San Francisco Treasurer Jose Cisneros (front and center) celebrates his election-night victory with (from left to right) Supervisor Bevan Dufty, PUC honcho Susan Leal, District Attorney Kamala Harris and Assemblyman Mark Leno. It was a raucus party, celeb

Schwarzenegger’s Appeal To Right-Wing Voters Backfires

Governor Arnold Schwarz-enegger suffered a stunning defeat at the polls Tuesday during his $50 million special election. Queer activists attribute his veto of marriage equality legislation and support of an anti-choice amendment to energizing progressive voters all over the state.
“By aligning himself with the extreme right on social issues, the governor mistakenly believed he could gain support for his package of propositions dealing with redistricting, spending cuts, teacher tenure and labor unions. California voters soundly rejected that strategy,” said Executive Director Geoffrey Kors of Equality California. He said that the Equality California PAC countered the governor’s strategy by turning out LGBT and supportive voters and encouraging them to pay back the governor for his veto of the marriage equality bill by voting no on propositions 73, 74, 75, 76, and 77.
“Our goal was not only to defeat each of the governor’s measures, but to defeat the strategy of dividing people to win elections,” said Kors. “We hope these results send a powerful message that the politics of division is unwelcome in the Golden State.” Kors concluded, “Let’s keep moving forward, and continue our road to full equality!”

Equality California distributed more than 200,000 mailers featuring a photo of Schwarzenegger with the headline: “IT’S PAYBACK TIME” on the cover. In addition, hundreds of volunteers in EQCA’s chapters have been actively working in coalition with others opposed to these measures for the past two months.

“Maybe the Governator has now learned that when you mess with ‘girly-men’ you get your butt kicked,” NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell told Bay Times. “It’s a lesson many a straight man who was too big for his britches has learned as well. You can’t govern by force or threat.” She added, “Real leadership requires compromise, an inclusive vision, and assuring that all voices are heard.”

“I want to thank Schwarz-enegger for his help in uniting the labor, the women’s, and the LGBT community into the strongest coalition in recent memory,” Robert Haaland, Alliance for a Better California, SF Campaign Director, told Bay Times. “We worked side by side in 60 of the most queer precincts in the city. I am incredibly proud as a transgender feminist, labor activist to have been part of this coalition; and this coalition will continue next year as we fight the right wing agenda, including the effort to ban domestic partner benefits and same sex marriage.”

“As the SF coordinator of the campaign for teen safety against 73, I was incredibly proud to work with such a diverse array of amazing activists to defeat the conservative agenda represented by Props 73-77,” said Nora Dye. “There were over 175 volunteers in the Castro working together to get voters to the polls to defeat these initiatives—an amazing grassroots effort. This time, they were going after young women, teachers, union members, and public employees, and San Francisco stood together to defeat them.” She added, “When marriage equality is on the ballot next year, we will stand together to defeat them again.”

“Yesterday’s special election was a royal flush of defeat for Governor Schwarzenegger and a stunning demonstration of our community’s power,” said Molly McKay, EQCA Field Director. “The Governor’s ploy of turning out right-wing voters to pass his package of propositions backfired. Voters saw through that strategy and soundly rejected it.” She said she was thrilled that up and down the state, Equality California and the LGBT community pulled out the stops to help the allies defeat the governor’s special election measures. Thirty volunteer chapters played a key role with the Alliance for a Better California and the No on 73 campaigns around the state, and that hard work apparently paid off. By targeting LGBT-concentrated precincts and supplying volunteers in areas where the teachers, police officers, firefighters, and nurses lacked coverage, EQCA made sure that LGBT visibility was front and center.

EQCA established field and volunteer staff presence in 30 of California’s 58 counties, covering not only major population centers but also rural areas. They made phone calls; they knocked on doors; they held rallies; and they talked frankly to voters about how the governor’s “reform” agenda would hurt Californians. And as the special election results prove, their message was heard.

“Our success proves the power of building coalitions with other progressive causes,” said McKay. “And just as the LGBT community was there to support our allies when they were under attack in this special election, I expect that they will be there for us when it is our turn on the ballot.”
In San Francisco, 40 key EQCA volunteers helped to get out the vote in 65 precincts that the Alliance for a Better California and the No on 73 campaign identified as major priorities. Volunteers logged in hundreds of hours in the weeks leading up to election day, and then worked an average of 11 hours the day prior to get out the vote.

“Our message to the governor was loud and clear, and cannot be ignored. Playing partisan politics with our lives does not pay,” McKay said. “And by staying the course and supporting the dignity, safety, and equality for all Californians, we not only won the special election, we strengthened our bond with our allies.”

“The governor got what he wanted: the people spoke; unfortunately for him, they didn’t have much to say that’s very positive,” Assemblyman Mark Leno commented to Bay Times from a taxi in Long Beach. “The wasted time, energy, and hundreds of millions of dollars due to the special election are nothing less than criminal. My hope is that through this experience the governor has learned that he was elected to work with the legislature and not to threaten us with endless ballot measures,” said Leno. “None of this attends to the great need of our failing public education system, public health system, and transportation system.