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In each midterm election, Californians find a slew of races to fill seats in their state executive branch. Unlike some states that only directly elect the governor, secretary of state, and attorney general, California votes on those positions, as well as the lieutenant governor, controller, treasurer, and insurance commissioner. Adding to the interest this year is the large number of vacancies: due to term limits, only two of the seven races feature incumbents seeking re-election, and even these incumbents have not served a full term.
Perhaps as an unintended consequence of term limits, the races have also revealed certain trends. Californians adopted term limits in an amendment to the state constitution to discourage career politicians from monopolizing a given office. Though these career politicians cannot seek re-election to the same position, they are nonetheless circumventing the system by seeking election to a different spot on the state Cabinet.
Many names on the ballot running for these statewide offices have been there before in recent years, just for different offices. In the Democratic Party, three of their nominees for the seven positions, Phil Angelides, John Garamendi, and Bill Lockyer, are current members of the Cabinet, respectively as treasurer, insurance commissioner, and attorney general. This year, they hope to move around, with Angelides running for governor, Garamendi for lieutenant governor, and Lockyer for treasurer. Controller Steve Westly, a Stanford graduate, also ran for the Democratic nomination for governor, but lost to Angelides in the primary.
Further, two more of the Democratic nominees running for statewide executive offices are not members of the current Cabinet, but were members of previous Cabinets. The candidate for attorney general, Jerry Brown, is currently the mayor of Oakland, but has previously served both as secretary of state and as governor. Former lieutenant governor Cruz Bustamante is also seeking a return to California politics by running for insurance commissioner after losing the special election for governor to Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003.
It will be interesting to see whether California voters will recognize these candidates’ attempts to go around term limits, or whether they will buy into their name recognition. For example, will Jerry Brown, a known entity in California, win election as attorney general, the state’s top law enforcement position, despite his time as governor, when California had the highest crime rates of either the two governors immediately preceding him or the two governors immediately succeeding him?
Rounding out the remaining Democrats are state Sen. Debra Bowen, the candidate for secretary of state, and the state board of equalization chairman, John Chiang, the nominee for controller.
Republicans, on the other hand, have a very different problem: Democrats significantly outnumber Republicans across the state, and with independents typically also leaning toward the Democrats (Arnold Schwarzenegger is the glaring exception), California has trended to the left since the 1990’s. Republicans bolster the term-limit argument by running several professionals with relevant areas of expertise for state races, many of whom are offering fresh perspectives on what can be done in California. The remaining question, however, is whether or not they can win. As a result, many of them are straying from innovative policy ideas and attach themselves to Jessica’s Law, a proposition on the ballot likely to pass, that place tough penalties on sex offenders. While Democrats hope political experience and name recognition pull through, Republicans are praying that Jessica’s Law will carry the day.
Governor Schwarzenegger and Secretary of State Bruce McPherson, both of whom were not elected in 2002, are the two incumbents seeking re-election this year. McPherson, as the chair of the elections and reapportionment committee when he served in the legislature, has much to offer from his experience, as well as serving as a good check as a Republican in a state where Democrats dominate elected offices. Steve Poizner, the nominee for insurance commissioner, is a technology entrepreneur, with a real knowledge of how to increase competition to make insurance work for all Californians. Tony Strickland, the current president of a tax advocacy group in California, is running for controller, and has plans to turn the office of the controller into a real vehicle for change by attacking policy issues, rather than complacently following a limited job description. State Sen. Chuck Poochigian, the Republican candidate for attorney general, has a vast background in law, as well experience from advising governors on judicial appointments, preparing him to give legal advice to the state government, an important component of the attorney general’s job.
The Republican ticket is rounded out by several other capable candidates, including state Sen. Tom McClintock for lieutenant governor, who finished just behind Schwarzenegger and Bustamante in the 2003 recall election, and state board of equalization member Claude Parrish, the candidate for treasurer.
However, many of these Republicans, despite their backgrounds and ideas, are still running in blue California, and appear unwilling to stand up for their ideas. Pitted against Democrats with name recognition, many of whom appear to care more for their own job security than Californians, they will make for several races worth watching. Keep these in mind when you vote, and pay attention to the return on election night to see if either party’s slate of candidates makes significant gains.
