Candidates Scramble for Davis' Spot

[Nambe]

Associated Press

The announcement Wednesday that Democratic Gov. Gray Davis will face a recall election touched off a scramble among potential candidates to replace him. They may have to announce their plans as early as Saturday.

The only declared major-party candidate so far is Rep. Darrell Issa (news, bio, voting record), R-Vista, who spent $1.71 million of his car-alarm fortune to fund the recall.

Other potential Republican contenders include Los Angeles businessman Bill Simon, who lost to Davis in November, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and state Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, who ran unsuccessfully for state controller last year. ---

The state's major Democratic officeholders have said they don't intend to run to replace Davis, a show of unity marshaled by party leaders who believe Davis would have a better chance of surviving the recall without Democrats on the ballot.

But strategists from both parties have speculated that if polls show Davis vulnerable, one or more Democrats could decide to run.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record) tops polls when voters are asked who they would like to replace Davis, and other leading state Democrats with gubernatorial ambitions are Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, Attorney General Bill Lockyer and Treasurer Phil Angelides. The Sacramento Bee has encouraged Feinstein to run.

Simon and McClintock are from the party's conservative wing while Schwarzenegger is more moderate. Davis has signaled he will cast the recall as a right-wing attempt to hijack California.

The Green Party's Peter Camejo, who ran for governor in November, also has said he plans to run. A group of Bay Area activists is trying to recruit columnist Arianna Huffington. ---

Banish bush From Texas Too

[LauraK]

1. Arianna vs Arnold....Now that's entertainment.

I don't remeber where they got their accents, but they sound related linguisticly. What a show.