Three Strikes

Over the last two weeks of October 2004, Gov. Schwarzenegger and billionaire Henry Nicholas led a campiagn to defeat Prop 66, a ballot initiative that would have eased some of the most onerous parts of California's "three strikes" law. With Schwarzenegger's campaigning and Nicholas' money, the "no" campaign made political history, taking an initiative that seemed certain to pass and sending it to a shocking defeat. The "no" vote grew by nearly 30 points in two weeks. Independent pollsters say they have never seen such dramatic movement in a ballot initiative.