California gubernatorial election, 2006

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The 2006 California gubernatorial election occurred on November 7, 2006. The primary elections took place on June 6, 2006. The incumbent Republican Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, won reelection for his first full term. His main opponent was California State Treasurer Phil Angelides, the California Democratic Party nominee. Peter Camejo was the California Green Party nominee, Janice Jordan was the Peace and Freedom Party nominee, Art Olivier was the California Libertarian Party nominee, and Edward C. Noonan was the California American Independent Party nominee.

Under the California Constitution, the Governor serves a four-year term, with a maximum limit of two consecutive terms. Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected during the 2003 California recall and served out the remainder of Gray Davis's term; he is eligible to serve until 2011. [1]

Schwarzenegger's decision to call the 2005 special election, as well as his propositions dealing with teachers' and nurses' unions and other political missteps, brought his approval rating down to 39% April 2006 [2], though he ended up solidly defeating his opponents. During his first two years, he has come under fire from some conservatives for supporting several taxes on Californians[citation needed] and from some liberals for refusing to sign a bill allowing gay marriage. Later, Schwarzenegger's aggressive push for environment-friendly legislation, his support for stem cell research, gay rights, and opposition to sending the National Guard to the border, made him very popular among the voters, securing his reelection by a wide margin.

Governor Schwarzenegger faced token opposition in the primary and won the Republican nomination. The two front-runners for the Democratic nomination were Angelides and California State Controller Steve Westly (see below). Before the election, Angelides reported a recent increase in support and gained support from unions and the core liberal constituency, which were factors that led him to victory in the primary, defeating Westly 48% to 44%. The turnout for the primary, however, was a record low 33.6% [3], far below the 38% predicted by the Secretary of State [4], with the turnout of valid ballots cast on election day at 28%.

Contents

[edit] Candidates

[edit] General Election

[edit] Write-in

California requires write-in candidates to file a statement of intent with the Secretary of State. These are the candidates who filed statements of intent[5]:

  • Donald "Dr. Don" Etkes (Independent) - Sex therapist
  • Vibert Greene (Independent) - Mechanical engineer
  • James Harris (Independent) - Communist political organizer
  • Robert C. Newman II (Republican) - Psychologist
  • Elisha Shapiro (Independent) - Nihilist
  • DeAlphria Christina Tarver (Independent)

[edit] Primary Election

[edit] Democrats

[edit] Republicans

[edit] Libertarian

[edit] Green

  • Peter Camejo (Green) - 2002/2003 Green Party gubernatorial candidate, 2004 independent vice presidential candidate (Ralph Nader's running mate)
  • George Fellows (Independent) - California State Budget Analyst

[edit] Peace & Freedom

[edit] American Independent

[edit] Primary Election

Republican Schwarzenegger faced token opposition and won overwhelmingly in the Primary held on June 6, 2006.

A pre-election poll had Westly leading Angelides by six percentage points [6]. The Field Poll conducted on April 17, 2006 showed that both Democratic candidates had low recognition factors amongst the state's electorate, with only 45% having any opinion on Angelides and 40% for Westly. Of registered Democrats surveyed, 59% said they didn't know enough about Angelides to have any opinion about him, with 58% saying the same for Westly [7].

The Los Angeles Times reported that the race for the Democratic nomination was a virtual tie, with Angelides leading Westly by three percentage points (37%-34%), within the 3% margin of error. Unusually, 28% of Democratic voters were undecided, and both candidates tried to earn the undecided vote.

Angelides reported a recent increase in support for his campaign and gained union support as well as support from the "core" liberal constituency. Many registered Democrats, however, believed that Westly had a greater chance of winning against incumbent governor Schwarzenegger and felt that he had a slightly "more positive" image [8]. In the end, Angelides won 47.9% of the vote to Westly's 43.4% [9].

The period for candidate nominations closed on March 24, 2006 [10].

[edit] Primary Results

A bar graph of statewide results in this contest are available at http://primary2006.ss.ca.gov/Returns/gov/00.htm.

Results by county are available at http://primary2006.ss.ca.gov/Returns/gov/00.htm#cty.

[edit] Democratic Party

Candidate # of votes % of votes
Phil Angelides 1,202,851 48.0
Steve Westly 1,081,940 43.2
Barbara Becnel 66,550 2.7
Joe Brouillette 42,075 1.7
Michael Strimling 35,121 1.4
Frank A. Macaluso, Jr. 30,867 1.2
Vibert Greene 25,475 1.0
Jerald Robert Gerst 21,039 0.8

[edit] Republican Party

Candidate # of votes % of votes
Arnold Schwarzenegger 1,724,281 90.0
Robert C. Newman II 68,660 3.6
Bill Chambers 65,487 3.4
Jeffrey R. Burns 57,652 3.0

For other results, see above links.

