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 November Election Results By now most of you have heard or read the results of Tuesday's election. While every two years we are reminded of the value of individual votes, it would seem that 2006 is especially symbolic of that need. In two critical United States Senate races, the outcome is still uncertain, but both Democrat candidates in Montana and Virginia have declared victory, which would give the Democrats functional control of the Senate to go along with their control of the House of Representatives. In Montana, 3,000 votes separate the candidates out of the 350,000 votes cast, while in Virginia 8,000 votes is all that separates the office seekers out of 2.3 million cast. If these results hold after the various challenges and recounts, Nevada Senator Harry Reid (D) will likely be Senate Majority Leader. San Francisco Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D) will be elected Speaker of the House. In California races, Governor Schwarzenegger (R) won a landslide victory. Former Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi (D) is now Lt. Governor, former Governor Jerry Brown (D) is now Attorney General, and former Attorney General Bill Lockyer (D) is now Treasurer. Former State Senator Debra Bowen (D) won the Secretary of State job and former Board of Equalization member John Chiang (D) is now the new Controller. The only candidate for statewide office who is formerly from the private sector, Steve Poizner (R), is now Insurance Commissioner, winning comfortably over former Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante (D). Bustamante conceded by 9:00 P.M. November 7th. Legislative races were largely not competitive. The Assembly will remain 47(D) 33(R). In the Senate, again going back to the notion that every vote counts, all eyes are on the 34th Senate District, where Republican Lynn Daucher is leading Democrat Lou Correa by 13 votes. Since there are still absentee votes to be counted and likely challenges to the final tally, the results in this race will not be known for awhile. The outcome of that race will mean that the Democrats control either 24 or 25 seats in the 40 member Senate. The ballot measures underscore the effect of bi-partisan efforts. All infrastructure bonds passed (1A - 1E) as did Propositions 83 (Jessica's Law regarding sex offenders) and 84 (Water quality). All other propositions failed. In total, campaigns for candidates and ballot propositions spent over $400 million on advertising and other expenses, a significant amount of which was spent on Proposition 87,the failed oil severance tax measure. The season is now over and people are already setting their sights to the 2008 Presidential Elections. From a workers' compensation perspective, there is an interest in addressing issues regarding indemnity benefits (TD and PD) as well as some issues regarding return to work and utilization review. The rhetoric will become more harsh now that the elections are over, but the Democrats will not propose wholesale changes to SB 899 and other reform legislation even though we can expect a more robust legislative agenda for 2007. The most pressing concern will be to safeguard the reforms from change that could be advanced through the larger debate on health care reform. We will know more about the Commissioner's position on workers' compensation insurance issues soon, but it is likely that his role in the health care reform debate will be more pressing going into next year. |
