Bill Simon dropped out of the race for governor Saturday, saying there were too many Republicans on the ballot and he didn’t want to jeopardize the party’s opportunity to replace Gov. Gray Davis if he is recalled.
The decision was immediately welcomed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the leading Republican, who said he hoped Simon’s “personal sacrifice will serve to unify Republicans and other Californians”–presumably behind Schwarzenegger’s candidacy. But two other major GOP candidates, state Sen. Tom McClintock and former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth, said they had no intention of following Simon’s lead.
Leading Republicans have been growing concerned in recent days about the prospect that the party could splinter among several candidates, ceding the race to Democrats even if Davis is recalled. Only one prominent Democrat, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, is running on the second part of the recall ballot, which asks voters to choose a replacement for Davis if he is recalled.
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However, advisers to Simon said no one had pressured him to drop out.
“Absolutely no phone calls were made to him,” said K.B. Forbes, a Simon campaign spokesman. “Absolutely no outside pressure. None.”
Simon delivered his announcement early Saturday in a brief statement broadcast from a Sacramento studio.
“This historic recall election has been about bringing profound and substantial change to our great state, and I strongly believe that the desire of Californians must come before the aspirations of any single candidate,” he said.
“There are too many Republicans in this race, and the people of our state simply cannot risk a continuation of the Gray Davis legacy. For these reasons, I think it’s wise to step aside.”
Simon, 52, an investment banker who lost the race for governor to Davis last year, led a whirlwind campaign over the last two weeks, dashing through more than a dozen cities from San Diego to San Francisco.
But his campaign was steadily leaking air, battered by poor poll showings and a pervasive sense that he already had blown his best shot at the governor’s office.
Schwarzenegger, meanwhile, began to sketch out a fiscal blueprint for reviving California that resembled Simon’s plan. The famous actor said he did not intend to raise taxes and would cap spending and conduct a thorough audit of state government–all cornerstones of Simon’s platform.
Pressure was building last week for Simon to get out of the race as GOP leaders sought to unite behind the candidate with the best chance of defeating Bustamante.
Simon ran what was widely perceived to be a lackluster campaign for governor in November but still wound up with a respectable 42 percent of the vote to Davis’ 47 percent. But in the crowded recall field, he was having trouble cracking into double digits in polls. The most recent Los Angeles Times poll, conducted through Thursday night, showed him at 6 percent.