Downticket races & Election results 14 Nov 2006 11:26 am
No significant Schwarzenegger coattails
Another significant part of the election this year was that the governor had very little in the way of coattails for any of the Republican downticket candidates. The only Republican downticket candidate who won was Insurance Commissioner-elect Steve Poizner, who beat out Cruz Bustamante by a 51-39% margin.
All of the other Republicans lost, despite polls and pundit assessments in the run-up to the election that predicted that many of them would win. Tom McClintock lost to John Garamendi by 49-45%. Tony Strickland lost to John Chiang by 51-40%. Steve McPherson lost to Debra Bowen by 48-45%. The attorney general and treasurer races were decided by even wider margins.