ABSTRACT

The governor is the most visible political personality in California, and almost every resident knows the names Ronald Reagan, Jerry Brown, George Deukmejian, Peter Wilson, Gray Davis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Californians expect the governor to provide the same type of executive and administrative leadership for the state as the president of the United States provides for the nation. Yet unlike the federal government, but like most state governments, California’s government has several elected executive officials. In addition to the governor, there are 11 state executiveslieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, controller, treasurer, superintendent of public instruction, insurance commissioner, and four members of the Board of Equalization-all elected directly by the people (see Figure 7.1). The voters have, with some regularity, elected governors of one party and lieutenant governors or attorneys general of another. In 1990 Democrat Leo McCarthy was elected to a third term as lieutenant governor serving with his second Republican governor (Deukmejian and Wilson). Republican Mike Curb was elected to that same position along with Democratic Governor Jerry Brown. And in 1994 the voters chose Democrat Gray Davis to serve as second to Republican Pete Wilson, a pattern broken in 1998 when Democrats Davis and Cruz Bustamante were elected to the two top spots. As can be seen in Figure 7.2, the same pattern has been typical of the attorney general’s position. Originated to prevent excessive concentration of power in the hands of one person, this arrangement has contributed to a divided administrative structure.