As the recently declared winner of a tight race for California State Assembly District l0, Alyson Huber, an attorney from El Dorado Hills, was officially sworn in Dec. 1 as the first Democrat in l8 years to hold that seat, as well as the first woman.

With a record voter turnout of 88.7 percent, the highest voter turnout in the state, Huber's election will give Democrats a 51-to-29 majority in the assembly.

Although Huber trailed in the vote counting for three weeks, last minute voters gave her a winning margin of less than a thousand in a race that had been declared "unwinnable." District 10, which has only 39 percent registered Democrats, has been in Republican hands since its current configuration in l990. Huber will replace termed-out Republican Alan Nakanishi.

"Where I differ from Mr. Nakanishi," Huber said, "(is) I will be present in all parts of the district, the outlying areas as well as the cities. Living in El Dorado Hills, I am aware of my foothill neighbors. Because of (the state budget), I don't have a full office staff yet, but I want them to know they can call me at the capitol office any time and talk to me directly."

Her offices are presently in Lodi.

Huber characterized her victory as a reflection of California voters' disillusionment "with the way things were going."

"The state was in severe economic crisis. The capitol was in gridlock. Voters saw that I want to do things differently," Huber told the Ledger Dispatch. She won, she said, "because I am a problem solver, not a professional politician. The campaign became 'fresh face' versus 'same old career politician.'"

Her opponent, Republican Jack Sieglock, a former San Joaquin county supervisor and previous Lodi mayor, charged in his campaign materials that "Huber wants to raise taxes," something the freshman assemblywoman disputes.

"I don't want to raise taxes on everybody," she said. "Instead, I want to cut spending. As an attorney, I'll find ways to save money. The court system, for example, with its $12 million lawsuits. Will I promise not to raise any taxes? No. I don't make promises that I can't keep.

"I strongly support the community college that Amador so greatly needs, for example, but until we have the budget for it, I may not be able to do as much as I'd like. Right now, the government has enough money to solve its problems, but we need to rearrange priorities and insist on accountability."

Huber promised an end to the gridlock on the assembly floor.

"I understand about reaching across the aisle because I'm married to a Republican," she shared. "Republicans, Democrats and all the others must be involved in solving these problems. Voters from both sides can push the obstructionists in the assembly past their self-serving partisanship."

Huber acknowledged that some of Sacramento's problems originate from outside the state, as well as court-mandated costs adopted through the initiative process. "We have been passing proposition after proposition without considering where the money was coming from," she said. "For example, we have become involved with the immigration issue when we can't afford to be. It needs a comprehensive federal solution."

While Sieglock called for stricter enforcement of the controversial "three strikes law," Huber said she would look into the ways the law impacts the criminal justice system. To Sieglock's proposal to solve traffic congestion by adding more highway lanes, Huber responded, "I want us to create more local jobs so people can get off the highways."

Although Huber won District 10, which encompasses Amador, El Dorado, and parts of Sacramento and San Joaquin counties, Amador County voted overwhelmingly for Sieglock. Jim Rooney, chairman of the Amador County Republican Central Committee, was hoping for a good rapport.

"I wish her the best," he said. "We know we're small, but we hope she will pay attention to us.

"We're afraid the state will try to cover its budget problems by taking money away from counties, but we need that money now," Rooney, the county assessor, continued. "We hope she will watch that for us. We need a community college here - our young people have to drive an hour each way as it is. Republicans believe in self-reliance. We hope she will focus on that."

Richard Forster, chairman of the Amador County Board of Supervisors, mentioned a related concern during Tuesday's meeting. While he wasn't referring to Huber specifically, Forster said a crop of new legislators were coming in with little to no experience running cities or counties. "With that lack of knowledge, it's going to be even harder for them to make correct decisions," he added.

Norman Waters, who retired in l990, was the last Democrat to serve when the county was in District 7. "Since the deliberate gerrymandering (redistricting), which both Democrats and Republicans voted on to protect themselves," Waters said, "they (legislators) have been spending too much time on getting re-elected rather than taking care of the people's business. Alyson Huber is a very bright lady and will do a good job of checks and balances. We need input from both parties to solve our problems."

Of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican married to Democrat Maria Shriver, Huber only said, "I look forward to working with him."