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Bogged down in a dispute over a $38 billion state budget deficit, Gov. Gray Davis and legislators are losing support among Californians while a proposed recall of the governor is gaining steam, a poll released today says. A survey conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California and the James Irvine Foundation also found voters strongly opposed to new taxes -- except for taxes on cigarettes -- and concerned about cuts in education programs. "Coincident with the deepening budget crisis and their anger over proposed solutions, Californians' trust in government to do what is right is at its lowest level...

Approval ratings for California Gov. Gray Davis continue to drop, according to a new statewide poll by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. In the latest poll, released Thursday, 64 percent of Californians -- and 75 percent of likely voters -- say they disapprove of the way he is handling his job, compared with 60 percent who disapproved of his performance in February. Two in three residents (66 percent) -- and 74 percent of likely voters -- dislike his handling of the state budget and taxes. If a recall election were held today, 48 percent of Californians would vote...

<p>Sacramento -- The drive to recall Gov. Gray Davis has set off an unexpected tug-of- war between rival Republican camps supporting the effort -- a rift that could affect the outcome of an election to decide the Democratic governor's fate.</p>

<p>Republican pollsters say Bill Simon is poised for a stunning electoral upset by defeating Democratic California Gov. Gray Davis tomorrow.</p> <p>One poll commissioned by Republicans has Mr. Simon ahead by three percentage points and other Republican surveys have him about even. Such results are starkly different from public polls and Democratic polls, which show him trailing Mr. Davis by seven to 11 percentage points.</p>

<p>Five days before the election, a statewide opinion poll shows Gov. Gray Davis holding a seven-point lead over Republican challenger Bill Simon in one of California's least-captivating contests for governor.</p> <p>An unusually high share of still-undecided voters in a Field Poll released Thursday suggests Davis' seven-point margin (41 percent to 34 percent), unchanged since July despite his $67 million war chest, could be undercut.</p>

Fire Gray DavisNorth County Times EditorialIn an uninspiring race for leadership of the nation's most populous and most economically vital state, we endorse Republican Bill Simon. Gov. Gray Davis has proven himself to be too ethically challenged and too obviously for sale to the highest bidder to be entrusted with four more years in Sacramento. Far too often, Davis appears to have bent state policies to favor his major campaign donors. There was the no-bid, multimillion-dollar Oracle computer scandal. There was his request for $1 million from the California teachers union during a "policy discussion" in his office. There's...

<p>With just a week remaining before the election, there's no doubt that Democratic Gov. Gray Davis still enjoys a substantial, if not overwhelming, lead over Republican challenger Bill Simon and that Davis will be re-elected unless something dramatic occurs.</p> <p>Simon pins his fleeting hopes for victory on persuading the still-undecided voters to follow through on their obvious concerns about Davis' performance and character -- particularly the widespread belief that he has been a "pay to play" governor who extracts huge sums of campaign money from special interests.</p>

Just Say No To Justice Kathryn Werdegar Date: Wednesday, October 16 @ 13:47:28 EDT October 14, 2002 Anaheim, California — Officials from Traditional Values Coalition today urged California families not to support California Supreme Court Justice Kathryn Werdegar in her re-confirmation bid this November and have announced their plans to lead a statewide effort exposing her record on the bench.  Citing recent rulings, Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, Traditional Values Coalition Chairman, warned pro-family voters to examine her record carefully before casting their ballots. “Justice Werdegar has displayed outrageous contempt for those values that California families hold dear,” said Sheldon. “In...

Proposition 52 is a Dangerous Idea for CaliforniaBy Dave GilliardOctober 2002 California Republican, The Official Publication of the California Republican AssemblyDoes allowing people to register to vote on Election Day — without providing any official ID — sound like a good idea? How about letting those same people immediately cast "live" ballots that can never be checked for fraud?If that sounds wrong to you, you are in good company. Elections officials and law enforcement leaders throughout California are gravely concerned about Proposition 52, the controversial initiative on the November ballot that allows people to register to vote on Election...

Simon Surges as Election NearsOctober 2002 California Republican, The Official Publication of the California Republican Assembly As November 5th nears, people all over the state are flocking to Bill Simon and his message for California. As he has detailed his plans to put an end to our energy crisis, relight the fires of growth in our economy, and fix our failing schools, Californians are realizing more and more that Simon is the candidate who will reverse four years of decline under Gray Davis.America’s leaders have pledged their support, President George W. Bush and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani already having...

