend from both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D-Marin), whom Nation tried to unseat two years ago, as he fought his way to victory Tuesday night.