Deukmejian’s Voting Record in Senate Assailed by Lungren Foe

SACRAMENTO — Republican Gov. George Deukmejian, when he was a state senator, voted 14 times against confirming appointees of his predecessor’s administration and on three of those occasions cast the only “no” vote, a top Democratic lawmaker said Thursday.

In addition, said Senate Democratic Leader Barry Keene, Deukmejian, as attorney general and a member of the Judicial Appointments Commission, voted “no” on 17 of 54 appellate court justices appointed by former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr., a Democrat.

Keene said Deukmejian provided the negative vote four times to block judicial nominees who had been rated “highly qualified.” None of the Brown nominees was defeated in the Senate while Deukmejian was a senator.

Keene, who is leading a Senate drive to defeat Daniel E. Lungren as Deukmejian’s nominee to succeed the late Democratic state Treasurer Jesse M. Unruh, compiled Deukmejian’s confirmation voting record and distributed it throughout the Capitol.

He said Deukmejian’s “clear practice as a senator was to oppose nominations made by a Democratic governor, qualifications not withstanding. . . . Atty. Gen. Deukmejian continued the trend.”

“As senator he had a strong appreciation of the Legislature’s independent role in the confirmation process,” Keene said in a statement.