It got little coverage since it amounted to a Democrat replacing a Democrat but on Tuesday there was a special election in northern California's 12th congressional district to replace Tom Lantos who died of cancer in February. Former state senator Jackie Speier needed more than 50% of the vote on Tuesday to avoid a June 3 run-off and in fact managed to win a whopping 78% of the vote and so will fill out the remainder of Lantos's term and then seek re-election in November.

Speier was sworn in to congress today and wasted no time demonstrating why she is going to be a spirited and outspoken progressive addition to the Democratic majority:

For a few feel-good moments on the floor of the U.S. House today, Jackie Speier basked in bipartisan applause as she was sworn in as its newest member. Her family, supporters and kids cheered as she embraced her new colleagues.

Then, in her first speech in Congress, Speier spoke out about Iraq, and the boos and hoots began from the Republican side of the aisle.

"When will we get out of Iraq?" was the most frequent question she heard, she told the House, while campaigning in the special election she won Tuesday to succeed the late Rep. Tom Lantos.

"The process to bring the troops home must begin immediately," she said, as several Republicans loudly booed. Rep. Darrell Issa, a Vista Republican, bolted from his seat and left the floor.

The hoots grew in volume as Speier, a Hillsborough Democrat, continued.

"The president wants to stay the course and a man who wants to replace him suggests we could be in Iraq for 100 years," she said, a reference to Republican John McCain's assertion that U.S. forces could be there decades, if they are not under attack.

Just to give you another idea of what sort of member of congress she'll be, Rep. Speier posted a big thank you over at calitics yesterday. Julia Rosen returned the love after reading about Speier's first speech on the floor of the house.

When we talk about electing more and better Democrats, this is what it looks like. [...]

Thank you Rep. Speier.  Just phenomenal work.  Keep it up.

We want more of this!

Being a socal guy, I have limited experience with Speier although she impressed me enough in 06 when she was running for Lt. Governor to win my vote in the primary. But if the calitics kids are pumped about her representing us in congress, that's good enough for me. One really important step toward a progressive governing majority.

Oh, and by the way, there's someone else who is pretty happy to see Speier in the House of Representatives today.

Her campaign was gleeful over two superdelegate endorsements on Thursday, as Mrs. Clinton arrived in Pennsylvania for a full day of campaigning.

Sophie Masloff, a former mayor of Pittsburgh, will endorse Mrs. Clinton Thursday night at a dinner for Allegheny County Democrats.

The Clinton campaign said that they have also picked up the support of Bill Burga, a former president of the Ohio AFL-CIO.

Jackie Speier, a California lawmaker who this week took over the late Tom Santos's seat in Congress, has also announced her endorsement of Mrs. Clinton.