In late 2003, Republican Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (German pronunciation (IPA): [ˈaɐ̯nɔlt ˈaloɪ̯s ˈʃvaɐ̯ʦənˌʔɛɡɐ] rode into office promising to "blow up" state bureaucracy and go over the heads of California's liberal Legislature. A few months later, Fabian Nunez, an outspoken critic of the new governor, took over as speaker of the Democratic-run state Assembly. "I have declared political war on Schwarzenegger," Nunez said at the time.
Now,
Governor Schwarzenegger calls Nunez his "great friend." The 59-year-old governor and the 40-year-old speaker often talk over cigars in the smoking tent the governor has set up in a courtyard of the Sacramento Capitol building. Politically, the two have come together to forge deals on raising the state's minimum wage, rebuilding infrastructure and passing a landmark anti-global-warming bill. Amid continuing criticism from their own parties, they're tackling thorny areas including health-care reform.
After a failed effort to ram a conservative agenda through the Legislature early in his tenure, Governor Schwarzenegger shifted sharply to the center last year. Since this conversion to what he calls "post-partisanship," the governor has been basking in the glow of mounting popularity. But arguably, much credit for California's new era of bipartisanship, one of the most productive periods in the state legislature's recent history, belongs with Nunez.