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Mark My Word
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California GOP’s Election “Reform” Measure Reeks of Rove

By Assemblyman Mark Leno

This is one straight out of Karl Rove’s political playbook. A group of Republican political operatives and their powerful special interests have hatched a desperate scheme to rig California’s electoral process to their advantage. They’re proposing a statewide ballot initiative to change how California casts its electoral votes for President. They’ve cleverly labeled it the “Presidential Election Reform Act,” which would sound credible if it weren’t so cynical.

But make no mistake, this wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing has nothing to do with reform or protecting voters’ interests or preserving the integrity of our Constitution. It’s an audacious power grab by the GOP as it spirals into irrelevance leading up to the 2008 Presidential race.

The Republican Party is in complete disarray. Wracked by scandal and corruption, the GOP has apparently concluded that it has little chance of appealing to voters on the merits. President Bush’s poll numbers are melting faster than an Alaskan glacier and a recent nationwide poll showed that two-thirds of young voters surveyed believe that Democrats do a better job than Republicans of representing their interests.

Add to that reports of the state Republican Party’s serious financial woes and the resignation in June of its embattled chief operating officer and it’s easy to see why state GOP leaders figured it was time for a little election reform.

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that some of the same Republican forces behind this bogus reform effort were responsible for the despicable Swift Boat ads attacking Presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004. Bob Perry, who contributed $4.5 million for the Swift Boat ads, is so far bankrolling the GOP electoral reform initiative to the tune of $50,000.

There’s no question that our nation deserves a meaningful discussion about improving the way in which we elect our chief executive officer. The 2000 Presidential election showed us that our current system is far from perfect. But that’s not what this is about and it’s not what the GOP has in mind.

No, this Karl Rovian scheme is a slick GOP effort to steal as many as 24 of California’s 55 electoral votes and deliver them to their party’s 2008 Presidential nominee. Under our current system, whatever candidate wins the majority vote in California gets all of the state’s electoral votes. Republicans, out-of-step with California’s progressive values and unwilling to change their message, haven’t had much success.

Unfortunately, the “solution” the GOP is proposing for divvying up California’s electoral votes based on Congressional districts would be even less fair than the system we’ve got now. An analysis by the respected election reform organization FairVote ( HYPERLINK "http://www.fairvote.org" www.fairvote.org) concluded that the GOP reform scheme fails to “promote majority rule, greater competitiveness, or voter equality” and would, in fact, “dramatically increase incentives for partisan machinations.”

With all of the serious issues we are facing in this state, from health care to education to our crumbling infrastructure, is this really the issue that Republican leaders believe California should be focusing on? More likely, it’s the one that fits their national agenda for keeping us in Iraq indefinitely, ignoring global warming and giving tax breaks to the rich while burdening future generations with unprecedented debt.

The apparent strategy of the GOP operatives who are advancing this initiative further reveals their sinister and cynical intent. They are looking to place it on the June 2008 ballot and exploit low voter turnout to sneak it through. Beating back this GOP power grab will take an aggressive education effort. As a recent New York Times editorial concluded, "If voters understand that the initiative is essentially an elaborate dirty trick posing as reform, they are likely to vote against it."

Let’s make the Republicans come to their senses and drop this scheme altogether. Republicans may be understandably frustrated that they cannot get their hands on California’s rich pool of electoral votes and that the GOP’s values, policies and conduct at the national level don’t resonate with the majority of Californians. Rather than trying to bamboozle voters, they should focus their attention instead on cleaning up their act and updating their message.

Bio & Past Articles

Past Articles

Betty's List 'Mark My Word'
Columnist Assemblyman Mark Leno

Assemblyman Mark Leno made history in November 2002 when he was elected as one of the first openly gay men to the California State Assembly, representing District 13, the eastern portion of San Francisco. He currently serves as Chair of the Public Safety Committee, one of only four freshman legislators appointed to Chair a policy committee in their first year. He also serves on the Appropriations, Local Government, and Revenue & Taxation Committees and is the Chair of Select Committees on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LBGT) Families and Childhood Obesity & Related Diabetes.

A native of Wisconsin, Leno attended the University of Colorado at Boulder, then went on to become valedictorian of his graduating class at the American College of Jerusalem, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree. Leno also spent two years in Rabbinical Studies at Hebrew Union College in New York.

Prior to his election to the State Assembly, Assemblyman Leno served as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from April 1998 to December 2002. He authored landmark legislation in the areas of affordable housing, universal health care for children, solar energy, late night entertainment, bond oversight, small business services, City CarShare, medical cannabis, equal access to services, and LGBT civil rights.

Leno is the owner of Budget Signs, Inc., a small business he founded in 1978 and operated with his life partner, Douglas Jackson. Together the two entrepreneurs steadily grew their sign business until Jackson passed away from complications relating to AIDS/HIV in 1990. This deep loss would not deter Leno. Instead, he redoubled his efforts in community service.

He has served on the boards of many local and national organizations including the LGBT Community Center Project, Haight Ashbury Community Services, the American Jewish Congress, Mobilization Against AIDS, and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. He is the recipient of the 1995 Small Business Owner of the Year Award from the Small Business Network, the 1995 Hormel Community Service Award from the Human Rights Campaign and the James R. Sylla Award from the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.

Outside of his capacity as an elected official, Leno has been a tireless supporter of nonprofit organizations in San Francisco, frequently appearing to show support at events and lending a hand wherever possible. He was a statewide spokesman for the No on Prop 22 Campaign (the Knight Initiative) and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles in August 2000.