Gov. All but Vows to Run

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger all but declared Wednesday that he would run for a second term next year, saying, “I am not in this for the short run,” and promising an official announcement Friday in San Diego.

Speaking at a special election campaign event in this Central Valley town near Fresno, Schwarzenegger was asked by an audience member if Californians would get “a chance to vote for you again.” It was the last question during a carefully planned “town hall” meeting at a window factory.

The governor paused, smiled briefly and then revealed what he had been hinting for weeks: “I’m going to make an official announcement on Friday, this Friday. I believe very strongly in follow-through. Follow-through is the most important thing. If you start something you’ve got to finish it.”

Coming less than two years after the historic 2003 recall election that brought Schwarzenegger to power, the announcement this week could boost his Nov. 8 special election platform and signal to financial donors that he intends to be around for another term to hold sway over issues they care about.

So far, two prominent Democrats have said they plan to run for governor: state Controller Steve Westly and Treasurer Phil Angelides, who said he would relish a race against Schwarzenegger because it would give voters “the clearest choice in a generation.”

“At every turn he has favored the corporate special interests over the interests of working families,” Angelides said Wednesday. “I will offer a very different version for our future, one of fairness and opportunity and investment.”

Westly said the governor had alienated voters through a confrontational and partisan style. The controller said he believes that Schwarzenegger is beatable: “People are looking for someone to fix problems. He’s out there attacking nurses, firefighters and teachers. That’s not what people want to see.”

The announcement would come on the eve of the governor’s appearance at the California Republican Party convention Saturday in Orange County, where he is scheduled to give a luncheon speech.

The state party, in a rare early move, endorsed Schwarzenegger for reelection at its last convention in February.

The governor, who unveiled a large agenda in a confrontational speech before the Legislature in January, has seen his popularity among Californians decline in recent months. Some of the proposals he made -- including a plan to overhaul the state pension system -- fell flat.

He has been left with three initiatives that would make it easier to fire low-performing teachers, would modify the state budget system and would allow an independent panel of judges to draw legislative districts.

All three measures have failed to get a majority of support from those surveyed in initial polls.

For the most part, Schwarzenegger has been subject to a barrage of negative television ads placed by public employee unions, scores of media stories about his inability to follow through on major policy plans and his large fundraising efforts.

Democrats and unions have also collected nearly twice as much money -- more than $55 million -- as the governor for the special election fight. Schwarzenegger has scheduled a series of fundraisers this month as he attempts to reach a goal of $50 million.

Joel Aberbach, a UCLA political science professor who specializes in executive-branch politics, said the governor’s early announcement of his reelection plans -- amid the special election campaign -- underscored his weakness.

“If he were really running strong, he could wait for a big groundswell of people begging him to run again, and I haven’t seen it,” he said.

Asked about the roots of Schwarzenegger’s low standing in the polls, Aberbach said: “What’s so far been a political blunder is he’s taken on major organized interests in the state, seemingly to no effect other than to damage himself.

“He’s managed to get the police, firefighters, teachers and nurses against him,” the educator said. “And that’s a problem. But it’s even more of a problem because it’s hard to see what he’s gotten in return.”

Still, not every Democrat believes that Schwarzenegger is in an untenable position.

In a July interview with The Times, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) said it was “possible but unlikely” that a Democrat could beat Schwarzenegger. He noted the governor’s low public opinion numbers but added:

“I say it’s unlikely because I think one way or another the governor will figure out a way to gain more ground among the moderate Republicans who are beginning to turn the other cheek,” Nunez said. “And he might get some of the more moderate-to-conservative Democrats if he can figure out a way to get them back.”

As the governor turns his attention in full to politics this week, he is playing catch-up with his opponents.

On Wednesday, the coalition of unions began airing a series of advertisements that attack the governor’s integrity.

The new advertisement, aimed to defeat a proposition that would limit the ability of unions to use dues money for political purposes, accuses “the folks behind Arnold” of supporting the measure to silence the governor’s vocal critics, public employee unions.

Schwarzenegger said Wednesday that he likes “the principle” behind the initiative but added that he had not decided whether to endorse it. When asked Wednesday if the governor was going to back Proposition 75, strategist Mike Murphy said: “Stay tuned.”

Larry Grisolano, a consultant to the No on 75 campaign, said he expects a Schwarzenegger endorsement of the proposition, given the recent announcements of support from the California Chamber of Commerce, a close Schwarzenegger ally, as well as Richard Riordan, the governor’s former education secretary.

“We’re not waiting to see what the governor says at a news conference with a Hummer and a balloon, because we already know where he is on this thing,” Grisolano said.

On Wednesday, Schwarzenegger’s budget initiative received a significant endorsement -- from the California State Assn. of Counties.

But earlier in the week, the League of California Cities announced that it would not take a position on Proposition 76, which the governor has dubbed his most important initiative. The measure would give the governor power to make midyear cuts when state revenues fell.

Schwarzenegger had personally lobbied the league during a secret meeting last week at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel.

But after a three-hour conference call Monday, its board of directors voted to remain neutral on the measure.

The vote made one Schwarzenegger ally so angry he is considering resigning from the league’s board of directors. In an interview Wednesday, Fresno Mayor Alan Autry said: “In my 4 1/2 years in politics, I have never been more disappointed or disheartened [as] in that decision.”

The governor’s office took the vote in stride, even though an endorsement by the cities association would have added an influential imprimatur.

“We still think we will enjoy support from a lot of individual mayors and council members across the state,” said Rob Stutzman, Schwarzenegger’s communications director.

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Times staff writers Peter Nicholas and Jordan Rau contributed to this report.