GOP-led California measure in trouble

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A proposed California initiative campaign that could have helped Republicans hold on to the White House in 2008 was in shambles Thursday night, as two key consultants quit.

Unable to raise sufficient money and angered over a lack of disclosure by its one large donor, veteran political law attorney Thomas Hiltachk, who drafted the measure, said he was resigning from the committee.

Hiltachk's departure is a major blow to the operation because he organized other consultants who had set about trying to raise money and gather signatures. Campaign spokesman Kevin Eckery said he was ending his role as well.

The measure could be revived if a major donor were to come forward to fund the petition drive, but time is short to gather the hundreds of thousands of signatures needed by the end of November. And backers said Thursday they believed the measure was all but dead, at least for the 2008 election.

" 'Shambles' is the wrong word," said strategist Marty Wilson, who curtailed fundraising efforts weeks ago. "The campaign never got off the ground."

Intended for the June ballot, the proposed initiative sought to change California's winner-take-all system of awarding the state's 55 electoral votes to one in which electoral votes are awarded based on which candidate wins individual congressional districts.

President Bush won majorities in 22 California congressional districts in 2004 but lost to Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., statewide, 54 percent to 44 percent. Bush won the election with 286 electoral votes. Kerry received 252.

Federal law authorizes states to establish methods for selecting electoral votes. Nebraska and Maine allocate those votes based on the candidate who wins the most votes in a congressional district. The rest select them on a winner-take-all basis.

Despite early attention, the measure failed to attract significant financial support, perhaps because many Republican donors are less than energized this year and perhaps because of the slowing economy.

"There is not a huge amount of donor interest in the measure for a variety of reasons," Wilson said. "I'm not willing to keep beating my head against the wall."

The campaign received one sizable donation — $175,000, less than 10 percent of the $2 million typically needed to gather sufficient signatures to qualify a measure for the California ballot.