Republicans seek early momentum as general election season starts

As California’s general election campaign officially opened Wednesday, each party’s line of attack began to take shape, with an energized Republican Party appearing to seize the early momentum.

At a time when many Californians are struggling financially and skeptical of government, the Republicans sketched out a narrative on the day after a gubernatorial primary that appeared to have the lowest voter turnout in the 96 years on record: that their candidates offer a new path.

The 24.8% showing among registered voters is expected to rise somewhat when final mail-in ballots are counted, but it remains well below the previous low, a 33.6% turnout in 2006.

Fresh off their Tuesday victories, the two women at the top of the GOP ticket, gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman and U.S. Senate hopeful Carly Fiorina, attended a raucous breakfast rally in Anaheim intended to unify the party for the battle ahead. In addition to the pair of female ex-chief executives in their 50s, the party has an ethnically diverse lineup contending for lower offices.

The Democrats feature Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, 72, as their candidate for governor and 69-year-old incumbent U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), both of whom have been political mainstays for decades.

“This election, this year, is going to come down to the party of the past versus the party of the future,” said California Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring. “Have you seen the relics the Democrats nominated last night?”

When Fiorina took the stage in Anaheim, she chimed in, “Thank you very much, Barbara Boxer — we have had quite enough from you!”

The Democrats, who had largely uncontested primaries in the year’s two signatures races, did not match the Republicans’ energy out of the gate. They held no major rally, although Brown spoke to reporters in Los Angeles, challenging Whitman to a series of 10 debates.

It was clear that the Democrats would seek to depict Whitman and Fiorina as a pair of wealthy and ruthless corporate marauders trying to buy their way into office. Californians in the past have rejected many rich candidates who spent millions on their own campaigns.

In an interview in Washington, Boxer noted that Fiorina, while head of Hewlett Packard, laid off more than 30,000 workers and shifted jobs to India and China before she was dismissed in a conflict with the board.

“When she was fired as CEO, she took $20 million, and she’s using it to buy this seat,” said Boxer, referring to Fiorina’s severance. The senator had no campaign events Wednesday.

Brown ridiculed Whitman for the $71 million she spent in the primary, suggesting she would lack fiscal discipline as governor, and for her poor voting record, saying it demonstrates that she is ill-equipped to lead the state.

“Whitman only has a history of spending money wildly to get whatever she wants,” Brown said. He countered her charge that on his watch, taxes and spending increased, and unemployment skyrocketed.

“She wasn’t voting or paying attention,” he said. “When I was governor of California, we built up the largest surplus in history — $4.5 billion. We created 1.9 million jobs. We reduced taxes by billions, OK?”

His long record — as governor from 1975 to 1983, as secretary of state, as Oakland mayor and attorney general — is a campaign theme Whitman is sure to hit at every opportunity.

Whitman has often in recent months noted that he was governor 35 years ago. But she raised the ante Wednesday, dating Brown to his earliest post, his 1969 election to the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees.

“I am ready to give Jerry Brown the hardest and toughest fight he has seen in his 40 years in politics,” said an ebullient Whitman.

Whitman demurred on Brown’s debate challenge, saying there would be “plenty of debates” — but later. She said that instead of seeking debates, he should unveil more specific policy proposals. And she turned the issue of campaign spending around on him by targeting the unions that are expected to shell out millions on his behalf.

“Elections cannot be bought, but candidates can, and Jerry Brown has been bought and paid for by union bosses,” she said.

One of those unions, the California Nurses Assn., staged a protest outside the GOP rally, featuring “Queen Meg,” a costumed character complete with crown and scepter that has dogged Whitman on the campaign trail before. The nurses also unveiled a new character, “Princess Carly,” to complete the mockery of the real-life candidates inside.

For weeks, political observers have expected that unions backing Brown would launch commercials against Whitman immediately after the primary, to prevent her from gaining an edge as she did against Republican rival Steve Poizner.

“The goal is to provide a counterweight to what she’s putting up there,” said Roger Salazar, who is leading an independent political committee funded by unions and the Democratic Governors Assn. Salazar said the group’s commercials are ready to go, but he would not reveal when they would air.

Mike Murphy, Whitman’s chief strategist, said Wednesday that her general election ads would focus both on her plans for the state and on Brown and his record, and that they would begin “very soon.”

michael.rothfeld@latimes.com

seema.mehta@latimes.com

Times staff writers Michael Finnegan, Maeve Reston and Richard Simon in Washington, as well as special correspondent Anthony York, contributed to this report.