Democrats' Wins
Pressure Republicans
By DEBORAH SOLOMON
and JIM CARLTON
THE WALL STREET
JOURNAL, From the Web, November 9, 2005
Democrats easily held the
governorships of Virginia and New Jersey, while California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger suffered defeat on all four of his reform initiatives, deepening
Republican anxieties about the political cost of President Bush's second-term
troubles.
In New Jersey, Democratic Sen. Jon Corzine defeated Republican business
executive Douglas Forrester after a bitter campaign in a state that Mr. Bush
lost in both his presidential campaigns. More disappointing to the White
House was Democratic Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine's win over Republican Jerry Kilgore in
conservative-leaning Virginia despite a last-minute campaign appearance by the
president.
In a contest that had never been in doubt, Republican Michael Bloomberg easily
outdistanced Democrat Fernando Ferrer to win a second term as New York City's
mayor. In Detroit, voters gave Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who had been
trailing his rival going into the polls, the second chance he asked for in a
come-from-behind victory. Voters also re-elected mayors in Houston and
Boston. But in San Diego, Republican Jerry Sanders, a former police chief
backed by the city's business establishment, handily defeated Donna Frye, a
maverick Democratic councilwoman and surf-shop owner.
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| Sen. Jon Corzine gives two thumbs up after
casting his vote in Hoboken, N.J., Tuesday. |
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With 91% of New Jersey precincts
tallied, Mr. Corzine had 53.5% of the vote to 43.2% for Mr. Forrester.
With 99% of Virginia precincts counted, Mr. Kaine had 51.5% to 46.3% for Mr.
Kilgore, a former attorney general.
Neither gubernatorial outcome represented a switch in partisan control, and Mr.
Kaine benefited from the broad popularity of Democratic Gov. Mark Warner, a
potential 2008 presidential candidate. As Democratic wins in both states
proved four years ago, odd-year election outcomes often fail to forecast the
results of congressional midterm elections 12 months later.
Yet the twin Republican defeats come as the majority party is staggering from
political setbacks over Iraq, gasoline prices, Hurricane Katrina, a failed
Supreme Court nomination, and the criminal indictments of the House Majority
Leader and the top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney. Those difficulties
have sent President Bush's approval ratings to record lows and shaken Republican
confidence in the party's ability to hold their narrow majorities in the House
and Senate next November.
At the same time, Democratic confidence is rising at a critical period in which
both parties are trying to recruit strong candidates for the 2006 elections.
As soon as the Associated Press declared Messrs. Corzine and Kaine the winners
last night, House Democratic campaign chief Rahm Emanuel hailed their victories
as a message of change from "the status-quo policies of President Bush and the
Republican leadership."
In New Jersey, Mr. Corzine ran TV ads critical of Mr. Forrester's links to the
president, while in Virginia, Mr. Kilgore seemed to distance himself from Mr.
Bush in the final weeks of the campaign by bypassing an appearance with the
president in Norfolk. As polls continued to give a slight advantage to Mr.
Kaine, Mr. Kilgore attended an 11th-hour rally with Mr. Bush earlier this week
in an attempt to appeal to the state's Republican voters.
The races in both states had been tight, with no candidate maintaining a strong
lead heading into the final days of the campaign.
In Texas, meanwhile, voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ban on gay
marriage. In Maine, however, voters rejected a conservative-backed
proposal to repeal the state's new gay-rights law.
Schwarzenegger Initiatives Are
Defeated
In California, voters defeated all eight special election measures, including
Gov. Schwarzenegger's four reform initiatives with nearly all ballots from
Tuesday's special election counted.
With 99% of the precincts reporting, Proposition 75 limiting how the
Democrat-leaning public unions can donate to political races was rejected by 53%
of voters. Another measure, Proposition 74 making it easier to fire bad
teachers, headed for defeat by 45% to 55%. His two other measures,
Proposition 76 to cap state spending and Proposition 77 to appoint judges to
redo voting districts now drawn by legislators, also were losing handily by
margins of 61% and 59%, respectively.
The results marked a stunning victory for the state's public unions, who had
spent more than $100 million to campaign against all four initiatives, which
they said would have harmed the state's teachers, nurses, police and firemen.
"This is a complete victory, and a model for the country: People can rise
up," said Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of the California Nurses
Association, which led the fight of unions against the governor's initiatives.
California voters also rejected an initiative requiring parents to be notified
when minors seek abortions, as well as another initiative to reregulate part of
the state's energy market and dueling propositions to lower prescription-drug
costs.
