California gubernatorial election, 2006

Infobox Election
election_name = California gubernatorial election, 2006
country = California
type = presidential
ongoing = no
previous_election = California recall election, 2003
previous_year = 2003
next_election = California gubernatorial election, 2010
next_year = 2010
election_date = November 7 2006


nominee1 = Arnold Schwarzenegger
party1 = California Republican Party
popular_vote1 = 4,850,157
percentage1 = 55.88


nominee2 = Phil Angelides
party2 = California Democratic Party
popular_vote2 = 3,376,732
percentage2 = 38.91
map_

---

map_size = 350px
map_caption = Election results by county
title = Governor
before_election = Arnold Schwarzenegger
after_election = Arnold Schwarzenegger
before_party = California Republican Party
after_party = California Republican Party

The 2006 California gubernatorial election occurred on November 7 2006. The primary elections took place on June 6 2006. The incumbent Republican Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, won reelection for his first full term. His main opponent was California State Treasurer Phil Angelides, the California Democratic Party nominee. Peter Camejo was the California Green Party nominee, Janice Jordan was the Peace and Freedom Party nominee, Art Olivier was the California Libertarian Party nominee, and Edward C. Noonan was the California American Independent Party nominee.

Under the California Constitution, the Governor serves a four-year term, with a maximum limit of two consecutive terms. Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected during the 2003 California recall and served out the remainder of Gray Davis's term; he is eligible to serve until 2011. [http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-op-jeffe2jul02,0,1256025,print.story?coll=la-sunday-commentary]

Schwarzenegger's decision to call the 2005 special election, as well as his propositions dealing with teachers' and nurses' unions and other political missteps, brought his approval rating down to 39% April 2006 [http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/state/stateelections/article_1100965.php] , though he ended up solidly defeating his opponents. During his first two years, he has come under fire from some conservatives for supporting several taxes on CaliforniansFact|date=February 2007 and from some liberals for refusing to sign a bill allowing gay marriage and his support for several controversial propositions in 2005. Later, Schwarzenegger's aggressive push for environment-friendly legislation, his support for stem cell research, gay rights, and opposition to sending the National Guard to the border, made him very popular among the voters, securing his reelection by a wide margin.

Governor Schwarzenegger faced token opposition in the primary and won the Republican nomination. The two front-runners for the Democratic nomination were Angelides and California State Controller Steve Westly (see below). Before the election, Angelides reported a significant increase in support after the California Democratic Party endorsed him prior to the primary, despite most polls showing that Westly would fare much better against Schwarzenegger in the general election [http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2006/04/angelides_endor.html] . He also gained support from unions and the core liberal constituency, which were factors that led him to victory in the primary, defeating Westly 48% to 44%. The turnout for the primary, however, was a record low 33.6% [http://primary2006.ss.ca.gov/Returns/status.htm] , far below the 38% predicted by the Secretary of State [http://www.ss.ca.gov/executive/press_releases/2006/06_078.pdf] , with the turnout of valid ballots cast on election day at 28%.

Candidates

General Election

*Phil Angelides (Democratic) - California State Treasurer, Ex-State Democratic Chair & Developer
*Peter Camejo (Green) - 2002/2003 Green Party gubernatorial candidate, 2004 independent vice presidential candidate (Ralph Nader's running mate)
*Janice Jordan (Peace and Freedom) - 2004 Peace and Freedom Party vice presidential candidate (Leonard Peltier's running mate)
*Edward C. Noonan (American Independent) - Computer Shop Owner
*Art Olivier (Libertarian) - former mayor of Bellflower, 2000 Libertarian Party vice presidential candidate (Harry Browne's running mate)
*Arnold Schwarzenegger (Republican) - Incumbent Governor of California, Actor, Businessman

Write-in

California requires write-in candidates to file a statement of intent with the Secretary of State. These are the candidates who filed statements of intent [http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/election_2006/status/official_cert_list_writeins_nov06_amended.pdf] :

* Donald "Dr. Don" Etkes (Independent) - Sex therapist
* Vibert Greene (Independent) - Mechanical engineer
* James Harris (Independent) - Communist political organizer
* Robert C. Newman II (Republican) - Psychologist
* Elisha Shapiro (Independent) - Nihilist
* DeAlphria Christina Tarver (Independent)

