Voters reject Arnie's proposals

2005-11-09 15:30

Los Angeles - California's voters gave a stinging rebuke to governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, rejecting all his ballot proposals aimed at reshaping state government in a special election that darkened his prospects for a second term.

The Republican governor and Hollywood actor, who likes to say he can sell anything, saw all four of his signature ballot proposals rejected on Tuesday.

The election pitted the once-dominant Republican governor - elected two years ago - against two of California's powerhouse political forces - public employee unions and Democrats who control the state legislature.

The unions spent millions of dollars to beat Schwarzenegger's propositions to limit the use of their member dues for political purposes, cap state spending, redraw legislative districts and restrict public school teacher tenure.

It was a sobering evening for a man once considered among the most popular politicians in the United States. The contest represented the biggest test yet of the leadership of a faltering Schwarzenegger.

Record low ratings

Voters overwhelmingly defeated Proposition 76, the governor's centrepiece proposal to slow the growth of state spending. Proposition 77, which would have redrawn legislative and congressional districts, was knocked down by a similar margin.

Failing by slimmer spreads were Proposition 74, a plan to make teachers work longer to achieve tenure, and Proposition 73, which would have restricted political spending by public employee unions.

Poll after poll showed it was an election that Californians did not want, with a total line-up of eight initiatives that did not connect with every day issues such as gas prices, housing costs and the war in Iraq.

Schwarzenegger's conflict with the unions made him a target for teachers, nurses and firefighters. Their television advertising blitz helped push his popularity ratings to record lows.

Schwarzenegger's proposals to curb spending and weaken unions inflamed passions on both sides, partly because of the election's roughly $50m cost in a state that repeatedly faces budget shortfalls.

Schwarzenegger remains optimistic

Appearing before supporters at a Beverly Hills hotel after learning that at least two of his initiatives had failed, a smiling governor did not concede defeat.

"Tomorrow, we begin anew," Schwarzenegger said. "I feel the same tonight as that night two years ago. You know with all my heart, I want to do the right thing for the people of California."

Though some of the measures were complex, Schwarzenegger cast the election in simple terms: Support him and the state moves forward - vote no and protect a broken system of government in Sacramento.

In ballot measures elsewhere, Texas voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, making their state the 19th to take that step. In Maine, however, voters rejected a conservative-backed proposal to repeal the state's new gay-rights law.

- AP