Simon Drops Out of California Recall Race

Republican Bill Simon dropped out of the gubernatorial recall race Saturday amid calls from party leaders to consolidate support behind fewer candidates, a campaign official said.

Simon campaign spokesman K.B. Forbes confirmed that the Republican, who lost to Gov. Gray Davis in the 2002 race for governor, was dropping his bid to replace Davis if voters decide to oust the governor.

Forbes said Simon planned to release a statement Saturday saying: “I strongly believe that the desire of Californians must come before the aspirations of any single candidate. There are too many Republicans in this race, and the people of this state simply cannot risk a continuation of the Gray Davis legacy.”

Forbes denied that Simon’s move came in response to any pressure from the party.

“There was absolutely no pressure, no phone calls – this was a decision made by Bill Simon based on rational conclusions,” Forbes said.

He said Simon would not be available for interviews.

Simon’s move leaves three leading Republicans among the 135 candidates on the ballot to replace Davis Oct. 7: front-runner Arnold Schwarzenegger, former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth and state Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks. Simon’s name will still appear on the ballot.

Many Republicans believe Schwarzenegger should be the party’s choice, but McClintock and Ueberroth have said they are in the race to stay.

Democrats, meanwhile, are increasingly united behind Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and his “No on recall, yes on Bustamante” strategy.

Leaders in both the Democratic and Republican parties have been trying to shift support to the front-running candidates to avoid splitting the party vote come election day.

A new Los Angeles Times poll released Friday found less support for recalling Davis than previous polls.

The new poll found half of likely voters supported throwing Davis out of office, while 45 percent were opposed and 4 percent were undecided. The poll of 801 likely voters had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Earlier surveys suggested the recall was supported by more than half of voters.

Democrats continued to oppose the effort to unseat Davis but began to rally behind Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante as a hedge against losing the governor’s office to a Republican. Bustamante is the lone high-profile Democrat among the replacement candidates.

Republicans stepped up pressure this week on the GOP candidates trailing actor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the polls.

State Senate Minority Leader Jim Brulte said Friday that party leaders would need to get behind the top candidate and ask one or more of the other four major Republican candidates to drop out of the race.

“Does it make any sense to have a Democrat finish first and Republicans to finish second, third and fourth?” he said. “At some point some of the leaders of the party are going to have to go to the candidates who are going to be nothing but a spoiler. No one should prejudge who those candidates should be at this point.”

The Republican who funded the recall petition drive, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, already dropped out.

McClintock, however, said he would accept Schwarzenegger’s endorsement in the Oct. 7 election.

“If the most qualified candidate must defer every time a celebrity or a millionaire casts a longing eye on public office, well then we’ve lost something very important in our democracy, and it’s called merit,” McClintock told CNN.

Meanwhile, the bodybuilder-turned-actor and Ueberroth, both millionaires, have poured money from their own fortunes into their campaigns and were raising money from wealthy friends and family members.

During a visit to Huntington Beach, Schwarzenegger said he wasn’t trying to muscle anyone out of the race.

“Everyone has to make their own decision,” he said. “I can’t make it for them. Obviously, mathematically speaking, it’s wiser to only have one candidate.”

The Lincoln Club of Orange County, which includes some of the state’s most prolific Republican donors, endorsed Schwarzenegger on Friday and called on the other Republican candidates to abandon the race.

Any of the candidates who drop out will remain on the two-part ballot. The first part asks if Davis should be removed. The second part offers 135 replacement choices if the recall succeeds.