Interviews With California Voters : Experience Aided Governor, Cranston

The Californians who reelected Republican Gov. George Deukmejian to a second term on Tuesday basically respected his leadership and experience and were satisfied with the way things are going in the state, voter interviews with The Los Angeles Times Poll showed.

But those allied with Deukmejian were not the least bit satisfied with Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird and Associate Justices Cruz Reynoso and Joseph R. Grodin, voting by lopsided margins to oust them from the state Supreme Court.

In the U.S. Senate race, if people “voted for the man,” they tended to side with Democratic incumbent Alan Cranston. These voters were particularly attracted by the personal qualities of experience and trust that the 72-year-old senator had acquired over a long public career spanning three decades.

On the other hand, people who chose a Senate candidate because of his philosophy went for Republican Rep. Ed Zschau, especially liking his fiscal conservatism. These people voted much more for Zschau’s politics than they did for him personally.

As with Cranston, personal qualities are what attracted voters to Deukmejian. But, unlike Cranston, Deukmejian additionally was on the right side politically of many issues--such as opposition to Bird, “law and order” and government spending.

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley’s best issue in his losing race against Deukmejian clearly was toxic pollution. But a lot more people rallied around the issue than they did Bradley himself.

The Los Angeles Times Poll, directed by I. A. Lewis, interviewed 6,775 voters after they had cast ballots at 151 California precincts. The margin of error is 3% in either direction.

Deukmejian got his biggest support from men, conservatives and people living outside of metropolitan centers. The Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas essentially were split down the middle between the governor and his challenger. But the rest of the state went nearly 2 to 1 for Deukmejian.

People under age 45 divided evenly on the two gubernatorial candidates. But people 45 and older sided with the Republican incumbent by nearly 2 to 1.

Deukmejian got nearly one-third of the Democratic vote, but only one in 10 Republicans backed Bradley.

Minorities supported Bradley in his bid to become the nation’s first elected black governor: Blacks by 11 to 1, Latinos by roughly 3 to 2, and Asians by 5 to 4. But Anglos, who compose nearly 80% of the electorate, went for Deukmejian by almost 2 to 1.

Jews also backed Bradley by 2 to 1.

The reason most often cited by people for voting the way they did in the gubernatorial race was “he gets things done.” And among those for whom “getting things done” was the biggest criteria, the vote was 3 to 1 for Deukmejian. Experience also rated high on the list, and people who regarded this as the most important criteria chose Deukmejian by 7 to 1.

Bradley won a slight majority of the votes of people whose decision mainly was based on which candidate had “the right political philosophy.” It ranked No. 2.

The top-ranked issues in the gubernatorial campaign were “law and order” and Chief Justice Bird. People most concerned about “law and order” sided with Deukmejian, a former state attorney general, by 3 to 1. And those thinking Bird was the biggest issue went for the governor by nearly 2 to 1.

Also ranked high on the issues list was state spending, and people most worried about this voted nearly 5 to 1 for the fiscally conservative governor. Even people whose biggest concern was education--normally a Democratic issue--voted 5 to 4 for Deukmejian, who has allotted nearly half the state budget to public schools.

Toxics pollution ranked only No. 5 on the list of gubernatorial issues. Bradley had made what he termed Deukmejian’s mismanagement of toxics waste cleanup the focus of his campaign. And people chiefly concerned about toxics voted 2 to 1 for Bradley.

But more than twice as many people thought California was “going in the right direction” as lamented about it having “gotten off on the wrong track.” And people who believed the state was headed right voted for Deukmejian by 5 to 1.

Another example of this general satisfaction was that more than half of Deukmejian’s supporters said California was headed right and only 1 in 17 thought it was off on the wrong track--evidence that the governor’s “great state, great governor” message had received a receptive audience among the electorate.

In the U.S. Senate contest, the reason most often cited by voters for choosing the candidate they did was that “he has the right political philosophy.” And these voters selected Zschau by 5 to 4. But a close second on the criteria list was “experience,” and Cranston won here hands down, by 11 to 1. Next came “trust,” and again Cranston was referred by 3 to 2.

Put another way, nearly half of Cranston’s support came from people who ranked “experience” as the No. 1 criteria for choosing a Senate candidate.

Rated as the “most important issues” in the Senate campaign were government spending, Justice Bird and “whether the candidate represents the past or the future.” All three helped Zschau, with people who cited these issues voting for the Republican by ratios of roughly 3 to 2.

The political parties showed equal loyalties to their Senate candidates--Democrats voting 4 to 1 for Cranston and Republicans siding with Zschau by 4 to 1.

