Low voter turnout raises questions for November

By AARON C. DAVIS, Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES -- There was no Warren Beatty, no Rob Reiner, no Hollywood pizzaz to the Democratic gubernatorial primary and voters noticed -- or maybe they didn't.

Whether the star power of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- or a deep desire to see him ousted from office -- will now lure more California voters to the polls remains to be seen.

After Tuesday's vote, only one thing was clear: The state's two Democratic gubernatorial candidates -- developer-turned-state Treasurer Phil Angelides and eBay millionaire-turned-state Controller Steve Westly -- failed to inspire voters, political observers say.

With all precincts reporting Wednesday, only 28 percent of the state's registered voters had cast ballots on Election Day, according to the Secretary of State's Office.

While that percentage will rise in coming days as election officials finish counting hundreds of thousands of early absentee and provisional ballots, experts say the state's tally could easily come in at or below 34 percent of registered voters, making it the worst showing at the polls since workers began tracking the number in 1946.

"Turnout was always going to be dismal, neither candidate excited voters," said Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles. "On top of that, I think a lot of people considered it a very negative campaign and just didn't want to vote. It was like voters said 'a pox on both your houses."

The few who did turn out, however, favored Angelides.

Angelides won 48 percent of the vote to Westly's 43 percent.

Bob Mulholland, a senior adviser to Angelides, acknowledged the low voter turnout worked to Angelides' advantage because more of the party faithful showed up to vote.

"That's fine for Phil Angelides because of the hard-core strong Democrats, liberals and union members," said Mulholland, noting that Republican turnout was even lower than the Democrats.

Shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday, Angelides declared victory, telling supporters at a gathering in Sacramento that he was ready to challenge Schwarzenegger. Westly called Angelides minutes after the speech to concede defeat.

Just before noon on Wednesday. Angelides and Westly appeared together at a unity event in Los Angeles, vowing to work together to defeat Republicans in November.

"You've given me a chance to fight for you, for the California of our dreams," Angelides said, vowing to not let his supporters down.

However with California on pace to record its worst turnout ever, voters said they had been turned off by both candidates' negative campaigning, which in turn has affected the Democratic nominee's image.

"I think most voters are pretty skeptical," said Mark Agriello, 64, of San Francisco. "How do we know if any of the promises they make will be kept."

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