While the governor was a strong supporter of all the measures, he was not the public face of the effort, as he was in 2005 when he took on the budget issues, and well as the state’s unions, in another failed effort at the ballot box. This time the Republican governor let teachers and firefighters do his talking for him in advertisements, and indeed was not even in the state the day of the vote.

Instead, he was a guest of President Barack Obama at the White House, where the president was announcing tough new federal standards on automobile emissions that emulate California’s environmental standards. He updated his Twitter account through out the day ("Just landed in DC. Look forward to updating you tomorrow, hopefully with pictures or video") but made nary a mention of the propositions there.

The one measure to pass, which would prevent legislators and statewide constitutional officers, including the governor, from receiving pay rises in years when the state is running a deficit, was approved by more than 75 percent of those who cast ballots, demonstrating the overwhelming disgust many Californians say in polls that they feel toward elected officials in a time of deep budget paralysis.

The central measure, Proposition 1A, would have increased the state’s rainy-day fund but also restrict spending in future years, and extend several temporary taxes. Proposition 1B, which was connected to 1A, would have required $9.3 billion to be paid to education to make up for shortfalls in spending levels set by a voter-approved proposition in 1988. Voters indicated in polls earlier this month that they had a distaste for protracted taxes, caps on spending during inflation periods and general legislative and gubernatorial will.

The other failing propositions were 1E, which would have redirected money guaranteed for mental health services to the state’s general fund; 1D, a similar measure using money earmarked for early childhood programs; and 1C, which would have modernized the state lottery and permitted the state to borrow from future profits.