COSTA MESA, CA-Like the national midtermelections that GlobeSt.com reported on recently fortheir potential impact on the commercial real estate industry,California’s statewide election Nov. 2 could have far-reachingeffects on the industry. From the governor’s race to ballotpropositions, the election features issues that would have bothdirect bearing on real estate and an indirect impact in that theywould affect the general business climate in the state.

According to legislative affairs chair Jim Camp of Naiop, whichmaintains its SoCal Chapter headquarters in Costa Mesa, thegovernor’s contest is the most important vote on the ballot interms of potential impact on the industry. Naiop and the CaliforniaBusiness Property Owners’ Association are supporting Republicanformer eBay CEO Meg Whitman in her race against Democrat JerryBrown, the state’s attorney general, who was governor for two termsin the 1970s. Whitman has the endorsements of numerous businessorganizations, according to her campaign web site, while Brown hasthe support of a number of unions and other organizations,including the Sierra Club and other environmental groups, accordingto his web site.

“By far the most important race in California is the governor’srace,” Camp says. He says that whoever is in the governor’s office“impacts real estate directly because the governor is really theonly person who can stop bad legislation from negatively impactingour industry.”