The New York Times reports that Democrats are all riled up about New York mayor Michael Bloomberg's suggestion that city offices -- from his on down -- be elected on a non-partisan basis. Their motivation is not much different than the one behind Republicans here pushing for the Davis recall -- gaining (or in the NYC case, keeping) some political advantage. If Los Angeles is any lesson, the New York Dems have little to fear. California went to non-partisan city elections in the progressive reform era that saw Hiram Johnson (a Republican) elected governor in 1910. Now that Richard Riordan is gone, I believe that only two elected L.A. city pols are Republicans: councilmen Dennis Zine and Greig Smith.