California gubernatorial election, 2006

California gubernatorial election, 2006
	Election results by county; Schwarzenegger: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%; Angelides: 40-50% 50–60% 60–70%
Governor before election; Arnold Schwarzenegger ; Republican	Elected Governor; Arnold Schwarzenegger ; Republican

Last updated March 17, 2019

The 2006 California gubernatorial election occurred on November 7, 2006. The primary elections took place on June 6, 2006. The incumbent Republican Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, won re-election for his first and only full term. His main opponent was California State Treasurer Phil Angelides, the California Democratic Party nominee. Peter Camejo was the California Green Party nominee, Janice Jordan was the Peace and Freedom Party nominee, Art Olivier was the California Libertarian Party nominee, and Edward C. Noonan was the California American Independent Party nominee.

California is a state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With 39.6 million residents, California is the most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area. The state capital is Sacramento. The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second and fifth most populous urban regions, with 18.7 million and 8.8 million residents respectively. Los Angeles is California's most populous city, and the country's second most populous, after New York City. California also has the nation's most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The City and County of San Francisco is both the country's second-most densely populated major city after New York City and the fifth-most densely populated county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs.

Governor of California head of state and of government of the U.S. state of California

The Governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The California Governor is the chief executive of the state government and the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Military Reserve.

A primary election is the process by which voters, either the general public or members of a political party, can indicate their preference for a candidate in an upcoming general election or by-election, thus narrowing the field of candidates.

Under the California Constitution, the Governor serves a four-year term, with a maximum limit of two consecutive terms. Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected during the 2003 California recall and served out the remainder of Gray Davis's term; he was eligible to serve until 2011.^[1] As of 2018, this is the most recent election in which a Republican was elected Governor of California.

A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for life". This is intended to protect a democracy from becoming a de facto dictatorship. Sometimes, there is an absolute or lifetime limit on the number of terms an officeholder may serve; sometimes, the restrictions are merely on the number of consecutive terms he or she may serve.

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American actor, filmmaker, businessman, author, philanthropist, activist, politician, and former professional bodybuilder and powerlifter. He served as the 38th Governor of California, from 2003 to 2011.

Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. is a retired American politician and attorney who served as the 37th Governor of California from 1999 to 2003. A member of the Democratic Party, only a few months into his second term, in 2003 Davis was recalled and removed from office, the second state governor successfully recalled in U.S. history. Prior to serving as governor, Davis was chief of staff to Governor Jerry Brown (1975–81), a California State Assemblyman (1983–87), California State Controller (1987–95) and the 44th Lieutenant Governor of California (1995–99). Davis holds a B.A. in history from Stanford University and a J.D. from Columbia Law School. He was awarded a Bronze Star for his service as a Captain in the Vietnam War.

Exit polls showed Schwarzenegger won Anglos (63%-32%) and Asian Americans (62%-37%) and other minorities (53%-38%), while Angelides won African Americans (70%-27%) and Latinos (56%-39%).

Primary elections (June 6, 2006)

Bar graph of statewide results^[2]

Results by county^[3]

The period for candidate nominations closed on March 24, 2006.^[4]

Democratic

Candidates

Phil Angelides – California State Treasurer; former State Democratic Chair and developer
Barbara Becnel – Executive Director of Neighborhood House of North Richmond; founder of Save Stanley Tookie Williams campaign
Joe Brouilette – high school teacher
Edie Bukewihge – writer and publisher
Jerald Gerst – physician
Vibert Greene – engineer
Frank Macaluso – medical doctor
Michael Strimling – attorney
Steve Westly – California State Controller; former Internet executive

Phil Angelides politician from the United States

Phillip Nicholas Angelides is an American politician who was California State Treasurer and the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Governor of California in the 2006 elections. Angelides served as the Chair of the Apollo Alliance and of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.

California State Treasurer position in state government

The California State Treasurer is responsible for the state's investment and finance. The post has narrower responsibilities and authority than the California State Controller. Some of the responsibilities include issuing bonds and notes for the state, and trustee, as well as registrar and paying agent for all general obligation bonds and certain revenue bonds investment of temporarily idle state money. The administration of the state's budgets, financial analyses and planning, money allocation, and economic research is under the California Department of Finance.

Barbara Cottman Becnel is an American author, journalist, and film producer. She was a close friend and advocate for Crips co-founder Stanley Williams, and editor of Williams's series of children's books, which spoke out against gang violence. Williams was executed in 2005. Becnel co-produced the Golden Globe-nominated film Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story, which starred award-winning actress Lynn Whitfield playing the role of Becnel.

