State shuts down props

Propositions 73 and 75 have best luck in 8-measure field

By Laban Pelz
The Collegian

Three ballot initiatives backed by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger failed Tuesday.

Propositions 74, 76 and 77 were all voted down by 53, 60 and 57 percent of the vote, respectively.

California voters came close to approving only two of the state’s eight propositions.

Proposition 73, which would require notification of a girl’s parents before she receives an abortion, and Proposition 75, which would require public employee unions to receive permission from their members before using their dues for political purposes, were each too close to call as of midnight.

Other propositions, 79 and 80, each received less than 40 percent of the vote.

Political science professor David Schecter said Schwarzenegger and the Republicans could have claimed a partial victory for the passing of Proposition 75, though the initiative was not as important for the party as Proposition 77, which would have changed the way state voting districts are drawn.

“This is pretty much a disaster for the Schwarzenegger program,” Schecter said.

He said the fact that Schwarzenegger’s face was attached to his initiatives hurt them.

“The polls showed it was pretty much impossible for the governor to get 50 percent of the vote,” on most initiatives, Schecter said.

“No matter what the results are, the victory or the losses will be behind us,” Schwarzenegger said from Beverly Hills. “We’re going to make California the golden state that it was.”

Tal Eslick, president of Fresno State’s College Republicans, hailed a Republican victory because of the implications of Proposition 75.

“If we can pass 75, and union leaders have to be accountable to their members, you’re going to see a complete shift in the financial backing of the Democratic Party in California,” he said.

Eslick said Proposition 75 was the most important initiative because would have weakened the Democrats’ funding. He said Schwarzenegger’s image did not hurt his own initiatives.

“The only thing that hurt him was he was outspent,” Eslick said.

Eslick said the College Republicans, along with the Fresno County Republican Party, had more than three hundred people walking precincts during the day stumping for the Republican vote.

“It’s a sign of College Republicans growing not only at Fresno State but up and down the state,” he said.

Eslick said members are now looking forward to the governor’s reelection campaign next year.

Will Buttry, vice president for Fresno State’s College Democrats, said he was happy his club helped contribute to the victory by registering students on campus.

“It’s a turning point for us,” he said. “We finally got the message across that Arnold is bad for California.”

Buttry said Proposition 75 did as well as it did because “people are confused about unions.
“Without the union voice it’s just big corporations.”

Fresno County was kinder to the initiatives than the rest of the state was, approving three of the initiatives.

The county voted to pass Proposition 73 by 62 percent, Proposition 74 by 51 percent and Proposition 75 by 55 percent.

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