Fran Florez has the CDP Endorsement and the cash

Florez all but locked up the party endorsement over the weekend with the unanimous recommendation of a regional caucus Saturday. The endorsement won't be officially decided until the state party's mid-April convention.

Nicole Parra, who held the 30th District seat for six years before she was termed out, angered her party in September 2008 when she endorsed Gilmore on her way out. Gilmore beat Florez that November. Pete Parra also endorsed Gilmore, but at the time did not hold elected office. (Florez's son, state Sen. Dean Florez, held the 30th District seat before Nicole Parra.)

"They're still not so happy with me," Nicole Parra said of the Democratic Party.

News of Florez's likely clinching of the party cloak comes on top of campaign finance reports released Monday night that show Fran Florez has substantially out-earned Pete Parra so far this year -- and that her war chest was more than four times bigger as of mid-March.

Florez earned nearly $156,000 between January and mid-March compared to less than $62,000 cash Parra reported.