SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Scores of Californians took the shot to run for governor yesterday in the state’s unprecedented recall election as Democrats successfully whittled their own field to one major backup candidate, in case Gov. Gray Davis is ousted.
Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi dropped out two hours before the filing deadline, leaving Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante as the only prominent Democrat on the ballot. That situation raised hopes of keeping the governor’s office in party hands if the unpopular governor is voted out Oct. 7.
If voters turn Mr. Davis out of office, Mr. Bustamante will compete against a field that includes the gubernatorial runner-up last year, Bill Simon, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, former baseball czar Peter Ueberroth — all Republicans — and columnist Arianna Huffington, an independent.
The field of more than 125 candidates also includes former actor Gary Coleman, comedian Gallagher, porn czar Larry Flynt and Angelyne, a buxom artist whose likeness appears on billboards around Los Angeles.
Despite the onslaught of wannabes aiming to run the nation’s most populous state, Mr. Davis remained confident yesterday.
“Many people are trying to become the governor. I am the governor,” Mr. Davis said to laughter after a bill-signing at a health clinic in Santa Monica. “Whether the people of the state want me to stay 60 days or 3 years — as, hopefully, they will eventually decide — I am going to do my level best to improve their lives every day I have.”
A new Time-CNN poll released yesterday, however, showed voters leaning toward recalling Mr. Davis.
Fifty-four percent of those surveyed said they would vote Mr. Davis out, while 35 percent were opposed. Of the better-known candidates, 25 percent chose Mr. Schwarzenegger, 15 percent chose Mr. Bustamante, but others were in single digits. The poll of 508 voters was conducted Friday and has an error margin of plus or minus four percentage points.
Mr. Davis, who has seen his approval ratings plummet in recent months, is the first governor of the Golden State to face a recall.
Voter anger has been building since the state’s 2000-2001 energy crisis. Since then, Californians have witnessed the decline of the state’s technology sector and a record $38 billion budget deficit, which triggered a tripling of the vehicle tax, forced college fees to rise as much as 30 percent and has threatened state employees with layoffs and pay cuts.
If the campaign against him succeeds, Mr. Davis would be the nation’s second governor to be recalled. In 1921, North Dakota voters ousted Gov. Lynn Frazier as banks were failing, crop prices were plummeting and Frazier was mired in allegations of promoting radical socialism.
The final casting call for the nation’s political blockbuster unfolded yesterday, as about a quarter of almost 500 people who took out applications to run turned in their necessary papers to get on the burgeoning ballot.
By the end of the day, more than 125 people had filed to run, according to an Associated Press survey of counties. The official number of candidates who will appear on the ballot won’t be released until the secretary of state certifies the paperwork Wednesday.
To get on the ballot, candidates had to either pay a $3,500 filing fee and submit signatures of at least 65 registered voters or submit 10,000 voter signatures to skip the fee.
Mr. Schwarzenegger arrived at the Los Angeles County recorder’s office with his wife, newscaster Maria Shriver, to the shrieks of gawkers. He vowed to be the people’s governor as he signed autographs.
“I will be there for everybody, young and old, men and women alike. It doesn’t make any difference,” he said.
Mr. Schwarzenegger greeted Mrs. Huffington, who arrived at the same time to file. She and Miss Shriver hugged.
Mrs. Huffington called for more fuel-efficient vehicles and noted that Mr. Schwarzenegger had arrived in an SUV while she arrived in a hybrid vehicle. There were a few boos and cries of “Arnold, Arnold.”
Brisk activity at county election offices across the state capped four days punctuated with bombshell announcements, beginning when the state’s most popular politician, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, brushed aside efforts to draft her as a Democratic backup to Davis.
That decision was trumped by the Hollywood moment: Schwarzenegger walked onto the stage of the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on Wednesday and announced his candidacy after his aides said he was leaning against running.
Last week, Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, who bankrolled the recall effort with $1.7 million of his own money, announced that he would not run. Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan said he wouldn’t run and endorsed Mr. Schwarzenegger.
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