Posted on 02/06/2008 7:49:19 AM PST by SmithL
An initiative to alter legislative terms while giving lame duck incumbents a reprieve headed down to defeat as the statewide count continued to grow Wednesday morning.
As of 7 a.m., with about 95 percent of precincts reporting, Proposition 93 was trailing by six percentage points – 53 percent to 47 percent.
Both sides remained cautiously optimistic late Tuesday night.
"I'm hopeful, but I've never been willing to declare victory," said Kevin Spillane, spokesman for No on 93.
Spillane attributed the tight vote, in part, to confusion by voters over whether Proposition 93 would tighten or loosen term limits. Opponents claim the latter.
"Voters who were aware of what the initiative did were strongly against it," Spillane said.
Former state Controller Steve Westly, spokesman for Yes on 93, said voters responded to the message that tweaking term limits would make the Legislature more effective.
"Would it magically make our legislators better? No," he said. "But would it give them a chance to develop expertise in key areas? Absolutely."
Westly noted that the Yes on 93 campaign was beating poll predictions that had the measure losing by up to 15 percentage points.
"This is shaping up to be the upset of the election," he said.
Shortly before midnight, the measure was trailing in Sacramento, Yolo, Placer and El Dorado counties.
Statewide, Proposition 93 was leading in San Francisco and, by a razor-thin margin, in San Diego County. It was losing in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
At stake immediately was the future of dozens of lawmakers, including Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, who are scheduled to be termed out of office on Dec. 1.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, who led the fight against Proposition 93 and chipped in $2.5 million of his personal fortune, appears Tuesday night at the GOP election party at the Westgate Hotel in San Diego. The proposal to alter legislative term limits trailed by a slim margin late Tuesday.
Legislators only "develop expertise" in how to game the system. We don't want that. ;)
If you desire continuing term limits, you voted NO on the proposition....it was slippery wording.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Good riddance to those two!
If I remember correctly, the wording came from Attorney General Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown.
To Tom and the rest of the CRA.
Thanks for all your efforts to introduce and nurture concepts like sanity and fiscal responsibility in gubamint..
Time to start a new party.
State legislators outsmarted themselves. If they had paired the term-loosening initiative with true redistricting reform, to create fair and competitive state and federal districts with a mechanism for objective future redistricting, I think this would have passed. But the voters understand that in the absence of honest districting, term limits are the only way to dig entrenched politicians out of office.
Would it stop them from pontificating over issues over which they have no expertise, or discourage them from blindly allocating money in the hapless attempt to solve poorly understood socioeconomic problems? Absolutely not.
My guess is that they will pull an Klitoon and run their wives.
Well done, Steve Poizner.
The proposition votes are a faint light of hope for our state. Thank God!
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