Posted on 01/23/2006 9:56:31 AM PST by NormsRevenge
Sixteen years ago, California voters enacted term limits in hopes of purging Sacramento of career politicians.
The career politicians are not going quietly.
The 2006 election will feature a gaggle of legislators, who are prohibited from seeking re-election, hoping to move up to one of the seven low-visibility, statewide constitutional offices below governor.
And, in an unprecedented development, three constitutional officeholders are looking to make lateral moves to avoid losing their places in line for some future bid for governor or the U.S. Senate.
Attorney General Bill Lockyer is running for treasurer. Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi are trying to trade places.
All three Democrats have served the maximum two terms in their present offices.
"The desperation to which the state's constitutional officers are willing to go to avoid getting a real job is extraordinary," said Republican political consultant Dan Schnur.
Voters approved Proposition 140 in November 1990. It limits state Assembly members to three two-year terms and restricts state senators and statewide elected officials to two four-year terms.
That means if someone was elected to the Assembly in 1992 and moved up to the Senate six years later, he or she is now termed out of the Legislature.
In addition, statewide officials elected in the Democratic landslide of 1998 are reaching the end of their tenure allowed under Proposition 140.
With only three statewide incumbents running for re-election – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Secretary of State Bruce McPherson and Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell – spirited primary races are shaping up in both major parties for nearly all of the offices.
Jockeying for the contests began early last year, with many candidates changing plans as opportunities vanished or unexpected openings materialized.
Take the case of Joseph Dunn, a Democratic state senator from Garden Grove termed out of the Senate. Dunn declared his candidacy for attorney general, but didn't like his prospects of getting past Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, the former governor, and Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo for the Democratic nomination.
Dunn switched to the treasurer's race. But then Lockyer decided he didn't relish the rigors of the campaign for governor he had long planned. So Lockyer jumped to the treasurer's race, taking with him the $10 million he had amassed to run for governor.
About the same time, Controller Steve Westly decided to challenge Treasurer Phil Angelides for the Democratic nomination for governor, even though Westly has served one term and could run for re-election.
With Westly out of the way, the entire Democratic field for treasurer that had been elbowed aside by Lockyer – Dunn, Board of Equalization member John Chiang and Assemblyman Dario Frommer of Glendale – shifted to the controller's race.
None of this comes as much of a surprise to most political professionals and analysts.
"The idea that by passing term limits, you could eliminate politicians from running for office was extraordinarily naive," said Democratic strategist Bill Carrick.
Said University of Southern California political scientist Sherry Bebitch Jeffe: "We were all supposed to see citizen legislators who put down their plow for a few years and then went back to the private sector. But very few politicians can leave the public limelight and adjust, and if they can forestall their return to the private sector, most politicians will."
Before term limits, some constitutional officers moved on in four or eight years to run for governor or the U.S. Senate. Others, such as former Secretary of State March Fong Eu and the late Treasurer Jesse Unruh, stayed put for decades.
Only once in modern history has someone moved sideways to another of the "down-ballot" offices. That was in 1994 when Gray Davis jumped from controller to lieutenant governor to preserve the future option of running for governor.
"Switching from one statewide (office) to another is definitely something new," said Tony Quinn, co-editor of the California Target Book, which analyzes state political campaigns.
Constitutional officeholders have a difficult time attracting attention, candidates for the offices even more so.
That has always been the case, but it is more true now that state campaign finance regulations limit individual contributions to candidates for those offices to $5,600.
"It was hard enough to get money for these down-ballot offices before, and now with these new campaign limits, it's even harder," said Republican political consultant Kevin Spillane.
That means, he said, that voters decide on the basis of candidates' occupations as listed on the ballot, slate cards mailed out by political consultants who sell space on them, and whatever limited radio and television exposure candidates can afford.
In short, voters will probably be anointing the next generation of major-party nominees for governor or the U.S. Senate on the basis of little information.
In a Field Poll conducted in October, a majority of California voters said they knew enough to have an opinion about only one of the current officeholders – Bustamante, who placed second in the 2003 gubernatorial recall election.
"These elected officials just can't believe their recognition levels are so low," said Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo. "But this state is so big that to be known to a majority is a real accomplishment."
