Former state Assembly Member Nicole Parra says she has a new job. She just won't say what it is.

"I don't want to jinx it. I really want to do this job," she said by phone today.

She said a formal announcement will come next Tuesday. In the meantime, she's closing her state Senate campaign account, she said.

"I just don't want any complications when I start my new job."

That could suggest Parra is sticking around Sacramento in a government-type job, like a post within the Schwarzenegger administration, or something like that.

Parra, a moderate Democrat, represented the Hanford and Bakersfield areas in the Assembly until last year. She at one time eyed the state Senate seat now held by Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, who terms out in 2010.

Parra last year sparred with fellow Democrats, threatening to withhold her budget vote unless lawmakers passed a water bond. In retaliation, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass tossed Parra from her office to a smaller digs across the street from the Capitol.

The strained relationship with Democrats might have made it hard for Parra to win the primary for the Senate seat. (Parra has even flirted with the idea of running as a Republican.)

The Democratic primary race is now shaping up to be a duel between Sarah Reyes, a former Assembly Member from Fresno and chief of staff for Assembly Member Juan Arambula, and Michael Rubio, a Kern County Supervisor.

Rubio is a former Florez staff member. But Florez is now an ally of Reyes.