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APRIL 7, 1998: SPECIAL CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION On November 17 , 1997 , 27-year veteran Congressman Ron Dellums announced that he was retiring from Congress. Having represented the Oakland-Berkeley area since 1970 and first elected as anti-Vietnam War activist, the 61-year-old Dellums said: "Now I choose to make a personal decision and to empower myself to regain my life. It's important for me to now move on." {Link without Title} . But rather than serve the rest of his 2-year term (which expired with the November 1998 general election), Dellums announced that he would step down effective on February 6 , 1998 . Therefore, a special election would have to be called on Tuesday, April 7 . Upon stepping down, Dellums endorsed a long-time aide, Barbara Lee , who at the time was representing the Berkeley-Oakland area in the California State Senate . With no serious opposition, Barbara Lee was easily elected to Congress with 67% of the vote, defeating fellow Democrats Greg Harper and Randall Stewart, and Republican Charlie Sanders {Link without Title} . In this politically active district, voter turnout was a meager 16% - probably because Lee was the overwhelming favorite. Of course, now Lee had to give up her State Senate seat -- and another special election was called for Tuesday, September 1 , 1998 . SEPTEMBER 1, 1998: SPECIAL STATE SENATE ELECTION Unlike the Congressional race, where Lee had no serious opposition, the special election for Lee's Senate seat was fiercely contested. Because the California legislature has Term Limits , many politicians are constantly seeking higher office -- and many viewed the special election as a rare opportunity. At first, two Democrats entered the race: California State Assemblywoman Dion Aroner of Berkeley, and Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson , also of Berkeley. Both were considered liberal Democrats of the Dellums-Lee fold, and shared a similar political base. But then, California State Assemblyman Don Perata of Alameda entered the race late. Perata was a more moderate Democrat, and represented the southern half of the Senate district. There was some concern that Aroner and Carson would split the progressive Berkeley vote, allowing Perata to eke through in a low-turnout special election, although the political demographics of the district were far more progressive than Perata. The September special election had a 15% voter turnout. Fueled by a well-financed, absentee-driven campaign, Don Perata finished in first place with 33% of the vote. {Link without Title} But Dion Aroner came in a very close second with 32% -- only 900 votes short of a first-place finish. Carson finished third with 20% -- and other candidates finished far behind. With no candidate receiving a majority, a run-off election was required. But it was not to be a run-off between the top two finishers (Perata and Aroner) because both were Democrats. Under California election law, if no candidate receives a majority in a special election, there must be a run-off among the top finishers of each political party. Therefore, Aroner and Carson were eliminated from the run-off because, like Perata, they were Democrats. The run-off would have to be between Don Perata as the Democratic Party candidate, Deborah Wright as the Republican candidate and Marsha Feinland as the Peace & Freedom Party candidate. Because the district is overwhelmingly Democratic, running against these two candidates did not generate much excitement. With the November 1998 general election just two months away, the special run-off election was consolidated with the previously-scheduled statewide election. NOVEMBER 3, 1998: SPECIAL STATE SENATE RUN-OFF ELECTION AND STATEWIDE GENERAL ELECTION On November 3 , 1998 , when Gray Davis was elected Governor of California and U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer was re-elected to a second term, Don Perata easily won the special election to the State Senate over the Republican and Peace & Freedom party candidates. But while running for the State Senate, Don Perata was also on the ballot for re-election to the California State Assembly -- and in that race he easily defeated Republican Linda Marshall. Because he could not legally hold a seat in both houses of the legislature, Perata announced on November 4 that he would resign his Assembly seat as soon as possible {Link without Title} . Therefore, a special election was called for Perata's Assembly seat on February 2 , 1999 . FEBRUARY 2, 1999: SPECIAL STATE ASSEMBLY ELECTION Now there was a special election for the 16th Assembly district -- which covered most of Oakland , Piedmont , and Alameda . Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris (who had represented the district from 1977-1991 in the state Assembly) entered the race, and was heavily supported by the California Democratic Party establishment. But Oakland lawyer Frank Russo , a Democrat, also entered the race and received significant support from Democrats who were disenchanted with Harris. Audie Bock , a Green Party candidate, also entered the race. On February 2, with a 19.5 percent voter turnout, Harris came in a strong first-place finish {Link without Title} . But he received only 49% of the vote -- just shy of a simple majority to avoid a run-off election. Frank Russo came in second place with 37%, and Audie Bock walked away with 8.7% of the vote. Again, like the State Senate election, California law required a run-off election between the top finishers of each political party. Therefore, because Russo was a Democrat like Harris, he was eliminated. A