Arnold takes on the gerrymander: after a status quo election in 2004, the governator calls for change.(FEATURE)

With 100 of 120 seats in the California legislature up for election last fall, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger hoped to see at least some Democratic state lawmakers--whom he once called "girlie men"--replaced by fellow Republicans.

Despite his stumping on behalf of GOP candidates, Schwarzenegger's high approval ratings did not rub off enough to change California's status quo politics. In each state legislative contest in 2004, the party in power stayed in power. Not a single seat shifted sides. The same was true for California's 53 U.S. congressional contests on the November ballot.

Rather than accepting the many Republican defeats, the governor soon made it known that he was exploring the possibility of a voter initiative that would transfer redistricting control to an independent commission of retired judges. What's more, Schwarzenegger's post-election musings hinted at the prospect of another California-style special election, instead of waiting and tacking the proposition on to the 2006 statewide ballot. This proposal could be coupled with a proposal to make the legislature part-time, rather than full-time, as it has been since the late 1960s.

"The governor believes one way to make politicians more responsive to voters is by changing redistricting," said Ashley Snee, the governor's deputy press secretary.

Already one organization has taken Schwarzenegger's cue and set out to gather 600,000 signatures by an April 29 deadline. The group, People's Advocate, also spearheaded efforts to recall former governor Gray Davis.

California Democrats consider this new push nothing more than a case of sour grapes.

"I think he [Schwarzenegger] needs a pacifier," said Art Torres, state Democratic Party chair. "This is what happens when he loses things. Now he's trying to threaten the legislature with making them part-time and changing reapportionment."