According to this Los Angeles Times news story about Tom Campbell, the Republican gubernatorial candidate supports the “top-two” ballot measure that will be on the California ballot in June 2010. This news is surprising, because Campbell was against the idea when it was last on the California ballot, in November 2004. Also, Campbell has been a professor of both law and economics, and he probably knows that political scientists are almost unanimously opposed to the measure. In 2008, Professor Paul Gronke, a political scientist at Reed College, polled the 600 members of the Political Methodology list-serve, and found only one political scientist who said he was in favor of the idea.
One reason Campbell may have changed his mind about “top-two” is that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is strongly in favor of the measure. Campbell’s position in favor of “top-two” makes it likely that Schwarzenegger will support him in next year’s Republican primary. It is reported that the Governor is even thinking of appointing Campbell to be California’s next Lieutenant Governor. That position is expected to become vacant on November 3, 2009, when John Garamendi, the existing Lieutenant Governor, will probably be elected to Congress in a special election. Also, because California’s three most influential newspapers, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Sacramento Bee, all support “top-two”, Campbell’s support for “top-two” will enhance his prospects of getting their endorsement.
Campbell has also changed his position on whether marijuana should be decriminalized. For decades he has advocated for decriminalization, but this year, he is opposed to the idea.