GILROY
– If it were up to Gilroy voters, Gray Davis would still be
governor and Arnold Schwarzenegger would still be making speeches
from a movie set, not Sacramento.
Only five out of 14 Gilroy polling precincts voted in favor of
ousting Gov. Gray Davis from office in the Oct. 7 recall election.
And, Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante edged the fiscal conservative and
social moderate Schwarzenegger by 39 votes in this city, mirroring
the countywide results that showed Silicon Valley leans more toward
the left than the rest of the state that gave the
actor-turned-politician a clear victory at the polls.
GILROY – If it were up to Gilroy voters, Gray Davis would still be governor and Arnold Schwarzenegger would still be making speeches from a movie set, not Sacramento.
Only five out of 14 Gilroy polling precincts voted in favor of ousting Gov. Gray Davis from office in the Oct. 7 recall election. And, Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante edged the fiscal conservative and social moderate Schwarzenegger by 39 votes in this city, mirroring the countywide results that showed Silicon Valley leans more toward the left than the rest of the state that gave the actor-turned-politician a clear victory at the polls.
These are some of the findings present in precinct-by-precinct voting results released from the county registrar’s office this month. The local results are being interpreted differently by at least two office holders that have been seasoned for a combined three decades by Gilroy constituencies.
County Supervisor and former Gilroy mayor Don Gage sees the Oct. 7 results as indicative of a more liberal voting trend by South County voters in recent years.
Meanwhile, current Gilroy Mayor Tom Springer says the only voting shift he sees in the recall election results is one that has Democrats more willing to vote Republican.
And both men have data that back their claims.
For Gage, who has been in South County politics for 22 years, it can no longer be assumed that Gilroy voters will take a more conservative stand than the rest of the county.
In the November 2002 election, 53 percent of Gilroy voters favored Democrat Davis, 21 percentage points better than runner-up Bill Simon, a conservative Republican. Davis landed 6 percent more votes here than he did statewide.
“The whole climate changed when folks from San Jose began moving down here,” Gage said. “It’s not a big secret. I’d say the picture has been different for the last five or six years.”
Gage, a self-described fiscal conservative and social moderate, believes his political approach still has “broad appeal” but said he would “be remiss” if he weren’t keeping tabs on county demographics even in non-election years.
For Springer, who is retiring from politics when his mayoral seat expires in November, Gilroy voters are becoming – if anything – more conservative. A resident since 1987, Springer believes the influx of more people who can afford more expensive homes – especially on the west side of town – could sway local elections for years to come.
Springer points out more than half of Gilroy voters are registered as Democrats, yet nearly half supported Schwarzenegger, a Republican. When Republican Tom McClintock’s 1,072 Gilroy votes are added to the mix, residents here clearly spoke with conservative voices Oct. 7.
“There was more support for Arnold (in Gilroy) than I expected,” Springer said. “A lot of Democrats crossed over on Oct. 7.”
The mayor says the Nov. 4 election, when Gilroy gets to seat three City Council candidates as well as choose Springer’s replacement, could tell whether there has been a significant shift in the local voting block.
With 11 hopefuls vying for four seats, the local elections have candidates favorable to slow-growth and business-friendly interests. There is also a mix of political veterans and first-time candidates.
“My personal opinion is that people voting in this city election will be voting based on reasons they didn’t use as much in the past,” Springer said. “I think there will be a lot of parochial voting. People will be asking (candidates) ‘What have you done for me?’ ”
Springer’s prediction may have already come true.
Results from just the last two elections show that pockets of this demographically diverse town vote vastly different from one another.
On Oct. 7, voters from the west and northwest parts of town who cast their ballots at Las Animas Elementary School (on Wren Avenue) and the Seventh Day Adventist Church (on Mantelli Drive) showed strong support for Davis’ ouster. In both locations, roughly 60 percent wanted Davis removed from office.
On the east side of town, 65 percent of voters casting ballots at South Valley Middle School wanted the Democratic governor to keep his seat.
If the Nov. 5, 2002 election was held on the east side of Monterey Street, a first-time Gilroy school board candidate – Jesus Florencio Gonzalez – who finished last among six school board hopefuls would have won a trustee seat hands down.
Also in November 2002, Gilroyans west of Santa Teresa Boulevard, around Mantelli Drive, voted down the school district’s $69 million facilities improvement bond.
Measure I received 62.4 percent voter approval across all of Gilroy, 7.4 percentage points more than the required 55 percent.
