By Marsha Ginsburg
Of the Free Press
SAN FRANCISCO -- Ending one of the most bitter and costly campaign seasons in recent memory, California voters on Tuesday soundly rejected a member of the Brown dynasty running for governor, but despite an anti-Democratic wave across the country, returned incumbent Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein to office.
Republican Gov. Pete Wilson, who only a year ago was some 20 points behind Democratic hopeful Kathleen Brown, handily won a second term. Political analysts said Brown, who was the first member of her political family to be denied in her first try at becoming governor, was a victim of her own poor campaign and a wave of anti-Democratic sentiment. With 100 percent of the votes counted, Wilson defeated Brown 55 percent to 40 percent.
A higher-than-average voter turnout for a gubernatorial election, which traditionally helps Democrats, did nothing to boost Brown's chances.
According the secretary of state's office, turnout was about 60 percent, slightly higher than expected.
Wilson, looking jubilant, told his supporters that his re-election was a "victory for working people who play by the rules and pay their taxes."
He took a jab at pundits who early on "wrote me off."
"Don't ever write off California," he said.
In a her concession speech, delivered at 10:15 p.m., PSD, Brown said she "hoped and prayed" that Wilson would use his victory to "help rebuild California" and promised to help ''do what I can to help chart California through this difficult course in history.'' She said education in California suffers from "benign neglect."
However, Californians, who have generally been friendlier to President Clinton and Democrats than the rest of the country in recent months, supported Feinstein in her brutal fight against Republican Rep. Michael Huffington of Santa Barbara, who spent a record $28 million of his own money to try to defeat her. It was the largest amount ever spent on a U.S. Senate race.
Feinstein beat Huffington 46.6 percent to 45.0 percent.
Feinstein and Huffington were locked in a close race when the Los Angeles Times broke a story last month saying Huffington had broken the law when he illegally hired a nanny who was an illegal immigrant. The story stung Huffington badly when he denied doing it, but then acknowledged he had broken the law.
It was then first reported by the Free Press that Feinstein also had also hired a housekeeper who was not legally allowed to work anywhere but in the Guatemalan Embassy in the United States, but Feinstein hired her before it was illegal to do so. Also, Feinstein insisted that when she hired the housekeeper, the woman provided documents showing she was in the country legally.
In their votes on a variety of measures, Californians also sent the message that they were fed up -- not only with undocumented immigrants, but with crime as well.
Proposition 187, the hotly debated and highly emotional "Save Our State'' initiative that would deny undocumented immigrant children public services such as health care and education, was winning by 60 percent to 40 percent with about 53 percent of the votes counted.
Proposition 184, the "three strikes and you're out" initiative that would mandate 25-year to life sentences for third time-felons, even those who commit nonviolent offenses, was winning soundly, 76 percent to 24 percent, with 15 percent of the vote in.
Californians also appeared to turn down a single-payer health plan that would have given the state's residents universal health care. A tobacco industry-backed initiative that would have superseded many tough local anti-smoking ordinances with weaker restrictions was losing by 68 percent to 32 percent, with 15 percent of the vote in.
In other statewide races:
Go back to Election '94 page