<p>LAST SATURDAY morning, after another pratfall in a star-crossed, accident-prone and banana-peel-strewn campaign, a nevertheless ebullient Bill Simon, Republican candidate for governor in a state (California) that has not voted for a Republican Presidential or senatorial candidate since 1988 or for a Republican gubernatorial candidate since 1994, said: “We’re close.” Noting the incredulity of his interlocutor, he added: “I swear.”</p>

<p>Sacramento -- For at least the next two years, whoever becomes California's next governor will spend a lot of time struggling with a sour economy and a budget hole of at least $15 billion.</p> <p>This year, Gov. Gray Davis and lawmakers grappled with a $23.6 billion gap between revenues and expenditures. They used a combination of $8.2 billion in cuts, $4.3 billion in loans, transfers and fund shifts and $2.4 billion in new revenue to help close it.</p>

<p>Although Zuckerman quotes a source who discounts the possibility of political manipulation of the data, he does raise the question of why--when the data are revised long after the press has lost interest--the corrections are always in the negative direction. The subtext is impossible to ignore: California’s economy is worse than Governor Davis’s staff would like us to believe.</p>

Davis Runs - But He Can't Hide!By Leo Lacayo Thursday, October 17, 2002 The Davis camp has announced with fanfare that Gray-Out Davis will hit the campaign trail. He has been busy hitting up special interests for more dirty money to throw at Bill Simon. He has thrown everything from the kitchen sink to his former trailer-home. Now the ''worst governor in the history of the United States'' has decided to come out and mingle with the little people. No doubt all the well-orchestrated mud slinging has left a bad taste in the mouths and minds of the voters....

<p>Saying the energy crisis no longer threatens Californians, an anti-tax group sued Gov. Gray Davis Thursday to end the state of emergency the governor declared nearly two years ago.</p> <p>The declaration of a state of emergency gives the governor extraordinary powers, and the National Tax Limitation Committee said there's no longer any reason for Davis to have that authority.</p>

SAN FRANCISCO -- A state appeals court says a group that trashed Gov. Gray Davis on the airwaves last year neither has to register as a political committee nor disclose its financial backers. The decision, announced late Wednesday, may clear the way for fresh, anonymous attack ads as the November election nears. The move by the 1st District Court of Appeal overturns a lower court judge in a case balancing the First Amendment and California's rules requiring disclosure. In September, a San Francisco judge ruled that a Washington, D.C.-based taxpayer group that ran television advertisements last year attacking Davis...

Governor vetoes undocumented driver's license bill By DON THOMPSONAssociated Press Writer Gov. Gray Davis vetoed legislation letting some illegal immigrants obtain California driver's licenses Monday, as he completed action on some of the most controversial bills sent to his desk this fall. The governor's politically charged decision forced him to weigh what he said were increased security risks from licensing non-citizens after last year's terrorist attacks against the urging of immigrant rights groups that said it would make California's highways safer. Davis demanded a series of safeguards, including fingerprint background checks and cooperation with the federal Immigration and Naturalization...

<p>If you build a bad economic climate, they won't come.</p> <p>It hasn't struck us yet, but California soon could find it is a place where jobs flee or are never created.</p> <p>Our state has the worst business climate in the nation, according to a new report released yesterday by the Development Counsellors International, which interviewed 287 executives from companies with $100 million or more in sales. DCI specializes in economic development and tourism marketing.</p>

<p>Republican Bill Simon, buoyed by the reversal of a fraud verdict, has decided to plow millions of his own dollars into his campaign to unseat California Gov. Gray Davis, Simon associates said.</p> <p>With skeptical donors finally beginning to smile on Mr. Simon's cash-starved campaign 51 days before the election, the candidate has decided to ante up $4 million of his own money to further boost donors' confidence, his associates said privately.</p>

Calif. Legislators OK State Budget Sunday, September 1, 2002, 3:57 AM ET By ALEXA H. BLUTH, Associated Press Writer SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The California Assembly ended more than 60 days of standoff and approved an overdue budget early Sunday that includes a total of about $9 billion in spending cuts and about $2.4 billion in revenue increases to help fill the state's gaping deficit. The deal reached in the final hours of the legislative session abandons plans to raise taxes on smokers and drivers to help fill the $23.6 billion shortfall. Lawmakers hooted, applauded and high-fived after the...