An effort to change California’s method of allocating electoral votes has collapsed.  Shortly after sponsors began gathering signatures for a ballot measure to adopt a district system, the major players suddenly quit. “The levels of support just weren’t there,” a fundraiser told the San Francisco Chronicle.

California has been trending Democratic since the 1980s.  The current winner-take-all system means that the Democratic nominee can usually count on the state’s 55 electoral votes.  Under the now-defunct measure, candidates would have gotten one electoral vote for each California congressional district that they carried.  (The statewide winner would have an additional two votes.)  A Republican could thus win 20 or more electoral votes in California even if the Democrat won the state. California has been trending Democratic since the 1980s.  The current winner-take-all system means that the Democratic nominee can usually count on the state’s 55 electoral votes.  Under the now-defunct measure, candidates would have gotten one electoral vote for each California congressional district that they carried.  (The statewide winner would have an additional two votes.)  A Republican could thus win 20 or more electoral votes in California even if the Democrat won the state.Democrats saw the measure as a threat, citing a Field Poll showing it with 47 percent support. They need not have worried.  When a California ballot measure starts with less than a majority, strong opposition can usually beat it.  And California Democrats enjoy a big edge in finance, organization, and morale.  Republicans, by contrast, face money woes and ideological divisions.

The measure would have been a much stronger money magnet for Democrats than for Republicans.  The Democrats were angry about the measure, and anger is a powerful tool for political fundraising. 

Had the measure remained alive, Democrats would have focused their fire on Peter Singer, a New York billionaire who had provided much of the seed money.  Singer back Rudy Giuliani, so they could have portrayed the measure as a Giuliani plot.

Also, it might have backfired in November.  If Giuliani wins the Republican nomination, he might carry the state.  But under the district plan, he would still lose dozens of California electoral votes.

Reforms of the electoral process have often disappointed partisan hopes.   Democrats thought that the 18-year-old-vote would sweep Nixon out of the White House.  Instead, he carried 49 states.   They had great expectations for the “motor voter” law in the 1990s, but the GOP kept control of Congress.  In the first election after the latest campaign finance law, President Bush beat Senator Kerry.

Ironically, the early demise of the electoral college initiative is probably good news for the GOP.

 

Have PoliticalMavens.com delivered to your inbox in a daily digest by clicking here