Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will have to rehabilitate his image
in the coming months, after the major political blow that came when
voters handily rejected all his Special Election ballot proposals
Tuesday.
The Republican governor’s pet propositions ““
Proposition 74, to extend teacher probation periods; 75, to put
restrictions on union spending; 76, to slow the growth of state
spending; and 77, to restructure the state’s political
districts ““ all failed.
Voters also rejected the other four initiatives on the
ballot.
Proposition 76 in particular failed by a sizable margin, with 62
percent of voters rejecting the initiative that would have given
the governor a more direct hand in state budget decisions.
Similarly, 59.46 percent voted “no” on
Schwarzenegger’s redistricting proposal.
Other defeated propositions include mandatory parental
notification for a minor’s abortion, tighter regulation of
the electricity industry and two prescription-drug proposals.
But Tuesday’s all-out failure may be a blessing in
disguise for Schwarzenegger.
Schwarzenegger has been pushing traditional conservative staples
for the past few months, exciting his base and isolating a bulk of
moderate voters, said Walter Zelman, director of the California
Policy Institute at the University of Southern California.
But now the governor may decide to reclaim his image: that of a
moderate outsider above the everyday partisan bickering of state
politics, Zelman said.
“He may be more able to say to those to his right,
“˜I can’t go down your path anymore. Look what happened.
I tried that and we got ripped. Now I have to go to the centrist
road I’ve always wanted to take,'” Zelman
said.
Experts said voters’ sharp rejection of the Special
Election’s right-leaning propositions emphasizes that the
Golden State is still a dependable Democratic stronghold.
The next step for Schwarzenegger, Zelman said, is to acknowledge
defeat, rethink his strategy, and make amends with the legislators
across the partisan aisle.
But the state’s Democratic leadership may not be eager to
let the Republican governor return to the fold.
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez said Democrats are open to
compromising with Schwarzenegger. But he added that the two sides
have not yet reached the “kumbaya stage.”
Though Tuesday’s election further weakened
Schwarzenegger’s political clout, experts say it’s far
too early to count him out of next year’s gubernatorial
election.
Zelman compared the Republican governor’s situation to
that of former President Bill Clinton in 1994, when Hill
Republicans earned strong majorities in both houses.
“People were counting Clinton out, and two years later he
walked through re-election,” Zelman said.
The ballot initiatives not submitted by the governor fared no
better than those he personally sponsored.
The highly controversial Proposition 73, which would have
required minors to notify their parents before receiving an
abortion, lost with 52.54 percent voting against the
initiative.
Propositions 78 and 79, which both dealt with prescription-drug
discounts, and 80, which would have changed regulations for
electricity providers, were all defeated with more than 58 percent
voting “no.”
Voter turnout for Tuesday’s election exceeded
expectations.
In Los Angeles County, 1,575,665 made it out to the polls
““ a shade over 41 percent of registered voters ““
according to the city registrar.
With reports from Bruin wire services.