Does Mr. Bauman’s resignation signal anything broader about the party or California’s political culture? And how likely is it that his resignation will pave the way for change?

There is a lot of talk now that the kind of easygoing, roughhouse culture of a political committee — a culture that Mr. Bauman, who was very much a creature of the Bronx, reflected — will have to change. I think we can expect that to be a top pledge of whomever takes over the job.

What about politically? Does the Bauman exit tell us anything about where the party might be going?

Mr. Bauman squeaked into office by about 60 votes out of 3,000 votes cast. He was widely viewed as too moderate — and too old-school in his political tactics — for many in the party. His closest rival was Kimberly Ellis, a San Francisco Democratic activist and one of the leading contenders to succeed him.

Keep in mind: The California Democratic Party is clearly more liberal than the state’s overall Democratic electorate. The party refused to back Senator Dianne Feinstein for re-election, supporting instead her more liberal challenger, Kevin de León, a state senator. She won handily. So we should be careful in drawing broad lessons about the politics in California from whomever is elected to succeed Mr. Bauman when the party convenes in San Francisco on May 31.