Immigrant measure surfaces in race
By Laura Kurtzman
Mercury News
Elections officials Sunday put the number of potential candidates for the recall ballot at 193, as Democrats moved swiftly to undermine the one candidate they fear most -- Arnold Schwarzenegger -- by trying to discredit him in the eyes of Latino voters.
Art Torres, chairman of the state Democratic Party, went on the attack after former Gov. Pete Wilson said he believed the actor voted for Proposition 187, the 1994 ballot measure that sought to deny government services to illegal immigrants.
Schwarzenegger's campaign said Sunday that he did vote for the measure, which alienated many Latinos from the Republican Party.
Torres and Wilson traded barbs on ABC's ``This Week With George Stephanopoulos,'' as the California recall dominated the nation's Sunday morning political talk shows.
``Yes, the California Democratic Party will make this an issue with our Democratic base, especially in the Latino community,'' Torres said later in a statement.
It was the second time in two days that Democrats sought to use the divisive issue, which has poisoned the GOP's relationship with Latino voters.
Friday, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante criticized Schwarzenegger's key advisers for having worked on the campaign for Proposition 187. The measure passed with 60 percent of the vote but was later overturned by the courts.
To sharpen his appeal to Latino voters, Schwarzenegger has portrayed himself as a man of the people who rose from humble immigrant beginnings to fame and wealth. His tax returns, made public Sunday, show he earned $26.1 million in 2001 and $31.1 million the year before.
Latino voters
Latinos, who made up one-tenth of the electorate in the last gubernatorial election, could figure prominently in deciding the recall election, because votes could be fragmented among many candidates. If the recall passes, and Gov. Gray Davis loses his job, his replacement will be whoever receives the most votes among the enormous field of candidates.
By Sunday evening, 89 of the 193 candidates had qualified for the ballot. The filings of the remaining 104 were still under review.
Today, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley will hold a random drawing to determine in what order candidates will appear. The ballot order will be different in each Assembly district.
To appeal to Latinos, Schwarzenegger's advisers are stressing both his immigrant beginnings and his history of charitable work with poor inner-city kids. Schwarzenegger's advisers hope those qualities -- along with his action-hero image -- will put him in contention with Bustamante for at least a slice of the Latino vote.
``The battle will be for third-generation suburban voters,'' said Miguel Contreras, a labor leader in Los Angeles. ``Those are the ones, in fact, like anyone else, who are more likely to be infatuated with a Schwarzenegger candidacy.''
Some of Schwarzenegger's campaign aides worked for Wilson during the Proposition 187 campaign. Don Sipple, who is now working for Schwarzenegger, created the harsh television commercials promoting the initiative. Referring to illegal immigrants, a narrator intoned grimly, ``They keep coming.''
Bustamante on Friday decried a ``cynical political strategy'' of wedge-issue politics ``that in fact tried to blame immigrants on the economic problems of California. That's a fact.''
Wilson, who used Proposition 187 to buoy his re-election battle and has been reviled by Latino activists ever since, is co-chair of Schwarzenegger's campaign.
The campaign also has enlisted two Republican Latino Assembly members, Bonnie Garcia of El Centro and Abel Maldonado of San Luis Obispo.
``We are very actively engaged in seeking Latino support from the political spectrum, from the community activists and from the Latino business community,'' said Sean Walsh, an adviser to Schwarzenegger. ``Arnold has been there in their communities for years.''
Although he did not appear on the Sunday morning talk show circuit, Schwarzenegger was ever-present in the comments that other candidates and politicians made.
Appearing on ``Meet the Press,'' Sen. Dianne Feinstein said that, amid the focus on Schwarzenegger, she hoped media outlets would give Davis as much attention.
``The governor should have, if it's fair, 50 percent of the coverage,'' she said. ``And I think he'll have a chance to show himself as a hard-working, transparent, problem-solving governor.''
Bill Simon, last year's Republican nominee for governor, sought to contrast himself with Schwarzenegger, who has espoused liberal views on social issues, such as abortion, gun control and gays.
GOP candidates
Four candidates -- Schwarzenegger, Simon, Republican Sen. Tom McClintock from Thousand Oaks, and former baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth -- are the major contenders for Republican votes.
Simon and McClintock will appeal to conservatives, some of whom have already begun to turn against Schwarzenegger.
``He apparently has said that he is liberal on the social issues -- I am not,'' Simon said on ``Fox News Sunday.'' ``People know where I stand on the social issues. I have been very specific. I am a conservative in these areas.''
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