California's lieutenant governor is in a tight race with actor Arnold Schwarzenegger as the leading candidates to succeed Gray Davis if voters decide to oust the Democratic governor, according to a poll released Saturday.

Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, left, hugs Jodaiah Love as he greets school children at Mulholland Middle school Thursday, Aug. 14, 2003, in Van Nuy section of Los Angeles. Schwarzenegger is among 135 candidates running to replace Gov. Gray Davis. [AP Photo]

Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante had the support of 25 percent of the 448 likely voters questioned by the Field Research Corp. Schwarzenegger had 22 percent. With the poll's margin of error of 5 percentage points, the two are essentially running even.

Six other relatively well-known contenders in the 135-candidate field trailed with single-digit backing. However, 44 percent of voters who favored a candidate said they might switch sides before the Oct. 7 recall election — including 29 percent of Bustamante's supporters and 35 percent of Schwarzenegger's.

"Obviously we're happy and humbled (by the poll results), but we recognize that we have a lot of work to do," said Luis Vizcaino, a spokesman for Bustamante, a Democrat.

Sean Walsh, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger, said the Republican actor leads in other polls and would be able to win with a mixture of fiscal conservatism and moderate views on social issues.

"This poll does not bother us," he said. "The campaign has just begun."

Three other Republicans trailed Schwarzenegger in the poll: state Sen. Tom McClintock with 9 percent support, 2002 GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Simon with 8 percent and former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth with 5 percent.

Political columnist Arianna Huffington, an independent, had 4 percent, Green Party candidate Peter Camejo had 2 percent and Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt, a Democrat, had 1 percent.

Five percent of those surveyed supported other candidates, 5 percent said they supported none of the candidates, and 14 percent were undecided in the poll, taken Aug. 10-13.

McClintock indicated in an interview on Fox News that he has no intention of giving up. He said Schwarzennegger's policies seemed to mirror those of Davis.

"I do agree that the field needs to be narrowed and that's why, at the appropriate time, I am willing to accept Arnold Schwarzenegger's endorsement," he said, predicting that he would win with a platform of "less regulation, lower taxes and restoring our public works."

An aide to Ueberroth said he also would not drop out. "He's in it for the long haul and he's in it to win," said Bill Lord-Butcher, Ueberroth's chief strategist.

Gubernatorial candidate and porn star Mary Carey signs a T-shirt for a fan during a campaign stop in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday, August 16, 2003. Carey talked about her platform, signed autographs and posed for photos at her first political rally in the Capitol as a candidate in the October recall election. [AP Photo]

 

In the recall election, voters will decide whether Davis should be ousted and then pick who should replace him from among the 135 candidates. Debates among the top contenders have been scheduled for Sept. 9 and 17.

The timing of the election itself, however, was thrown into doubt Friday when a federal judge ordered Monterey County not to send absentee ballots overseas until issues raised by civil rights groups are resolved.

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel said the ballots may not go out until the Justice Department determines that minorities will not be alienated at the ballot box.

The recall effort was sparked by California's flagging economy, as well as the state government's record US$38 billion deficit and the decades-long debt to be paid for the 2000-2001 energy crisis. The secretary of state's office has estimated that the special election will cost taxpayers about $66 million.

In survey results released Friday, the same nonpartisan Field Poll found that 58 percent of likely California voters want Davis out of office, up from 51 percent last month. A full 68 percent of those surveyed said they believed Davis would be recalled in the special election.

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