Less than two hours before Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman meet this evening in the first televised debate of this year's California gubernatorial contest, several small groups of protesters were congregating outside the UC Davis Mondavi Center.
But before protests heated up, participants took cover under the shade of white tents and trees to escape the 99-degree heat.
With several simultaneous rallies scheduled, patches of color-coordinated participants sprang up on the lawn. Several dozen red-clad demonstrators from the California Nurses Association gathered in rows of chairs under the organization's tent while roughly a dozen SEIU members, wearing their trademark purple shirts, gathered under a nearby tent.
A handful of men in white Iron Workers Local 378 shirts displayed a banner for photographers as a small group of blue-shirted students from the Davis College Democrats distributed their own signs under the shade of a tree.
The union members and students have since merged their efforts, waving signs and chanting, "Meg Whitman, say goodbye, find another state to buy."
Most groups were there to protest Whitman and back Brown, though several members of the American Independent Party displayed signs promoting their own nominee, Chelene Nightingale.
AIP Chairman Don J. Grundmann said supporters were expected to come from as far as Brentwood to call attention to what they see as a lack of contrast between the two major party nominees.
"Meg Brown and Jerry Whitman are just a mixture of each other," Grundmann said.
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