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Tom Campbell formally announced his candidacy for governor of California tonight on KGO AM 810.

San Francisco, CA (AHN) - San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced he will run for governor of California. The 41-year-old mayor used social networking sites Twitter and Facebook to announce his decision to seek the Democratic nomination for the state's gubernatorial race to succeed Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. "I'm running for Governor because California needs a new direction. In San Francisco, we've defended people's civil rights, created a universal health care program, protected teachers from layoffs and enacted a local stimulus plan that will put people back to work and save jobs. And we've done it while balancing our budgets...

WASHINGTON - From a Lexington office complex, Mitt Romney's political action committee has ensured the former presidential candidate's omnipresence on cable news shows, .... But for the next year and a half, the center of Romney's political universe will shift west to Sacramento, where key parts of his operation have reassembled on behalf of Meg Whitman, a longtime friend and former business colleague .... The former eBay CEO is still readying her headquarters, but it has already become something of a campaign-in-exile for Romney's ambitions, which could include another presidential run in 2012.... "Mitt's going to be involved in dozens...

The Republican Party has vowed a comeback. But when the California GOP meets Friday to reshape its party for 2010, they might just end up jeopardizing the one statewide seat they have a chance at keeping: the governorship. A handful of state party officials are trying to change the rules to help gubernatorial candidate Stephen Poizner, California's insurance commissioner and party insider, beat back a challenge by Meg Whitman, the former eBay CEO and political novice, party sources told FOXNews.com. Chairman Ron Nehring, state chair since 2007, sent a memo to party members Feb. 3 with a list of proposals...

Reporting from Cupertino, Calif. -- A day after launching her campaign for governor, former EBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman on Tuesday unveiled a sharply conservative approach to California's fiscal crisis and offered a fusillade of positions on other issues that are likely to complicate her run for office in 2010. In a wide-ranging interview, the first-time Republican candidate's demeanor vacillated between that of a confident, take-charge chief executive officer delivering a PowerPoint presentation to that of an ill-at-ease novice ... "I don't know the answer to that question," Whitman responded when asked her stand on school vouchers, a perennial issue...

Former EBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman joined the race for governor of California this morning, setting off a battle between Silicon Valley moguls for the 2010 Republican nomination. Whitman, 52, has never run for public office, but is banking that Californians will see her corporate background as just what the state needs to break its chronic cycle of fiscal disasters. ... Whitman's chief rival for the party nomination is state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, also a high-tech tycoon. Another Republican exploring a run is a former Silicon Valley congressman, Tom Campbell, now an economics professor at UC Berkeley. With vast...

It isn't really clear if a candidate for Governor can suffer a "significant campaign setback" if they aren't even a candidate yet, but that is what has happened to ersatz Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay who, relatively new to the GOP, has had high profile roles with the Presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney (with whom she was once a co-worker) and Senator John McCain - with the confirmation that her top two most prominent advisors are no longer engaged professionally on Whitman's behalf. --snip-- For most of this year, Whitman has been rumored to be looking...

There are plenty of good reasons why state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has the next Republican nomination for governor all but locked up. And there are a host of other reasons why the better-known Democrats now thinking of trying for their party's nod to run against him should not be taking victory for granted, despite the big Democratic voter registration edge that has made California a "blue" state in the last five presidential elections. Yes, two other prominent Republicans apparently intend to make serious attempts to deprive Poizner of their party's nomination. Those would be former Silicon Valley Congressman and...

Every so often, we California voters do something that reverberates far beyond the state's borders. We did it in 1978 when we approved Proposition 13, a property tax limit that heralded a so-called "tax revolt" in other states and helped Ronald Reagan win the presidency. We did it in 1994 when we passed Proposition 187, a measure aimed at ending public benefits for illegal immigrants that touched off a fierce national debate despite being invalidated by the courts. And we did it this month when we passed Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment to overturn the state Supreme Court's legalization of...

Keep your eyes open - the Barack Obama campaign has given rise to a constellation of rising stars here in California. Former state Controller and eBay millionaire Steve Westly, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris and fast-rising lawyer Tony West were all on board the Obama bandwagon early and big. Westly has already made one dash for the governor's office, and he tells us he is "seriously exploring" another gubernatorial run in 2010. (That is, if Sen. Dianne Feinstein doesn't run.) Other top Dems predict Westly might be in line to be Obama's Treasury secretary - although he insists to...

Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay, hasn't said whether she will run for governor of California in 2010. But the woman who guided the growth of one of the Internet's biggest success stories has run into an early online stumbling block: a cybersquatter has snatched up a series of potentially valuable domains such as whitmanforgovernor.com, meg2010.com and whitman2010.com. Now, the former eBay chief is petitioning the equivalent of an international Internet court to get those domain names back - a sure sign the potential politician who's played coy about her own political ambitions is taking a serious look at...

The rumor mill about whether Dianne Feinstein, the popular Democratic senator, will run for governor heats up every now and again. It began to simmer last week, after the San Francisco Chronicle's Matier and Ross published a private poll showing her beating another would-be Democratic candidate, Attorney General Jerry Brown, 50 to 24 percent. Brown, who served two terms as governor before term limits were enacted, has been the early frontrunner among the politcal chattering class. In fact, in that same published poll, Brown was the top choice when Feinstein wasn't included, besting San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Los...

State Attorney General Jerry Brown leads San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other Democrats making noises about running for governor in 2010 - but if Sen. Dianne Feinstein were to jump into the pool, she would swamp them all, a new poll shows. On the Republican side, former Rep. Tom Campbell has a 2-1 edge over other possible candidates - ex-Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and ex-eBay chief Meg Whitman. Although voters don't seem to know any of them very well.According to the statewide poll by JMM Research of Sacramento, Brown...

Republicans always claim the mantle of the anti-Jihadists. And for the most part, they are. But when a supporter of jihad and terrorism comes to the midst of the G.O.P., that anti-jihadist/counterterrorist mantle comes crashing down. The Republican Party simply refuses to denounce pan-Islamists in its midst...

Should they decide to enter the 2010 race for governor, former EBay CEO Meg Whitman and State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner will likely have to explain to Republican voters why in recent years they have donated thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates. Contribution reports show that Whitman gave former State Controller Steve Westly, with whom she worked at EBay, $20,000 in combined donations for his 2002 run for controller and 2006 campaign for governor. In 2005 she contributed $1,000 to state Sen. Joe Simitian’s 2008 reelection campaign. She made contributions to candidates for national offices as well: $1,000 to U.S....

Former South Bay lawmaker considers run at governorship SACRAMENTO - Former South Bay Republican congressman Tom Campbell - a fiscal conservative, social moderate and respected academic who twice before unsuccessfully sought statewide office, is eyeing a possible run in 2010 to replace Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Campbell, 55, filed papers last week to form an "exploratory committee" for governor, which allows him to begin raising money for a potential bid. He joins two other GOP moderates from Silicon Valley - state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and former eBay chief Meg Whitman - among Republicans who have expressed interest in running. On...

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is considering a 2010 run for governor - a campaign that would embrace many of the same divisive causes he has championed as mayor, including same-sex marriage, universal health care and protections for illegal immigrants, The Chronicle has learned. Newsom has long been rumored to be a potential contender in what is likely to be a crowded field of Democrats looking to succeed Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a list that includes Attorney General and former Gov. Jerry Brown, former state Controller Steve Westly and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. In recent months, Newsom has quietly...

As Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger churns toward a probable re-election as California's governor, those who chart the careers of politicians are increasingly looking past his duel with Democrat Phil Angelides and assessing the potential contenders four years hence. Assuming Schwarzenegger is re-elected, the identity of who is elected as his successor in 2010 has meaning beyond the already substantial fact that the governor of the nation's most populous and influential state is an important political figure. Some of those who may be vying for the governorship have the potential to move beyond California, perhaps into the White House, and even without...

By Jack O’Connell’s count, Phil Angelides has called 10 times to ask for his help since winning the primary and 10 times O’Connell has said yes. O’Connell, the state superintendent of public instruction who lives in San Luis Obispo, has appeared alongside the Democratic gubernatorial candidate at events to highlight Angelides’ education platform. He traveled around the state with Angelides on his Labor Day campaign blitz. He also organized a successful Central Coast fund-raiser. Between now and November, O’Connell says, he intends to do everything he can to help Angelides get elected because having him as governor "would make my...

They are the ambitious leaders of major cities and considered rising stars in the Democratic Party likely to compete against each other one day in a run for higher office. But on Tuesday, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa swapped hearty back pats, toothy grins and glowing compliments hoping to quash any rumors that a rivalry between them exists. Though each remains tight-lipped about plans for life after City Hall, political insiders predict their paths will cross in the not-too-distant future. If Angelides loses his bid against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in November, Newsom or Villaraigosa...