This year has been a wild ride for state Sen. Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto.

It was only a little more than eight months ago when he was ousted as Senate GOP leader by colleagues as punishment for signing off on a budget deal that included tax hikes. But he's finishing the year on an upswing. Cogdill is the author of the $11 billion water bond that lawmakers approved this week and voters will consider in November.

Cogdill fought for the bond for three years and held out for language that gives proposed dams an edge for a $3 billion pot set aside for storage. Some of that money could be steered to Temperance Flat dam proposal that would feed water to east Valley farms in Cogdill's district.

So who could blame him for smiling ear-to-ear at Wednesday's ceremony in the governor's office held to celebrate passage of the water bills.

Speaking of water deal winners, Democrat Anna Caballero should also get a political boost from the deal.

Caballero, an Assembly member from Salinas, is vying for the Senate seat in 2010 of the termed-out Jeff Denham, R-Atwater. She's squaring off against the Republican mayor of Ceres, Anthony Cannella, in a race in which water politics will play a big role.

So it's no surprise that Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, gave Caballero a leading role in water negotiations. She spoke repeatedly in favor of passing a water bond. And sure enough, she was invited to Wednesday's ceremony.

But this might be the best part for Caballero: She got a shout-out from Cogdill, who credited her "for all the hard work that she's done in the Assembly to partner with us and to bring this home." (in the photo, that's her to the left of Cogdill, who's at the podium)

Think we might see that one in a campaign ad down the road...