LA Times endorsed SF Mayor Gavin Newsom "without hesitation," not hometown girl Janice Hahn, for Lt Gov. in the Democratic primary, while tipping its hat to Abel Maldonado on the GOP side.

Why did the Los Angeles paper select our chiseled mayor over Hahn?

Because despite all the make-work aspects of the job, the lieutenant governor is the governor's stand-in, and whoever fills the job must be ready to become governor at a moment's notice. Newsom, for all his cockiness, is a dynamic leader — one who is more suited than Hahn to guide the state, and one who in the meantime is more likely to use the platform of his position in a creative and constructive fashion, even if he's not currently an expert on the duties of the state Lands Commission. California needs Newsom's combination of brashness and smarts.

Well, he is brash. And, sure, a smartypants, too. We'll give them that. Anyway, LA Times goes on to say that, if Newsom wins on June 8, he must "demonstrate in the coming five-month campaign that he can put his talents to use as lieutenant governor, rather than merely checking his Twitter account regularly for news about the governor's health."