CA: The Governor's Special Election

Bill Leonard has the Money Facts about the Governor's Proposed Special Election.

***The Cost of the Special Election***

I keep reading newspaper columnists complaining about the “high cost” of the special election that Governor Schwarzenegger is expected to call later this year. Depending on the source, the total cost to the taxpayers is estimated between $35 million and $70 million. This is a substantial sum, but the newspapers never seem to place it in the proper context.

The state population is now more than 36 million, so the cost of this special election is somewhere between 94 cents and $1.94 per person. To put this in perspective, the State of California spends an average of about $3,000 for every man, woman, child and newborn baby in the state EVERY YEAR. In addition to the funds received from the state, school districts and local governments collectively spend well over $1,000 MORE on a per-capita basis. Thus, total spending is well over $4,000 per person every year (although you might not believe it, given the level of services you actually receive). Thus, even using the high estimate of $1.94 per person, the one-time cost of this special election is only about five hundredths of one percent of annual per capita government spending.

I do not know anyone who would argue that $1.94 is too much to spend to decide how to spend $4,000 and live within our means!

Schwarzenegger Moves Closer to Bush

Schwarzenegger casts the contest in the same way he framed his gubernatorial campaign during the state's recall election in 2003. "They're going to spend $200 million this year to take me out and to keep the status quo," he said. "They're going to fight for the status quo and for their power, and the people in the end will make the decision: Do we want to be ruled by the unions and by the special interests of California, or do we want to go and take the power back?"

The governor said the battle is not Democrats vs. Republicans. But his opponents see him and his agenda as part of a partisan and ideological battle that echoes the priorities of President Bush and the Republicans in Washington. Schwarzenegger, they say, has turned from conciliator to partisan by embracing an economic agenda championed by wealthy corporate interests. They contend that he turned increasingly partisan after candidates he backed lost a series of legislative elections last November.