California Prop 209 Narrowly Passes
Gender Gap in Voting and Fundraising; Republican Party and Contractors Fund Prop 209
California Proposition 209, an amendment to the state constitution which attempts to outlaw affirmative action programs for women and minorities in public employment, public contracting, and public education and weakens sex discrimination law, narrowly passed (54%-46%) after having enjoyed initial support as high as 70%. Despite the deceptive wording of the measure and the fact that they were significantly outspent, women’s rights and civil rights groups narrowed the final margin with a strong grassroots campaign, an impressive gender gap, and solid opposition to the measure from people of color communities.
The gender gap in voting played a critical role in eroding support for Prop 209. Indeed, the substantial decline in women’s support for Prop 209 nearly closed the margin: a majority of women (52%) in the end voted against Prop 209. Significantly, 57% of young women aged 18-29 opposed 209, with only 43% voting in favor.
But opposition from women was too slim to overcome the votes of men, 61% of whom favored the initiative. Equally important in narrowing the gap was the dramatic shift in people of color communities from initial support of the measure to solid opposition by election day: 74% of Blacks, 76% of Latinos, and 61% of Asians opposed Prop 209.
"The trick language deceived far too many voters," said Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority. "But let there be no mistake about it: this is a Pyrrhic victory for the Republican Party. Republican strategists placed 209 on the ballot as a race-wedge issue to help elect a Republican President, a Republican state legislature, and save Republican seats for the Newt Gingrich Congress. The strategy worked poorly: California went for Clinton, both houses of the state legislature went Democratic, and three California Republican Congressional seats were lost."
"For the first time in this century — in the largest and the trend-setting state—a state constitution has been amended to legalize rather than outlaw sex discrimination against women and girls," said Katherine Spillar, National Coordinator of the Feminist Majority and Southern California Director of the Stop 209 campaign. Buried within 209 is Clause C, which weakens laws prohibiting sex discrimination in public education, public employment, and public contracting.
"The words ‘affirmative action were not on the ballot — instead, the summary and title of Prop 209 read ‘Prohibition Against Discrimination and Preferential Treatment," continued Spillar. "Nowhere on the ballot was Clause C. Now the proponents will have to live with this language. They will have to demonstrate in a court of law that affirmative action is preferential treatment. And we’re going to hold Prop 209’s proponents to their claims that Clause C leaves current sex discrimination law unchanged."
Chief U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson issued a temporary restraining order blocking implementation of Proposition 209 in response to a lawsuit brought by a coalition of civil rights groups. Judge Henderson, a former Justice Department civil rights prosecutor, has said there is a "strong probability" that Prop 209 will be proven unconstitutional at a trial and be struck down permanently.
The lawsuit argues that Proposition 209 is unconstitutional because it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment. Following a hearing for a preliminary injunction in December, the full case is expected to go to trial sometime in 1997.
Over 400 groups opposed Prop 209, including the Feminist Majority, NOW, the Rainbow Coalition, the United Farm Workers, the League of Women Voters, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the YWCA, the Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund, and the Asian Pacific Legal Defense Fund. Although substantially outspent, these groups were not out-organized.
The Stop Prop 209 campaign helped equalize advertising dollars by garnering free media through rallies, bus tours, and the work of literally thousands of volunteers, most of whom were young college students. The final rally in Los Angeles, which featured Bruce Springsteen singing "Promised Land" and urging a no vote on 209, was aired repeatedly on television. The rally also highlighted Ani DiFranco, who especially appealed to young people. Hard-hitting Stop Prop 209 radio spots with Candace Bergen, Ellen DeGeneres, Alfre Woodard, Jesse Jackson, Dolores Huerta, and Bruce Springsteen were aired heavily throughout the state in the last week.
The Campaign to Defeat 209 featured a 30-second television spot, which also ran during the last week, reminding voters of some of the proponents of 209 — like David Duke and Newt Gingrich—as well as some of 209’s opponents: Bill Clinton and Colin Powell.
The gender gap extended beyond the voting on Prop 209. Women supplied 77% of individual contributions to oppose 209, while only 33% came from men. In contrast, 94% of individual contributions to the Yes campaign were from men, many of whom are large state contractors or Far-Right contributors.
By far the largest single source of money to the Yes on 209 Campaign was the California Republican Party. In total, the State GOP spent $2.6 million — $1.2 million of which was pumped into the final week of television advertising. Republican contributors who also contributed to Newt Gingrich’s GOPAC, and Far-Right supporters, accounted for an additional $1.2 million in contributions to the 209 campaign.
In sharp contrast, the California Democratic Party gave only $209,000 to the No on 209 Campaign, with Democratic state legislators giving an additional $100,000. Republican leadership gave ten times as much in support of 209 as the Democratic leadership put up in opposition.
Measures similar to Proposition 209 will be introduced in 1997 in the U.S. Congress and in as many as 28 state legislatures, according to The New York Times. If Prop 209 is fought out in Congress and in other states, it threatens to turn the Republicans gender gap into a gender gulf, predicted Smeal. "The anti- Equal Rights Amendment position of the Republication Party in the 1970s first triggered the gender gap in 1980, and the Republican Party’s anti-abortion stance of the 1980s and 1990s served only to widen the gap. If the Republican Party next blocks opportunities for women in public employment, education, and contracting, it will only further alienate women."
The Feminist Majority and its sister organization, the Feminist Majority Foundation, played leading roles in the campaign to STOP Prop 209, and contributed more money to defeat the measure than any other women’s rights or civil rights organization. The Foundation’s Freedom Summer and Freedom Fall programs mobilized and trained more than 300 full-time and more than 1,400 part-time high-school and college-aged students to work against passage of Prop 209. The Freedom Fighters organized a Save the Dream freedom bus tour of the state, recruiting more than 7,000 volunteers who worked election day to urge Californians to vote NO on Proposition 209.
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