Primary Election

Democrats

*Phil Angelides - California State Treasurer, Ex-State Democratic Chair & Developer
*Barbara Becnel - Executive Director, Neighborhood House of North Richmond and Founder, Save Stanley Tookie Williams campaign
*Joe Brouilette - High School Teacher
*Edie Bukewihge - Writer and Publisher
*Jerald Gerst - Physician
*Vibert Greene - Engineer
*Frank Macaluso - Medical Doctor
*Michael Strimling - Attorney
*Steve Westly - California State Controller & Ex-Internet Executive

Republicans

*Jeffrey Burns - General Contractor
*Bill Chambers - Railroad Switchman
*Robert C. Newman II - Psychologist & Farmer
*Arnold Schwarzenegger - Actor, Businessman and Incumbent Governor of California

Libertarian

*Art Olivier (Libertarian) - former mayor of Bellflower, 2000 Libertarian Party vice presidential candidate (Harry Browne's running mate)

Green

*Peter Camejo (Green) - 2002/2003 Green Party gubernatorial candidate, 2004 independent vice presidential candidate (Ralph Nader's running mate)
*George Fellows (Independent) - California State Budget Analyst

Peace & Freedom

*Janice Jordan (Peace and Freedom) - 2004 Peace and Freedom Party vice presidential candidate (Leonard Peltier's running mate)

American Independent

*Edward C. Noonan (American Independent) - Computer Shop Owner

Primary Election

Republican Schwarzenegger faced token opposition and won overwhelmingly in the primary held on June 6, 2006.

A pre-election poll had Westly leading Angelides by six percentage points [http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/survey/S_406MBS.pdf] . The Field Poll conducted on April 17, 2006 showed that both Democratic candidates had low recognition factors amongst the state's electorate, with only 45% having any opinion on Angelides and 40% for Westly. Of registered Democrats surveyed, 59% said they didn't know enough about Angelides to have any opinion about him, with 58% saying the same for Westly [http://field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/RLS2193.pdf] .

The "Los Angeles Times" reported that the race for the Democratic nomination was a virtual tie, with Angelides leading Westly by three percentage points (37%-34%), within the 3% margin of error. Unusually, 28% of Democratic voters were undecided, and both candidates tried to earn the undecided vote.

Angelides reported a recent increase in support for his campaign and gained union support as well as support from the "core" liberal constituency. Many registered Democrats, however, believed that Westly had a greater chance of winning against incumbent governor Schwarzenegger and felt that he had a slightly "more positive" image [http://www.latimes.com/la-me-poll28may28,0,5948271.story?coll=la-story-footer] . In the end, Angelides won 47.9% of the vote to Westly's 43.4% [http://vote.ss.ca.gov/Returns/gov/00.htm] .

The period for candidate nominations closed on March 24, 2006 [http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/election_2006/status/unofficial_list_of_candidates_32806.pdf] .

Primary Results

A bar graph of statewide results in this contest are available at http://primary2006.ss.ca.gov/Returns/gov/00.htm.

Results by county are available at http://primary2006.ss.ca.gov/Returns/gov/00.htm#cty.

Democratic

Election box winning candidate no party no change
candidate = Phil Angelides
votes = 1,202,851
percentage = 48.00Election box candidate no party no change
candidate = Steve Westly
votes = 1,081,940
percentage = 43.18Election box candidate no party no change
candidate = Barbara Becnel
votes = 66,550
percentage = 2.66Election box candidate no party no change
candidate = Joe Brouillette
votes = 42,075
percentage = 1.68Election box candidate no party no change
candidate = Michael Strimling
votes = 35,121
percentage = 1.40Election box candidate no party no change
candidate = Frank A. Macaluso, Jr.
votes = 30,867
percentage = 1.23Election box candidate no party no change
candidate = Vibert Greene
votes = 25,475
percentage = 1.02Election box candidate no party no change
candidate = Jerald Robert Gerst
votes = 21,039
percentage = 0.84Election box total no party no change
votes = 2,505,918
percentage = 100.00

Republican

Election box winning candidate no party no change
candidate = Arnold Schwarzenegger
votes = 1,724,281
percentage = 89.99Election box candidate no party no change
candidate = Robert C. Newman II
votes = 68,660
percentage = 3.58Election box candidate no party no change
candidate = Bill Chambers
votes = 65,487
percentage = 3.42Election box candidate no party no change
candidate = Jeffrey R. Burns
votes = 57,652
percentage = 3.01Election box total no party no change
votes = 1,916,080
percentage = 100.00

