Visalia Republican Assembly Member Bill Maze is termed out at the end of the year. Why, then, did he hold a fundraiser at a Sacramento eatery Wednesday evening?

Because he's running for the state Senate in two years, he said. As for what he'll do between now and then, Maze said he's got "three of four different options I'm looking at." He would not elaborate.

Maze's wife Becky finished a disappointing third in the GOP primary race to fill her husband's seat. The winner, Connie Conway, a Tulare County supervisor, is the heavy favorite to beat Democrat Desmond Farrelly in the fall.

Conway recently made a trip to the Capitol along with other Republican nominees to check out the Assembly chambers.