Lessons From the Election

As elections go, Nov. 7 produced more educational opportunities and excitement value than a demobilized electorate deserves.

The razor-thin presidential result gave the nation an opportunity to learn about the distinctions between a republic and a democracy and to assess the relevance of the electoral college. Voters in Missouri elected their recently deceased Democratic governor over the Republican incumbent to the U.S. Senate. (No matter what the spin, that has to hurt.) In New York’s Senate race, Hillary Rodham Clinton beat the New York Republican establishment, concerns about her residency and “Clinton fatigue” to became the first presidential spouse to win elective office. It doesn’t get much better than this.

Things weren’t quite as educational or exciting in California, especially for Republicans. The long, dark night of despair for California’s Republicans continued. Democrats increased their majority in the state Senate (26 to 14) and added four new seats to their dominance of the state Assembly (50 to 30). (A word to Democrats: “Thank you” notes should be mailed to GOP campaign leader and Assemblyman Scott Baugh of Huntington Beach.)

The only incumbents defeated in California’s congressional races were Republicans. This helped increase Democratic control of the congressional delegation by four more seats to 33 members, with Republicans holding on to 19. Let’s also not forget U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s resounding reelection.

Yes, Republicans in Orange County won all previously held state and federal legislative seats. But where was the promised turnout and the 250,000-vote margin of victory for GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush? It never materialized. To win California, a Republican must win big in Orange County, which has the second-largest concentration of Republicans in the state.

Yet again, despite the usual preelection hyperbole from the GOP constabulary, Republicans produced only 128,000 extra votes for Bush over the Democratic votes for Gore. That’s less than half of the total delivered by the GOP for Gov. Pete Wilson in 1994. Worse yet, in a county where Republicans still outnumber Democrats by 217,000 voters, GOP Senate candidate Tom Campbell received only 58,000 extra votes in his failed bid to unseat Feinstein.

In light of the equally low margins of victory produced here for ticket-toppers Bob Dole in ’96 and Dan Lungren in ‘98, a pattern is emerging. County Republican leaders can make extravagant promises about high turnout and massive vote margins, but the promises just can’t be kept.

The political orientation of the Orange County electorate is changing rapidly. Orange County now has the third-largest number of Democrats of any county in the state, behind only Los Angeles and San Diego. That’s right, there are more registered Democrats in Orange County than in San Francisco County. Talk about a GOP nightmare. Redistricting will hopefully create new districts in the county that are competitive and give Democrats the chance to win elections based on issues rather than appeals to partisan identification.

This change was also evident in three unrelated local elections. The countywide vote on Measures G and H--how to best spend the tobacco settlement funds--pitted Orange County Treasurer/Tax Collector John M.W. Moorlach and the Board of Supervisors against health care professionals. Following a pattern started after the 1994 bankruptcy, voters took their cue from the Board of Supervisors. Measure G, supported by Moorlach and the supervisors, was defeated and Measure H, supported by health care interests, passed with nearly 64% of the vote. So much for Moorlach’s reputed political clout. As for “the supes,” by now they must be accustomed to such political humiliation.

Showing a strong preference for practical and prudent approaches to policy-making over unvarnished partisanship, Irvine voters elected a brand new City Council majority. Larry Agran, the county’s leading progressive problem-solver, ran unopposed for mayor. He’ll be joined by two members of the “Great Park” slate: attorney Chris Mears, who bested all candidates for council, including two incumbents, and businesswoman Beth Krom.

This is bad news for Newport Beach developers who favor an El Toro airport and for their majority on the Board of Supervisors who want an airport and to expand Irvine’s Musick branch jail into the largest jail in California. Irvine’s new council majority won’t let either happen.

Those Newport Beach developers also took a beating in their own backyard, as voters overwhelmingly approved a slow-growth initiative (Measure S) put on the ballot by citizen activists, and decisively rejected the paid-for initiative backed by developers and the City Council majority. Though the “Greenlighters” were outspent 4.5 to 1 as funds from developers poured in from around the state, Measure S still received 63% of the vote. The success of Measure S and the unwillingness of the electorate to be fooled by Measure T should chasten the Newport Beach City Council.

In a republic, sovereignty is only loaned by citizens to elected representatives; it’s not surrender. In Newport Beach, voters took back some of their sovereignty from a City Council they no longer trusted to serve the public interest.