The two front-runners for the Democratic nomination were Angelides and California State Controller Steve Westly. A pre-election poll had Westly leading Angelides by six percentage points.^[5] The Field Poll conducted on April 17, 2006 showed that both Democratic candidates had low recognition factors amongst the state's electorate, with only 45% having any opinion on Angelides and 40% for Westly. Of registered Democrats surveyed, 59% said they didn't know enough about Angelides to have any opinion about him, with 58% saying the same for Westly.^[6] The Los Angeles Times reported that the race for the Democratic nomination was a virtual tie, with Angelides leading Westly by three percentage points (37%-34%), within the 3% margin of error. Unusually, 28% of Democratic voters were undecided, and both candidates tried to earn the undecided vote.

The State Controller of California is the Chief Financial Officer of the U.S. state of California. The post has broader responsibilities and authority than the California State Treasurer. Responsibilities include investigative authority for every dollar spent by the state, and being an ex-officio member of the state's Board of Equalization.

Steven Paul Westly is an American venture capitalist and politician. He was the State Controller of California from 2003 to 2007 and was one of the top candidates in the Democratic primary for Governor of California in the 2006 election. He was defeated in the Democratic primary by California State Treasurer Phil Angelides, who later lost to Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the November 2006 elections. During the 2008 Presidential Election, Westly served as California Campaign Co-chair for Obama for America and also as a member of Obama for America's National Finance Committee. Westly was briefly considered for a cabinet-level position in the Obama administration. Currently, Westly is a Managing Partner at The Westly Group, a clean technology venture capital firm he founded.

The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper which has been published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It has the fourth-largest circulation among United States newspapers, and is the largest U.S. newspaper not headquartered on the East Coast. The paper is known for its coverage of issues particularly salient to the U.S. West Coast, such as immigration trends and natural disasters. It has won more than 40 Pulitzer Prizes for its coverage of these and other issues. As of June 18, 2018, ownership of the paper is controlled by Patrick Soon-Shiong, and the executive editor is Norman Pearlstine.

Angelides reported a recent increase in support for his campaign and gained union support as well as support from the "core" liberal constituency. The California Democratic Party endorsed him prior to the primary, despite most polls showing that Westly would fare much better against Schwarzenegger in the general election.^[7] However, many registered Democrats believed that Westly had a greater chance of winning against incumbent governor Schwarzenegger and felt that he had a slightly "more positive" image.^[8] In the end, Angelides won 47.9% of the vote to Westly's 43.4%. The turnout for the primary, was a record low 33.6%,^[9] far below the 38% predicted by the Secretary of State,^[10] with the turnout of valid ballots cast on election day at 28%.^[11]

Liberalism in the United States is a broad political philosophy centered on what many see as the unalienable rights of the individual. The fundamental liberal ideals of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion for all belief systems and the separation of church and state, right to due process and equality under the law are widely accepted as a common foundation across the spectrum of liberal thought.

The California Democratic Party is the state branch of the United States Democratic Party in the state of California. The party is headquartered in Sacramento, and is led by acting-Chair Alex Gallardo-Rooker.

Polling

Source	Date	Westly	Angelides
Survey USA	June 5, 2006	36%	44%
Survey USA	June 2, 2006	37%	41%
Field Poll	June 2, 2006	35%	34%
LA Times Poll	May 27, 2006	34%	37%
Survey USA	May 25, 2006	32%	44%
Public Policy Institute of California	May 25, 2006	32%	35%
Survey USA	May 8, 2006	31%	41%
LA Times Poll	April 29, 2006	33%	20%
Public Policy Institute of California	April 27, 2006	26%	20%
Field Poll	April 17, 2006	37%	26%
Public Policy Institute of California	March 30, 2006	23%	22%
Field Poll	November 3, 2005	26%	37%
Field Poll	September 7, 2005	22%	32%
Field Poll	June 29, 2005	28%	37%
Field Poll	February 25, 2005	11%	15%

Results

California gubernatorial Democratic primary, 2006
Candidate	Votes	%
Phil Angelides	1,202,851	48.00
Steve Westly	1,081,940	43.18
Barbara Becnel	66,550	2.66
Joe Brouillette	42,075	1.68
Michael Strimling	35,121	1.40
Frank A. Macaluso, Jr.	30,867	1.23
Vibert Greene	25,475	1.02
Jerald Robert Gerst	21,039	0.84
Total votes	2,505,918	100.00