Need for Upper Hand Demands That Both Sides Seek Davis’ Job

The governor of California faces a continuing huge budget shortfall, a bitterly divided Legislature and a political process overshadowed by voter referendums, but for the two major political parties, the Oct. 7 recall election still offers an enticing prize.

The governorship carries with it thousands of political appointments, a megaphone to spread the party’s message, and a potential fund-raising windfall. The patronage at the governor’s disposal could solidify a dominant position in the state in the case of Democrats, or help a struggling California Republican Party regain lost ground.

Pride is also at stake -- for both sides.

Republicans are shut out of every statewide elective office in California. “It’s hard to tout yourself as America’s majority party when you’re shut out in California,” said Bill Whalen, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, who worked for former Gov. Pete Wilson, a Republican.

Democrats face a shutout of their own if Gov. Gray Davis is defeated. They would hold the governor’s office in not one of the four largest states: California, Texas, New York and Florida.

Losing the governor’s office would be tantamount to losing “a national surrogate,” said Donna Brazile, who managed Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign. “We don’t have the governorship in Texas, we don’t have the governorship in Florida -- where you have a mega-voice -- and we don’t have the White House. So California is a beachhead in our strategy, and we have to have it in the Democratic column.”

For all those reasons, both parties are clear on one point: They would rather have the office than not.

“People say ‘Why would we want to inherit all these problems?’ ” said Ken Khachigian, a longtime Republican strategist and former aide to Ronald Reagan. “A Republican governor could start appointing judges and fill hundreds and hundreds of positions. You take over management of all state agencies.... When a governor holds a gigantic fund-raiser, a lot of people are going to go to it because we now run the state.”

A governor’s reach is enormous. Davis appoints up to 3,500 people to about 300 boards and commissions -- from the California State Board of Education to the Landscape Architect Technical Committee. He has made more than 300 judicial appointments in his tenure.

Holding the governorship also helps in wooing core constituencies at election time. In a campaign stop last weekend in Alhambra, Davis told an Asian American audience that, “more Chinese Americans, more Korean Americans, more Filipino Americans, more Vietnamese Americans have served in positions of importance under the Davis administration as a percentage of all my appointments than any other governor in history. And if you will retain me as governor we will continue to go forward and not backward.”

Each party sees the recall as important to policy and political ambitions. For Republicans, the governor’s office “carries immense symbolic importance,” Whalen said. Before Davis came into power in 1999, the Republicans had held the office for 16 consecutive years under Govs. Wilson and George Deukmejian.

“Who do people go to now for commentary?” said K.B. Forbes, a Republican strategist who worked for Bill Simon’s abortive recall campaign. “There are no statewide figures. The Republican Party has a vacuum.”

Republicans are in the minority in both houses of the Legislature. If they win the governor’s office, they will be suddenly empowered to veto legislation and thwart a Democratic agenda from taking hold.

“When you have a person in your own party [in the governor’s office] you have a goalie -- someone with the ability to veto bad legislation,” said Assembly Minority Leader Dave Cox of Fair Oaks.

“What we have in California today is one-party rule,” he said, “and when you have the corner office held by a person of the same party that controls the Senate and Assembly, what you see is an arrogance of power and all the really bad bills getting through.”

For their part, Democrats fear a Republican governor would impose a more conservative agenda, using executive orders to unravel the work of the past administration.

“If a Republican governor took control, in 90 days you could unwind by executive order much of the significant pieces of legislation that had been put into effect,” said state Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough).

Whether control of the governor’s office would swing California to one side or another in the presidential race is more murky. Democrats won the state in the last three presidential elections under both Democratic and Republican governors. Indeed, in five of 13 elections since 1948, when Democratic nominee Harry Truman won the state even though Republican Earl Warren was governor, the candidate who has won California has represented a different party from the governor.

Still, some political strategists contend that if Arnold Schwarzenegger wins, he could boost Republican voter registration and perhaps lure more moderate voters into the GOP camp -- possibly steering votes toward President Bush

“If Arnold Schwarzenegger comes in and he’s a successful governor, that’s a successful figure George W. Bush can wrap himself around,” Whalen said. “And it helps to be with a winner.”

A better possibility is that the recall would influence the next race for governor, in 2006. Republicans could not win last year even when pitted against the unpopular Davis.

“If Davis retains the office, it’s not a sure thing that Republicans will win in 2006,” said Walter J. Stone, chairman of the political science department at UC Davis. “They really should have won last time.”

However, if a Republican were to win the Oct. 7 election, analysts said, the party might face improved odds in 2006.

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Contributions race

These contributions were reported by major candidates on the Oct. 7 ballot who have received at least $100,000 for their gubernatorial campaigns. Totals are for all contributions through Aug. 23 and contributions of $1,000 or more through Wednesday. Donations of $1,000 or more must be reported within 24 hours of receipt.

*--* Contributions Candidate Total reported Reported in 24 hours ending Wednesday or committee Cruz $1,368,792 $56,200 Bustamant e 244 contributions 4 contributions * The Stravinsk i Developme nt Group, a Madera real estate developme nt company, gave $21,200*. RHA Inc., a managemen t and marketing company that serves several Californi a governmen t agencies and state energy companies , contribut ed $20,000. Table Mountain Rancheria , owners of Table Mountain Casino in the Central Valley town of Friant, gave $10,000

Arianna $527,196 $34,200 Huffingto n 2,284 contributions 6 contributions * Cheryl Saban, wife of entertain ment executive Haim Saban -- who has given $200,000 to Gov. Gray Davis’ anti-reca ll efforts -- contribut ed $20,000. Barbara Grassesch i, a farmer at Puma Springs Vineyards in Healdsbur g, donated $1,000

Tom $759,572 $12,000 McClintoc k 1,188 contributions 5 contributions * Michael and Steve Ayers, co-owners of a Sacrament o steel productio n company, Armour Steel, each gave $2,500

Arnold $6,803,989 $103,700 Schwarzen 749 contributions 32 contributions egger * Dan Gamel Inc., Fresno parent company of a large RV sales firm, gave $21,200. Granville Homes Inc., a Fresno construct ion company, contribut ed $10,000. Sierra Land Group, a Glendale developme nt company, gave $5,000. Earl Smittcamp , owner of Wawona Ranch, a peach farm in Clovis, gave $10,000

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Two anti-recall committees, which are not subject to the same contribution limits as candidates, have raised more than $7.2 million to help Gov. Gray Davis.

Taxpayers Against the Governor’s Recall has reported receiving more than $2.4 million from 180 contributions. Californians Against the Costly Recall of the Governor has reported raising more than $4.7 million, with $555,630 from 47 contributions reported in the 24 hours ending Wednesday.

Amgen, the world’s largest biotechnology company, based in Thousand Oaks, contributed $100,000 to Californians Against the Costly Recall of the Governor. George Marcus, chairman of Marcus & Millichap, a national real estate brokerage with a large California presence, gave $75,000. Kazan, McClain, Edises, Abrams, Fernandez, Lyons & Farrise, an Oakland asbestos litigation law firm, contributed $75,000. Eighteen other lawyers gave a total of $60,500.

*Contributions to candidates from each outside source are limited to $21,200. There is no cap on the amount candidates can give their own campaigns.

Reported by Times staff writer Joel Rubin and Times researcher Maloy Moore.

Source: Campaign reports filed with the California secretary of state.

Los Angeles Times