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Sacramento Bee
HEADLINE: Governor Won't Seek Endorsement of Correctional Officers

DATE: August 21, 2006
By Andy Furillo

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, risking an intensifying barrage of TV attack ads as he seeks re-election, has decided against seeking the endorsement of the politically potent state correctional officers union.

The governor's campaign - facing longshot odds of getting the nod in the first place - notified the California Correctional Peace Officers Association that it will not participate in the union's endorsement interview process.

Campaign spokeswoman Julie Soderlund said it would be "inappropriate" to seek the union's support while the Schwarzenegger administration is negotiating a new labor agreement with the CCPOA.

Union spokesman Lance Corcoran said Schwarzenegger's decision is "certainly not surprising," and he suggested it will generate a heavy response from the organization that is expected to have $10 million to $15 million to spend this fall on an independent expenditure campaign. The union already has reserved $5 million in TV time to spend over the last two weeks of the campaign.

"The CCPOA would have the ability to ensure that our message was heard with California voters with respect to the record of either candidate," Corcoran said, of the Republican governor's race for re-election against Democratic challenger Phil Angelides. "We will exercise our First Amendment rights to speak out on behalf of our organization and its members on what we believe to be the failures or accomplishments of either candidate while holding public office."

Schwarzenegger already has been subjected to one CCPOA attack ad that blames the governor for what it characterizes as his "cop-out" on solving the state's ongoing prison problems.

At the same time, CCPOA-funded mobile billboards in recent weeks have been circling the Capitol, as well as Schwarzenegger fundraisers, depicting a crimson-skinned governor with horns. The caption reads, "The Devil is in the Details."

The union has been at odds with Schwarzenegger since disagreements arose over contract renegotiations in mid-2004. The CCPOA declared all-out war last year after Schwarzenegger in his January 2005 State of the State speech compared correctional officers to the inmates they guard.

"The governor has a longstanding policy of not taking contributions from organizations he is directly negotiating with," Soderlund said. "The governor's office is currently in the process of negotiating a contract with the CCPOA, and it is inappropriate to ask for an endorsement."

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