I'll bet they did.
So please explain why Arnold, worth $400 million at the time of the recall, went to Wall Street to raise $400,000 start his campaign. It left him with the obligation to use New York brokerage houses to underwrite the first $15 billion in bonds pursuant to Prop 57 & 58. He snuck provisions into those propositions to blow off the Gann limits while claiming to "cut up the credit cards." By using NY firms, it cost California a cool $250 million in revenue compared to California brokerage houses, not to mention the revenue on the economic activity associated therewith. In short, by going straight to his handlers for money he was setting up a criminal malfeasance on the order of AT LEAST $350 million and probably more.
Given all that, do you really believe this was a matter of stupidity? Really? If you do, you are either deliberately callow or willfully engaged in wishful thinking to excuse your lack of research prior to the recall election.