Others

Election box winning candidate with party link no change
party = Green Party of California
candidate = Peter Camejo
votes = 33,545
percentage = 100.00Election box winning candidate with party link no change
party = American Independent Party
candidate = Edward C. Noonan
votes = 29,094
percentage = 100.00Election box winning candidate with party link no change
party = Libertarian Party of California
candidate = Art Olivier
votes = 16,445
percentage = 100.00Election box winning candidate with party link no change
party = Peace and Freedom Party (United States)
candidate = Janice Jordan
votes = 3,849
percentage = 100.00

Results

Election box winning candidate with party link no change
party = California Republican Party
candidate = Arnold Schwarzenegger (inc.)
votes = 4,850,157
percentage = 55.88Election box candidate with party link no change
party = California Democratic Party
candidate = Phil Angelides
votes = 3,376,732
percentage = 38.91Election box candidate with party link no change
party = Green Party of California
candidate = Peter Camejo
votes = 205,995
percentage = 2.37Election box candidate with party link no change
party = Libertarian Party of California
candidate = Art Olivier
votes = 114,329
percentage = 1.32Election box candidate with party link no change
party = Peace and Freedom Party
candidate = Janice Jordan
votes = 69,934
percentage = 0.81Election box candidate with party link no change
party = American Independent Party
candidate = Edward Noonan
votes = 61,901
percentage = 0.71Election box candidate with party link no change
party = California Republican Party
candidate = Robert Newman (write-in)
votes = 219
percentage = 0.00Election box candidate with party link no change
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = James Harris (write-in)
votes = 46
percentage = 0.00Election box candidate with party link no change
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Donald Etkes (write-in)
votes = 43
percentage = 0.00Election box candidate with party link no change
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Elisha Shapiro (write-in)
votes = 43
percentage = 0.00Election box candidate with party link no change
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Vibert Greene (write-in)
votes = 18
percentage = 0.00Election box candidate with party link no change
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Dealphria Tarver (write-in)
votes = 6
percentage = 0.00Election box invalid no change
votes = 219,643
percentage = 2.47Election box total no change
votes = 8,899,059
percentage = 100.00Election box turnout no change
percentage = 39.29Election box hold with party link without swing
winner = California Republican Party

Results by county

Results showed Schwarzenegger won 52 counties while Angelides won 6 (Schwarzenegger won an absolute majority in 48 counties and a plurality in 4 counties while Angelides won an absolute majority in 2 counties and a plurality in 4 counties). Schwarzenegger won large majorities in California's rural counties and in populous Southern California areas of Orange and San Diego counties. The results were closely contested in Los Angeles County and suburban counties in the Bay Area, but which trended towards Angelides. Angelides won substantially only in Alameda and San Francisco counties.

ee also

* [http://www.governors2007inaugural.com/site/c.gdJIKONpFiG/b.2292745/k.D841/Governors_2007_Inaugural_Committee_Home.htm/ 2007 Governor's Inaugural Committee]
*United States gubernatorial elections, 2006
*State of California
*Governors of California

References

External links

Democratic candidates

* [http://www.angelides.com Phil Angelides]
* [http://www.votebarbarabecnel-gov.com Barbara Becnel]
* [http://www.voteedie.org Edie Bukewihge]
* [http://www.michaelstrimling.com Michael Strimling]
* [http://www.westly2006.com Steve Westly]

Republican candidates

* [http://www.billchambers4governor.com Bill Chambers]
* [http://www.newman4governor.org Robert C. Newman II]
* [http://www.joinarnold.com Arnold Schwarzenegger]

Third-party and Independent candidates

* [http://www.votecamejo.com Peter Camejo]
* [http://www.georgeforgovernor.com George Fellows]
* [http://www.janicejordan.org Janice Jordan]
* [http://www.ednoonan4gov.org Edward Noonan]
* [http://www.2006gov.com Art Olivier]
* [http://www.myspace.com/nuwaivaaron Aaron Proctor]

Other sites with relevant information

* [http://www.votecircle.com VoteCircle.com Non-partisan resources & vote sharing network for Californians]
* [http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections.htm Information on the elections from California's Secretary of State]
* [http://cbs5.com/seenon/local_story_282234406.html Video of the debate]
* [http://www.electionvolunteer.com/race/Governor Election Volunteer - Complete List of 2006 Gubernatorial candidates]
* [http://www.governor.ca.gov Official Homepage of the Governor of California]