Democrats fall short in bid for a super majority

SACRAMENTO —  Democratic hopes of ending budget gridlock in Sacramento by winning a super majority in the state Legislature fell short Wednesday even though their presidential candidate, Barack Obama, took more than 60% of California’s vote.

With some votes still uncounted, the party appears to have gained two seats in the Assembly. It needed six to reach the two-thirds majority required to pass a state spending plan.

In the Senate, Democrats needed two additional seats, but they may have garnered only one, in the seat formerly held by Republican Tom McClintock of Thousand Oaks.

With Democrat Hannah Beth Jackson holding a mere 108-vote lead over Republican Tony Strickland, the outcome of that race depends on as many as 90,000 absentee and provisional ballots still to be counted.

“You had this enormous Obama tide, and the Democrats don’t have much to show for it,” said Tony Quinn, a GOP researcher and co-editor of the California Target Book, which analyzes legislative races. He said gerrymandering of districts to protect incumbents makes it harder for one party to take a seat from another.

Still, Democratic leaders fought hard against a redistricting measure on Tuesday’s ballot, Proposition 11, that would take the setting of legislative boundaries away from the Democrat-controlled Legislature and give it to a citizens commission.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the leading supporter of the measure, declared victory in a Wednesday news conference, but with at least 1.6 million ballots still outstanding the proposition’s lead was uncertain.

“The people want politicians, Democrats and Republicans, to work together,” Schwarzenegger said during a victory rally at Los Angeles City Hall. “I think this is why they voted yes on Proposition 11, because they’re sick and tired of the gridlock. They’re sick and tired of the politicians getting stuck in their ideological corners.”

If the redistricting measure is implemented, after the 2010 census Democrats may have a harder time keeping seats.

“It will make more seats competitive, but it will not bring the Republicans to power,” said John J. Pitney Jr., a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College.

In hopes of avoiding budget gridlock next year, Assembly leaders tried to capture six seats held by Republicans that they thought were winnable. In incomplete results Wednesday, Democrats were leading in only three of the districts, with Republicans appearing victorious in the other three and a Republican leading in a seat currently held by a Democrat.

“We made the attempt. We came up short,” said one Democratic member of the Assembly.

Rick Jacobs, founder and director of the Courage Campaign activist group, said he was disappointed that state party leaders sent so many resources out of state to help others when there were winnable seats in California. He said Democrats might have gained four seats instead of two if resources had been better targeted in California.

In contrast, Democrats gained control of both houses in four state legislatures -- Delaware, Nevada, New York and Wisconsin -- on Tuesday night, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In California, Democrats were leading contests for seats held by Republicans in Contra Costa County, in San Diego County and in a district that includes parts of Riverside and Imperial counties.

But the Democrats may also have lost one of their long-held seats in the 30th Assembly District, where Republican Danny D. Gilmore held a 51.5% to 48.5% lead over Democrat Fran Florez to fill the San Joaquin Valley seat being vacated by Democrat Nicole Parra.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass said Wednesday that she was disappointed after Parra endorsed the Republican. But Bass said she was excited to have possibly netted two seats and said her goal now is to win the other four in 2010.

“We have taken a step forward toward our strategy to get to two-thirds,” Bass said.

And she noted that Democrats want to put a measure on the ballot next year that removes the two-thirds majority requirement to pass state budgets.

The results of Tuesday’s election were heartening to Mike Villines of Clovis, leader of the Assembly’s Republicans.

“This means Republicans will still be empowered to protect Californians from higher taxes and reckless spending,” he said.

Bass noted some of the Republicans won Tuesday with slim margins. That vulnerability will be brought to their attention during budget talks, she said.

“I am certainly hoping those new members understand that adhering to a rigid dogma is not going to make them safe in two years,” she said.

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patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com

Times staff writer Jia-Rui Chong in Los Angeles contributed to this report.