Ohio Election-Overhaul Measures Fail
In Republican-governed Ohio, where the 2004 presidential election was marked by
complaints of unfair election practices, four election-overhaul measures backed
by Democratic-leaning groups were on the ballot, but all were defeated.
One of the failed items would have taken redistricting powers away from
legislators.
With a late come-from-behind victory, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick avoided
becoming the first Detroit mayor since 1961 to be defeated in a re-election bid.
With 99% of precincts reporting early Wednesday, Mr. Kilpatrick had 53% of the
vote against challenger Freman Hendrix's 47%. Mr. Hendrix, a deputy mayor
under Mr. Kilpatrick's predecessor, had an early lead of 12 points.
In San Diego, Mr. Sanders defeated Ms. Frye, the surf-shop owner and maverick
Democratic councilwoman who nearly won the mayor's race in a write-in bid last
year. With 99% of the votes counted, Mr. Sanders had garnered 54%.
He now inherits a $1.37 billion pension deficit that has triggered federal
investigations of the nation's seventh-largest city and fueled talk of
bankruptcy.
Atlanta's first female mayor, Shirley Franklin, was re-elected after facing two
little-known challengers in her bid for a second term.
AP Press contributed to this article.
Write to Deborah Solomon at
deborah.solomon@wsj.com and Jim Carlton at
jim.carlton@wsj.com.
ELECTION HIGHLIGHTS
Governors
• NEW JERSEY: Democratic Sen. Jon Corzine easily beat Republican
businessman Doug Forrester after a sharply negative campaign to succeed acting
Democratic Gov. Richard J. Codey. The multimillionaires spent $70 million,
more than double the previous record for a New Jersey governor's race.
• VIRGINIA: Democratic Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine soundly defeated Republican
Jerry Kilgore, a former attorney general, in a closely watched contest to
succeed popular Democratic Gov. Mark Warner.
Mayors
• ATLANTA: The city's first female mayor, Shirley Franklin, trounced two
little-known challengers to win a second term.
• BOSTON: Three-term Mayor Thomas Menino, known as "Mumbles" for his
fractured diction, fended off a challenge from longtime City Councilwoman Maura
Hennigan.
• CHICOPEE, Mass.: Attorney Michael Bissonnette easily defeated Mayor
Richard Goyette, who was charged with extorting campaign contributions from two
businessmen. Goyette dropped out of the race a week ago -- too late to
remove his name from the ballot.
• CINCINNATI: State Rep. Mark Mallory, who is black and a member of a
prominent political family, beat white City Councilman David Pepper four years
after race riots tore apart the city.
• CLEVELAND: Popular City Council President Frank Jackson, whose hard-luck
life growing up in the nation's 12th-poorest city endeared him to voters, edged
out incumbent Jane Campbell, the first woman to lead Cleveland.
• DETROIT: Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick avoided becoming the first Detroit mayor
since 1961 to be defeated in a re-election bid, defeating Freman Hendrix, deputy
mayor under Kilpatrick's predecessor.
• HOUSTON: Mayor Bill White was re-elected with 91% of the vote, his
popularity soaring after the city absorbed refugees from Hurricane Katrina and
took strong measures to protect residents from Hurricane Rita.
• MINNEAPOLIS: Mayor R.T. Rybak won a second term despite a challenge from
fellow Democrat Peter McLaughlin, a county commissioner and union favorite who
accused Rybak of failing to protect the city's poorer neighborhoods.
• NEW YORK CITY: Billionaire Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg routed
former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer in this heavily Democratic city
and was on pace to surpass his 2001 spending record of $74 million.
• PITTSBURGH: Former City Councilman Bob O'Connor, a Democrat, defeated
GOP lawyer Joe Weinroth in a city that has not elected a Republican mayor since
the Depression. Incumbent Tom Murphy decided not to seek a fourth term.
• SEATTLE: Mayor Greg Nickels cruised to a second term. Although
Nickels's critics accused him of heavy-handed leadership and disregarding
neighborhood concerns in favor of property developers, they were unable to
recruit a high-profile challenger, settling on former professor Al Runte.
• ST. PAUL, Minn.: Randy Kelly was voted out after one term in this
heavily Democratic city, largely because he endorsed President Bush last year.
Challenger Chris Coleman, a former City Council member, had led 2-to-1 in polls;
most voters said they wanted to punish Kelly.
• SAN DIEGO: Republican Jerry Sanders, a former police chief backed by the
city's business establishment, handily defeated Donna Frye, a maverick
Democratic councilwoman and surf-shop owner. Sanders inherits a
$1.37-billion pension shortfall that has led to a federal investigation and
threatened the city with bankruptcy.
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