[edit] General Election Results

Final results from the California Secretary of State:[11]

2006 gubernatorial election, California
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger (incumbent) 4,850,157 55.9 +7.3
Democratic Phil Angelides 3,376,732 39.0 +7.5
Green Peter Camejo 205,995 2.3 -0.5
Libertarian Art Olivier 114,329 1.3 +1.3
Peace and Freedom Janice Jordan 69,934 0.8 +0.8
American Independent Edward C. Noonan 61,901 0.7 +0.7
Total votes 8,679,048 100.0%
Majority 1,473,425 16.9 -0.2
Turnout 8,899,059 39.3 -3.8

Television networks and the Associated Press called the election for Schwarzenegger minutes after the polls closed, confirming Schwarzenegger's lead throughout the general election campaign. Results showed Schwarzenegger won 52 counties while Angelides won 6 (Schwarzenegger won an absolute majority in 48 counties and a plurality in 4 counties while Angelides won an absolute majority in 2 counties and a plurality in 4 counties). Schwarzenegger won large majorities in California's rural counties and in populous Southern California areas of Orange and San Diego counties. The results were closely contested in Los Angeles County and suburban counties in the Bay Area. Angelides won substantially only in Alameda and San Francisco counties.[12]

[edit] Opinion polls

[edit] General election

Source Date Schwarzenegger (R) Angelides (D) Camejo (G) Olivier (L)
Field Poll November 1, 2006 49% 33%
Zogby/WSJ October 17, 2006 47% 39.6%
Zogby/WSJ September 28, 2006 43% 33.8% 7.9% 4.1%
Field Poll September 27, 2006 44% 34%
Rasmussen September 12, 2006 47% 39%
Zogby/WSJ September 11, 2006 40.3% 34.7% 6.1% 3.5%
Rasmussen August 31, 2006 48% 42%
Public Policy Institute of California August 30, 2006 45% 32%
Survey USA August 28, 2006 52% 38%
Zogby/WSJ August 28, 2006 45.0% 40.3%
Rasmussen August 1, 2006 47% 41%
Public Policy Institute of California July 26, 2006 43% 30%
Field Poll July 25, 2006 45% 37%
Zogby/WSJ July 24, 2006 42.3% 44.0%
Rasmussen July 13, 2006 44% 46%
Survey & Policy Institute July 6, 2006 44% 37%
Zogby/WSJ June 21, 2006 44.5% 44.6%
Field Poll June 2, 2006 46% 39%
LA Times Poll May 28, 2006 45% 46%
Public Policy Institute of California May 25, 2006 38% 38%
Rasmussen May 23, 2006 45% 45%
LA Times Poll April 29, 2006 43% 43%
Rasmussen April 17, 2006 49% 36%
Field Poll April 14, 2006 44% 40%
Public Policy Institute of California March 30, 2006 41% 29%
Rasmussen March 23, 2006 44% 45%
Field Poll March 2, 2006 39% 39%
Rasmussen February 13, 2006 40% 41%
Rasmussen January 25, 2006 39% 41%
Rasmussen December 16, 2005 40% 44%
Field Poll November 3, 2005 41% 47%
Field Poll August 29, 2005 40% 43%
Field Poll June 13, 2005 42% 46%
Field Poll February 25, 2005 52% 35%

[edit] Democratic primary (before June 6, 2006 Primary)

Source Date Westly Angelides
Survey USA June 5, 2006 36% 44%
Survey USA June 2, 2006 37% 41%
Field Poll June 2, 2006 35% 34%
LA Times Poll May 27, 2006 34% 37%
Survey USA May 25, 2006 32% 44%
Public Policy Institute of California May 25, 2006 32% 35%
Survey USA May 8, 2006 31% 41%
LA Times Poll April 29, 2006 33% 20%
Public Policy Institute of California April 27, 2006 26% 20%
Field Poll April 17, 2006 37% 26%
Public Policy Institute of California March 30, 2006 23% 22%
Field Poll November 3, 2005 26% 37%
Field Poll September 7, 2005 22% 32%
Field Poll June 29, 2005 28% 37%
Field Poll February 25, 2005 11% 15%

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Democratic candidates

[edit] Republican candidates

[edit] Third-party and Independent candidates

[edit] Other sites with relevant information

California 2006 Elections
US Senate • US House • 50th CD Special Election • Governor • State Senate • State Assembly • Courts of Appeal • Local Elections
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