Primary Election

Battle for term limits has twist

Republicans, Democrats reverse typical stances

By John Marelius, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Sunday, May 9, 2010 at 12:04 a.m.

The public employees union that has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars during the past two decades seeking to undermine California’s term-limits law is leading the charge to limit the terms of San Diego County supervisors, turning the traditional partisan dynamic of the issue on its head.

The Service Employees International Union Local 221 is the principal sponsor and financier of Proposition B on the June 8 ballot. Proposition B would limit the five supervisors — all Republicans — to two four-year terms and bar them from ever serving again.

Polls in California and across the country show Republicans are much more favorably disposed toward term limits than Democrats. But the county Democratic Party supports Proposition B and the county Republican Party opposes it.

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