Mixed Bag for Santa Monica Voters

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

March 3 -- Santa Monicans Tuesday headed to the polls to make their voices heard on funding propositions, a Senate seat, the County District Attorney and a contender the Democrats hope will unseat President Bush.

Polls did not close until 8 p.m., and the evening hours are when the majority of voters perform their civic duty, said pollster Robert Brackett.

Voting “has been light so far but should pick up tonight,” he said around noon.

Brackett should know. The 59-year-old lifetime Santa Monican said he has been a pollster for the City “numerous times.”

Time will tell if there is a heavy turnout in the politically charged city, but informal interviews during the first few hours of voting showed Santa Monicans ran the gamut in their voting choices, reasoning and affiliations.

Voters were faced with a mixed bag of propositions, as well as state and Presidential primary choices.

Todd Morgan, a 30-something registered Republican who admits feeling he’s in the minority in a primarily left-leaning town, voted for Proposition 57 (a one-time bond of up to $15 billion to retire the state budget deficit) and 58 (the California Balanced Budget Act) to “assure fiscal responsibility.”

Morgan, though, voted against Prop. 56, which would require a 55 percent, rather than a two-thirds vote of the state Assembly and Senate, to adopt a state budget. Morgan said he did not want to make it easier to raise taxes.

Another Republican, who declined to give her name, cast similar votes. But a key reason for her vote, she added, was to show her support for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“I voted on both the merits of the law, as well as wanting to give Arnold some support,” she said, her lapel bearing an “I voted” sticker flapping in the wind as she spoke.

Lynn Sigman a 47-year-old Democrat, voted for the propositions, but not as a way of supporting the Republican governor.

“I think Schwarzenegger is a Democrat in a Republican coat,” said Sigman, who voted yes on propositions 56, 57 and 58, as well as Proposition 55, a $12.3 billion bond which would provide $920 million over the next two years to California Community Colleges for building projects.

Sigman said she is leery of backing Republican-supported propositions such as 57 and 58, but feels the state “needs to move forward.” She expressed hope that Schwarzenegger is more liberal socially than the rest of his party.

Sigman also voted for Senator John Edwards in the Democratic Primary, saying she wanted to keep him in the race against Senator John Kerry to inspire more debate about issues before a presidential contender is chosen to face President George Bush in November.

Eddie Sill, said he voted against the ballot measures supported by California’s governor because, “I’m against anything that even remotely is tied to Bush.

Sill, 50 and a five-year resident of Santa Monica, said the fact that the governor shares the same party as Bush influenced his decision. Although General Wesley Clark was his first choice to oppose President Bush in November, Sill said he voted for Kerry.

“I don’t know about a good chance of winning,” Sill said. “But at least it’s still a chance.”