By Staff
Leada DeVaney, Editor
Most people will say Arnold Schwarzenegger was the big winner in last week's California gubernatorial election.
Most people are wrong.
The big winner in the race was Todd Richard Lewis. Lewis received 172 votes – a statistical 0 percent – in last week's election. His showing landed him on the bottom of the 140-plus candidate pile.
Still, Lewis has reason to be proud. On page 10A of the Oct. 9 edition of USA Today, Lewis' name is listed, albeit at the bottom, of the long slate of candidates. His name is on the same page as Schwarzenegger, current California Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, former telvision child star Gary Coleman and pornographer Larry Flynt.
Todd Richard Lewis – he of the 172 votes who listed "other" as his political party – is mentioned in USA Today. My guess is this is the first and last time Lewis will receive this honor.
I hope he cut it out and put it on his refrigerator.
It's been said Schwarzenegger spent millions to acquire the gubernatorial post, a job that pays about 1/40th of his current movie star gig. Schwarzenegger received 3.7 million votes, probably spending about $2 per voter.
Lewis on the other hand probably didn't spend a dime for his 172 votes. He probably made a couple of signs using poster board and spray paint and tacked them up on a utility poll, only to have them removed by some city worker. And he probably told a couple of people at his job that he was running and he sure would appreciate their votes. They probably looked at him, rolled their eyes and laughed.
"Sure, Todd, you're running for governor," they said. "Now, go out and pick up the doughnuts before the boss gets here."
I'm sure Lewis' mom was proud of her gubernatorial candidate son and probably talked about him to all the neighbors.
"My son – the future governor – sure would appreicate your vote," she probably said to her neighbors. After she walked away, her neighbors all talked about how they always thought her son was a little strange and how, as a family, they did not keep their grass cut as short as they should.
Still, for one brief shining moment, Mrs. Lewis' son landed on the pages of a national newspaper, right up there with the political heavyweights such as Gene Forte, D.E. Kessinger, Reva Renz, Gary Leonard, Bryan Quinn, Angelyne (no last name), Robert Newman II, Alex St. James, Mike McCarthy and the 138 candidates that also received 0 percent of the vote.
Still, somewhere, Mrs. Lewis is proud. Her son, after all, was in USA Today.