SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday enlisted former foe Gray Davis, whom he dispatched from office in the 2003 recall, to join the cause of redistricting reform.
It was a much-needed show of unity for an effort that has been criticized as a Republican power grab, and it came on the day that organizers submitted 1.2 million signatures to election officials in a step toward qualifying the measure for the November ballot.
But even before the once and present governors took the stage in Los Angeles, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, was introducing a redistricting reform proposal of his own at his final news conference as speaker at the Capitol — promptly derided by sponsors of the California Voters First ballot measure as an attempt to upstage the governor.
"Look at the timing," said Jeannine English, president of AARP and one of the authors of the California Voters First campaign. "It's interesting he chose today to come out with his proposal. It's a veiled attempt to derail the initiative process we've been going through. It's absolutely an attempt to undermine the message showing we have a diverse, unified coalition endorsing this."
In addition to Davis, the California Democratic Council, an umbrella group for Democratic clubs around the state, endorsed the initiative this week. And wealthy Sacramento developer Angelo Tsakopoulos, a longtime major Democratic donor, this week pitched in $25,000 Advertisementto the campaign. The measure is also backed by a number of organizations that advocate for government reform, such as Common Cause of California, League of Women Voters and the AARP.
The proposal would create a 14-member independent commission of citizens who would draw political boundaries for the Legislature and the Board of Equalization; Congress would continue to have its lines drawn by the Legislature. It would take the task out of the hands of lawmakers, which the measure's proponents say would end the self-serving process that protects incumbents.
"Everyone in Sacramento wants a safe seat," said Davis, who served as governor from 1999 to 2003. "However, safe seats generally produce legislators who are less accountable to voters, not more."
Still, the ballot drive faces some daunting electoral challenges. Redistricting reform has consistently failed at the polls, seen by voters as an attempt by one group trying to gain an advantage over another.
Before the campaign has even started, critics have noted that a vast majority of the $3.6 million raised by California Voters First has come from Republican donors. And minority groups — typically aligned with Democrats — have come out against the measure, complaining it insufficiently protects minority voting rights.
The governor's proposal will have "major opposition" from Democrats and their allies, said Bob Mulholland, campaign adviser to the state Democratic Party, which has yet to take a position on the measure but is likely to come out against it once it makes the November ballot. Of the 1.2 million signatures turned in, 694,000 must be confirmed as valid.
"Clearly, it's another Republican initiative written in the middle of the night," Mulholland said. "You can't have something Schwarzenegger is pushing and not be very suspicious of his motives. Even the Swift boat guy is supporting this."
Mulholland was referring to T. Boone Pickens, a billionaire Texas oilman who was a major donor to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the group known for slamming Democratic nominee John Kerry in the 2004 presidential campaign. Pickens has contributed $100,000 to the California Voters First campaign.
Earlier this spring, Schwarzenegger kicked off the ballot drive with appearances with Steve Westly, the former state controller who lost in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in 2006. But Westly has not kept much of a profile since, and has yet to contribute any of his vast personal fortune to the cause.
From the beginning, Nunez has been skeptical of the ballot proposal and promised he would produce his own that put a stronger emphasis on protecting minority voters. But the Legislature has failed to produce reform in several previous attempts.
Nunez's proposal includes an independent 17-person redistricting commission — which he said would allow for more diversity.
Nunez is also hoping to revive a term limits ballot measure, similar to Proposition 93, the initiative that failed in February. It would allow lawmakers to stay in office for 12 years in one chamber, rather than the current standard of six years in the Assembly and eight in the Senate. But Nunez's new proposal would not allow sitting lawmakers to serve more than they are allowed under current law. Proposition 93 grandfathered in the sitting lawmakers — a sticking point that observers have said led to its defeat.
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