special run-off election was called for Tuesday, March 30 , 1999 between Elihu Harris as the Democratic Party candidate, and Audie Bock as the Green Party candidate. MARCH 30, 1999: SPECIAL RUN-OFF STATE ASSEMBLY ELECTION Because Elihu Harris was the former mayor of Oakland, had previously represented the Assembly district from 1977-1991, had almost won the February election outright without the need of a run-off, and Audie Bock had only received 8.7% of the vote in the February election, Harris was heavily favored to win. On Election Day, he was in Sacramento negotiating his committee assignments. But the California Democratic Party made a fatal mistake that created one of the biggest upsets in political history. In an effort to boost voter turnout in black-majority, heavily-Democratic precincts in Oakland, the party sent voters "chicken-dinner" vouchers that said that if they could bring their voter stub to certain locations proving that they had voted, they would receive a free chicken dinner. {Link without Title} This created an outcry among voters who felt that it was a racist and demeaning gesture -- and it badly hurt Elihu Harris' campaign. On Tuesday, March 30, in a special run-off election where only 15 percent of voters bothering to show up, Harris lost by less than 1,000 votes to Audie Bock -- who the San Francisco Chronicle called "a fringe-party opponent with no name and almost no money but a fervent following of voters sick of the same old faces and the same old lines." {Link without Title} It was one of the largest political upsets in California history -- as Bock became the first Green Party candidate in the country to be elected to a state legislative body. Bock's victory was heralded by progressives across the country, but was minimized by the fact that she had been elected in a very low turnout special election -- after a series of five special elections in less than twelve months. {Link without Title} Bock's victory ended the year-long Special Election madness. In the last six years, the East Bay has not had a special election for statewide or congressional office. RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS Holding five special elections in less than twelve months cost the state an enormous amount of money. With repeated special elections, voters grew tired and became oblivious -- allowing fateful decisions of who would dominate East Bay politics in the hands of a small minority of the area's population who are generally older, whiter and more conservative. Political observers should carefully assess what happened in this series of special elections and determine what should be done to avoid such situations from recurring in the future. Political Ambitions Some may argue that Ron Dellums should not have resigned in the middle of his term -- and that his decision to retire prematurely caused the chain reaction of special elections. But it is not fair to completely blame Dellums. Granted, Dellums could have announced that he would retire at the end of his term in November 1998, and that he was anointing state senator Barbara Lee as his successor. This would have avoided the April 1998 Congressional election, as well as the September 1998 State Senate election. Voters would have chosen thier new Congressman in the November general election -- when a higher voter turnout would allow more people to participate. But under this scenario, after getting elected, Barbara Lee would have then been forced to resign her Senate seat, creating the need for a special election in Feburary 1999. Following a scenario where Dellums retired at the end of his term, Barbara Lee could have, after winning the regularly-scheduled June 1998 primary election for Congress, resigned her State Senate seat because winning the Democratic primary was tantamount to winning the November general election. The State Senate special election to replace her would then probably have been consolidated with the November election, and more voters could have selected the choice between Don Perata , Dion Aroner and Keith Carson . With a higher voter turnout, Aroner could have beaten Perata (since his campaign benefited from a low voter-turnout of more conservative absentee voters.) Even under this scenario, however, Aroner or Perata would have then resigned their Assembly seat -- and another special election would have been held in Feburary 1999. Election Law for Special Elections Another issue that played out in these elections is whether California election law should be amended to deal with how and when run-off special elections should be held. Section 10706(a) of the California Election Code, which governs special elections, says: :If no candidate receives a majority of votes cast, the name of that candidate of each qualified political party who receives the most votes cast for all candidates of that party shall be placed on the special general election ballot as the candidate of that party. This law was passed in 1963 by Democrats in the California state legislature to deal with a problem that had plagued the party for years. The previous law did not require a run-off at all, and whichever candidate in a special election who received a simple plurality of the vote won. Because Republicans tend to be more unified than Democrats, this law benefited Republicans -- who would often eke through in a crowded field of candidates, even in strong Democratic districts. The idea behind changing the law was to require a run-off so that, under such a scenario, the top Republican who came in first would then have to face the top Democrat. The drafter of this law, legendary Assemblyman Philip Burton , probably did not anticipate