With the possible exception of attorney general and insurance commissioner, many voters probably have scant idea of the purpose of the lower offices.
"After governor, most people are pretty hazy about what these offices do," said Jack Pitney, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College. "I'd be surprised if one Californian out of 100 can tell you the difference between the controller and treasurer."
Still, it's no secret why the offices are so sought after.
Four of the last seven governors – Gray Davis, George Deukmejian, Jerry Brown and Edmund G. "Pat" Brown – previously held "down-ballot" offices, as did gubernatorial nominees Dan Lungren, Kathleen Brown, Evelle Younger and Houston Flournoy.
The late U.S. Sen. Alan Cranston was a former state controller. Matt Fong was state treasurer when he won the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in 1998. Leo McCarthy was lieutenant governor when he won the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination in 1988.
"In general, you really are looking at the best route to becoming governor," Spillane said. "It's not a guaranteed route, but it's the best one. It gets you on the field."
The following are major candidates in the June 6 primary election who have filed declarations of intention to run. The filing deadline is March 10.
U.S. SENATE
Democrat: incumbent Dianne Feinstein
Republican: none
GOVERNOR
Republican: incumbent Arnold Schwarzenegger
Democrats: Treasurer Phil Angelides, Controller Steve Westly
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
Democrats: Sen. Liz Figueroa of Fremont, Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, Sen. Jackie Speier of San Mateo
Republican: Sen. Tom McClintock of Thousand Oaks
SECRETARY OF STATE
Republican: incumbent Bruce McPherson
Democrats: Sen. Debra Bowen of Redondo Beach, Sen. Deborah Ortiz of Sacramento
CONTROLLER
Democrats: Board of Equalization member John Chiang, Sen. Joseph Dunn of Garden Grove, Assemblyman Dario Frommer of Glendale
Republicans: Sen. Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria, former Assemblyman Tony Strickland of Moorpark
TREASURER
Democrat: Attorney General Bill Lockyer
Republicans: Board of Equalization member Claude Parrish, Assemblyman Keith Richman of Granada Hills
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Democrats: Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo
Republicans: Sen. Charles Poochigian of Fresno, former Ambassador Pierre-Richard Prosper
SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION (nonpartisan)
Incumbent Jack O'Connell, a Democrat; Assemblyman
Tim Leslie of Roseville, a Republican
INSURANCE COMMISSIONER
Democrat: Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante
Republicans: Physician Phil Kurzner, attorney Gary Mendoza, businessman Steve Poizner
BOARD OF EQUALIZATION, 3RD DISTRICT
Republicans: Assemblyman Ray Haynes of Temecula, businesswoman Michelle Park Steel
Democrats: none
byline from the article.
Term limits have created a game of musical chairs.
--yep--smart, mad voters do the best term limiting--look at Tom Daschle--
They don't know how to do anything else.
I swear, if they don't relax the restrictions on hunting politicians we are never going to thin this herd.
At least with politicians, you won't have to worry about hearing from PETA... ;)
Battle lines drawn: GOP won't really challenge Feinstein Rick Orlov, Columnist
Wanted: One rich Republican willing to be a sacrificial lamb.The risk: Loss of upward of $15 million.
The reward: joining the country's most exclusive club - the U.S. Senate.
Such a personal ad might be the only chance California Republicans have this year in trying to unseat Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein as she seeks a third full term.
The GOP has been desperately seeking candidates - preferably those who can pay for the race themselves ...
(snip)
GOP officials have said they prefer to concentrate on other statewide offices this year - lieutenant governor, attorney general, controller and treasurer - rather than waste money on a Feinstein race.
..rather than waste money on a Feinstein race.
The CA GOP, of lately, as gutless as ever.
The DiFi seat is the seat the Gub should have ran for, imagine Teddy and aRnold embracing in the Senate. There's always room for Jello Kennedy, yaknow. ;-)
Like old Communist Russia,the best jobs in the country for the plain folks are in government.They live in big houses and drive imported luxury cars.They have health care and pensions guaranteed by the tax-payer.The sh!t is waving the stick.The people exist to serve the government.
You bet! The corrosive effects of the reign of Emperor Roosevelt was about all this republic could afford to absorb. King Clinton would have been our demise.
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