By region, Cranston got his strongest support in the metropolitan centers of Los Angeles County and the San Francisco Bay Area. Ironically, Zschau’s weakest region was the San Francisco Bay Area, his home turf. Zschau ran slightly ahead in the remainder of Southern California and throughout the Central Valley.

Another irony was that the younger the voters were, the more they tended to vote for the 72-year-old incumbent. Cranston won by almost 3 to 2 among voters under age 45, but people over 45 preferred Zschau slightly.

Men gave Zschau a slight edge, but women voted by a big margin for Cranston.

Zschau carried the Anglo vote slightly, but Cranston was a big winner among minorities: 18 to 1 among blacks, 3 to 1 among Latinos and 2 to 1 among Asians.

In the court contests, people who voted for Deukmejian rejected Bird by nearly 7 to 1, Reynoso by nearly 5 to 1 and Grodin by almost 4 to 1.

Voters who favored the death penalty--and 8 in 10 who cast ballots Tuesday did--rejected Bird by 3 to 1 and the two associate justices by 2 to 1.

The Times Poll found evidence of lingering resentment toward former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr., who had appointed Bird, Grodin and Reynoso to the Supreme Court. More than half of the voters reported having an unfavorable impression of Brown, and they rejected Bird by 6 to 1.

Bird’s strongest support came from liberals, blacks and Jews. A small majority of Democrats backed her. But Republicans solidly opposed the chief justice, by nearly 7 to 1.

A majority of Latinos supported Reynoso, but they divided about evenly on Bird and Grodin.

Proposition 65, the anti-toxics measure that Bradley strongly backed as an integral part of his own campaign, received broad support from most voter groups. Even Deukmejian supporters slightly favored it. Bradley voters went for it overwhelmingly, 3 to 1. Republicans split about evenly, but Democrats backed it 5 to 2.

Proposition 64, the AIDS initiative, was opposed all over the state, most heavily in the San Francisco Bay Area, where it was rejected by almost 4 to 1. Democrats voted against it by 3 to 1; Republicans by 2 to 1.

Voters were asked their impression of the Proposition 64 sponsor, political extremist Lyndon K. LaRouche, and it was 18 to 1 unfavorable.

Proposition 63, the English initiative, was supported by Anglos 5 to 2. Blacks voted for it by about 3 to 2. Asians split on the measure, while Latinos rejected it by 3 to 2.

Proposition 61, the salary limitation initiative sponsored by anti-tax crusader Paul Gann, was rejected by Democrats and Republicans alike, 3 to 2.

ATTITUDES AMONG CALIFORNIA VOTERS

These figures are based on responses to the Los Angeles Times Poll by voters leaving 151 precincts sites around the state.

The Race for Governor: Reasons for Voting

Voters who said their candidate: Percent ‘Is a caring person.’ Deukmejian voters 30 Bradley voters 68 ‘Has ability to communicate.’ Deukmejian voters 52 Bradley voters 46 ‘Gets things done.’ Deukmejian voters 71 Bradley voters 28 ‘Is more decisive.’ Deukmejian voters 79 Bradley voters 20 ‘Is more trustworthy.’ Deukmejian voters 35 Bradley voters 63 ‘Is a leader.’ Deukmejian voters 63 Bradley voters 36 ‘Has the right political philosophy.’ Deukmejian voters 47 Bradley voters 51 ‘Belongs to my political party.’ Deukmejian voters 41 Bradley voters 58 ‘Has more experience.’ Deukmejian voters 90 Bradley voters 10

The Race for Senator: Issues

Voters who felt the most important issue was: Percent Rose Bird Zschau voters 59 Cranston voters 39 Negative commercials Zschau voters 35 Cranston voters 62 Death penalty for terrorists Cranston voters 67 Zschau voters 30 Drugs Zschau voters 45 Cranston voters 51 Government Spending Zschau voters 60 Cranston voters 38 Support for Israel Zschau voters 23 Cranston voters 75 Toxics Initiative Zschau voters 24 Cranston voters 77 Candidate flip-flops Zschau voters 19 Cranston voters 78 Candidate represents past or future Zschau voters 60 Cranston voters 39

The Bird Factor

Among those who said their vote on Chief Justice Rose Bird was the “most important” of the day, here is how they said they voted on governor and senator:

Percent Governor Deukmejian 64 Bradley 34 Senator Zschau 52 Cranston 45

The Toxics Factor Among those who said their vote on Proposition 65, the toxics initiative, was the “most important” of the day, here is how they said they voted on governor and senator:

Percent Governor Deukmejian 44 Bradley 51 Senator Zschau 35 Cranston 59