a scenario where the top two finishers in a crowded special election were both members of the same party. Here, this problem occurred twice -- when Dion Aroner barely lost to Don Perata for the State Senate race, and when Frank Russo barely lost to Elihu Harris for the State Assembly race. Because Aroner and Russo were both Democrats, they were eliminated from the run-off despite coming in second place. This left Perata facing token opposition in the run-off, and Harris unexpectedly losing to Green Party candidate Audie Bock , who had received less than 9% of the vote in the previous special election. Some may argue that this scenario as played out in these elections did not give voters a fair choice because a run-off should be held between the top two finishers, not the top finisher of each party. While Aroner, theoretically, could have challenged Perata two years later in the regularly-scheduled election, political reality dictates that it is virtually impossible to defeat an incumbent legislator in a safe district. EPILOGUE: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? What has happened to the various political figures in the 1998-1999 Special Election Madness is informative, instructive, ironic and amusing. It also reveals how critical the five special elections were to reshaping the fate of East Bay politics. Here's a brief rundown of where they are now: Audie Bock Audie Bock 's political fortunes weren't so good after winning the unexpected race. Shortly before the 2000 election, Bock left the Green Party and ran for re-election as an Independent because of her inability to work with the Greens and a controversy about her acceptance of $500 campaign contributions from Chevron and Tosco. The Green Party has long rejected the acceptance of corporate donations. Officially, Bock claimed that it was a "tactical move" to avoid having to run in the March 2000 primary, though she could have expected to be unopposed. Shortly after losing the November 2000 election to Democrat Wilma Chan , Bock re-registered as a Democrat and has perenially re-appeared as a fringe candidate. After September 11, 2001 , Bock announced her run against Barbara Lee in the 2002 primary as a Democrat, arguing that Lee's vote against the USA PATRIOT Act was unpatriotic. Her campaign website showed the twin towers of the World Trade Center and a campaign slogan "It's OK to Love America" -- implying that Barbara Lee was somehow un-American. After it was revealed that her campaign was being funded by Republican consultant, she withdrew from the race before the filing deadline. In 2003, Bock ran for Governor Of California in the 2003 California Recall . On a right-wing website, she urged Democrats to vote to recall Gray Davis. {Link without Title} Bock received 2,872 votes. Elihu Harris Elihu Harris now serves as Chancellor of the Peralta Community College Board , a community college district that oversees four colleges in the East Bay ( Vista College in Berkeley, Laney College in Oakland, Merritt College in Oakland, and College Of Alameda in Alameda). Don Perata State Senator Don Perata went on to be a powerful political force in California politics. In August 2004 , his colleagues elected him President of the State Senate pro tempore, which made him, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger the three most powerful people in state politics. After the 2000 U.S. Census, Perata used his influence to re-draw the State Senate districts, carving out a district for him that was far less progressive than the old state senate district he had represented (the district now includes Livermore ). Because California state senators can only serve two terms (or eight years), it was an open question for a while whether Perata could run for another term in 2004. Because he had won the September 1998 special-election, it was argued that he had finished more than half of Barbara Lee 's state senate term, and therefore was ineligible to run in 2004. But Perata received a legal opinion from California Attorney General (and political ally) Bill Lockyer that said that because Perata didn't take office until January 1999, he had technically served less than half of a senate term. By the time Perata will have to leave in 2008, he will have been in the State Senate longer than any other current state senator -- and will naturally have amassed more power, influence and seniority. Dion Aroner After losing her State Senate bid, Dion Aroner returned to the State Assembly until term limits forced her out in 2002 . She moved back to Berkeley and opened up a political consulting firm. In 2004 , Aroner briefly considered another run for the State Senate -- beleiving that Don Perata would likewise be forced out because of term limits. But after Perata received the legal opinion allowing him to run for another term, Aroner opted not to run. Barbara Lee Congresswoman Barbara Lee made international headlines on September 14, 2001 by casting the only "no" vote in Congress against the war in Afghanistan. Urging restraint from the post-September 11th hysteria, and arguing that "we must not become the evil we deplore," Lee became a national hero among the anti-war movement, but also received death threats for this vote. Her constituents rewarded her for this move, and bumper stickers appeared throughout Berkeley that said "Barbara Lee Speaks for Me!" She went on to be an eloquent critic of George Bush's war in Iraq. Ron Dellums Ron Dellums became a paid Lobbyist after his retirement. In 2006 he announced he would has returned to politics with a run for mayor of Oakland. He is heavily favored to win. |
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