Mike Duvall deposed as Vice Chair of the Utility
Committee after bragging about having sex with
a 34-year-old lobbyist

See official state of California mug shots of Heidi DeJong Barsuglia, and other documents

"Hot Mike" Duvall, Orange County Assemblyman, and former
Vice Chair, California Utilities and Commerce Committee.

At 12 P.M. today, the Sacramento Bee reported  that Assemblyman Mike Duvall has resigned from the California Assembly just one day after Mr. Duvall was stripped of his position as Vice Chair of the powerful Utilities and Commerce Committee by Speaker Karen Bass.

The resignation follows a report aired by Orange County's K-Cal 9 News.  Apparently, Mr. Duvall was unaware that his intimate confessions of adulterous sexual escapades were being recorded by a live microphone, or "hot mike."  

The video suggests that at least one of the lobbyists worked for the same firm that represents SDG&E and its holding company, Sempra Energy.  The OC Weekly reports that one of the lobbyists is Heidi DeJong Barsuglia.   It reports witnesses who have verified that they have seen Duvall with Barsuglia in restaurants, "arm-in-arm" at political fund-raising events and even shopping together for groceries just blocks from the Capitol building.


In April -- two months after Duvall became vice chairman of the Utilities & 
Commerce Committee -- the privately owned California utility giant, Sempra Energy, hired Barsuglia as one of its top lobbyists. According to Secretary of State records Barsuglia is employed by "Sempra Energy and its affiliates: San Diego Gas & Electric,Southern California Gas Co., and Sempra Energy Global Enterprises (see attached copy of the lobbyist report in PDF format).  

Barsuglia, who has a law degree and once worked as a speechwriter for
 Governor Pete Wilson, had previously worked at CRA, the California Retailers Association. According to her resume, she has four years of experience in legislative "relations". During 25 months of work at CRA, she reported that she incurred no reportable lobbying expenses. She joined Sempra after the departure of another lobbyist: David Hayes, who was named deputy director of the Interior Department by President Barack Obama.


The OC Weekly also reports that Sempra isn't shy about lobbying
lawmakers for favorable treatment. In this session, Sempra gave Duvall $1,500 in campaign contributions. In May, the assemblyman officially adopted the company's negative view of Assembly Bill 64, which proposes increasing the percentage of electricity the utilities must procure from environmentally sensitive sources.


According to news reports, Mr. Duvall's language is so vulgar that it cannot be broadcast.

The video shows Duvall discussing his sexual relations with lobbyists. Duvall, aged 54, mentions that he is having sex with two lobbyists from the same firm, and that one of them is 19 years younger.  He mentions that he enjoys spanking the Sempra/SDG&E lobbyist.

Ironically, Mr. Duvall is known as a "staunch family values Republican."  He has received numerous accolades from the Capital Resource Institute, a family values think tank dedicated to protecting marriage and California families. Notably, Mr. Duvall, is married, as are the women with whom he allegedly had sexual affairs.