CALIFORNIA 55 Electoral Votes

The Bush campaign did not make a major play for California as they had in 2000.  Despite the lack of resources and visits, the campaign did put together a grassroots structure as in other states, complete with county leaders and an active team of volunteers.  When all was said and done, the campaign actually improved marginally on the 2000 result while spending far less money.  (The Republican ticket obtained 44.43% of the vote in 2004, compared to 41.65% in 2000; the Democratic margin was trimmed from 11.80 percentage points to 9.98 percentage points).

California continued to be a key state for fundraising.  From late March to mid-October Sen. Kerry, Sen. Edwards, and Teresa Heinz Kerry did at least 19 fundraisers in the state.  President Bush's visits on March 3-4 and August 12 each had a fundraising component.  Ralph Nader, who did not appear on the California ballot, did at least seven fundraisers in the state in the final three and a half months of the campaign.
 
Bush-Cheney '04 Kerry-Edwards 2004
Organization details...  details...
BC'04 State Chair: Gerald Parsky
Exec. Director: Debbie McCall
Office: Burbank

California Republican Party
State Chair: Duf Sundheim
Exec. Director: Mike Vallante
Office: 1903 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank

KE State Director: Sky Gallegos
Comm. Director: Luis Vizcaino
Office: 10350 Santa Monica Blvd, Suite 330, Los Angeles

Coordinated Campaign Director: Van Parish
Office: 888 S. Figueroa, 4th Floor, Los Angeles

California Democratic Party
State Chair: Art Torres
Exec. Director: Kathy Bowler
Office: 1401 21st Street, Suite 100, Sacramento

Travel  compare...
BUSH-CHENEY KERRY-EDWARDS
Final Month (Oct. 2-Nov. 2, 2004)
George W. Bush - 0 visits
Dick Cheney (and Lynne Cheney) - 0 visits 
Laura Bush (solo) - 1 visit (1 day)
John Kerry - 0 visits 
John Edwards - 1 visit (1 day)
Teresa Heinz Kerry (solo) - 0 visits
Elizabeth Edwards (solo) - 0 visits
Eight Months (March 2-Nov. 2, 2004)
George W. Bush - 2 visits (3 days)
Dick Cheney (and Lynne Cheney) - 2 visits (2 days)
Laura Bush (solo) - 2 visits (2 days)
John Kerry - 6 visits (11 days)
John Edwards - 2 visits (3 days)
Teresa Heinz Kerry (solo) - 3 visits (4 or 5 days)
Elizabeth Edwards (solo) - 0 visits
Newspaper Endorsements
BUSH
San Diego Union-Tribune  (10/17/04)
The Press-Enterprise (Riverside) 
Long Beach Press-Telegram (Long Beach) 
San Bernardino Sun 
The Bakersfield Californian
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin 
The Record (Stockton) 
The Desert Sun (Palm Springs) 
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Tri-Valley Herald (Pleasanton)
Record Searchlight (Redding) 
Pasadena Star-News 
Chico Enterprise-Record
The Reporter (Vacaville) 
Whittier Daily News 
San Mateo County Times (10/25/04)

Adapted from Editor & Publisher
 

KERRY
San Francisco Chronicle  (10/17/04)
Sacramento Bee  (10/17/04)
San Jose Mercury News  (10/17/04)
Alameda Times-Star
*Contra Costa Times (10/24/04)
*Daily News [Los Angeles] (10/23/04)
Fresno Bee
La Opinión  (10/25/04)
*Ventura County Star (10/24/04)
The Press Democrat [Santa Rosa]  (09/19/04)
Modesto Bee (10/17/04)
Oakland Tribune  (10/24/04)
Marin Independent Journal
Daily Review [Hayward]  (10/24/04)
*Monterey County Herald  (10/24/04)
The Argus [Fremont]  (10/30/04)
*Santa Cruz Sentinel  (10/24/04)
Times-Herald [Vallejo]  (10/31/04)
*Times-Standard [Eureka]
Merced Sun-Star (10/16/04)

Third Party and Independent
Nader Ballot Access
Ralph Nader did not appear on the California ballot despite selecting Peter Miguel Camejo of Folsom, co-founder of the California Green Party and former gubernatorial candidate, as his running mate.  Nader would have needed to submit 153,035 signatures by August 6 to gain ballot status as an Independent; his campaign gathered less than 100,000.  The Nader campaign then sought to persuade the Green Party of California to hold a special General Assembly, break with the national party's selection of David Cobb and Pat LaMarche, and put Nader/Camejo on the ballot instead.  On August 10 the party's coordinating committee voted 11 to 7 with 2 abstentions not to take that course. (press release)

California Ties
As noted above Peter Miguel Camejo hails from Folsom, California.  Michael Badnarik moved from California to Texas in 1997, citing gun control as his primary reason for leaving the state.  More recently David Cobb moved to Humboldt County, California from Texas, where he was born, grew up, went to school, and ran for state Attorney General in 2002.

State Coordinators
Nader: No. Todd Chretien   So. Lynda Aurelius Hernandez    also: Forrest Hill
Badnarik: Gail Lightfoot and Bruce Cohen
Cobb (Acting): Leslie Bonett

Candidate Visits
Extensive travel by Cobb, three trips by Nader  >> (bottom of page)

Copyright ©  2004, 2005  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.


The 2004 Campaign on the Web--California  11/04/04
CA Republican Party
www.cagop.org
CA Democratic Party
www.cadem.org
.
Libertarian Party of CA
www.ca.lp.org
Green Party of CA
www.cagreens.org
American Independent Party
www.aipca.org
Peace and Freedom Party
www.peaceandfreedom.org
.
...Senate
Bill Jones (R)
www.jonesforcalifornia.com
Barbara Boxer (D)
www.boxer2004.org
.
Jim Gray (L)
judgegray2004.com
Don J. Grundmann (AIP)
www.truthusa.org
Marsha Feinland (P&F)
www.peaceandfreedom2004.org/
mfeinland