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<p>When California Republicans vote in Tuesday's primary, they will face a much less difficult choice for their party's nomination for governor than they had just a few weeks ago. Until recently, liberal Republican Richard Riordan, former mayor of Los Angeles, was running ahead of Democratic Gov. Gray Davis in the polls, while conservative Republican candidate William Simon was trailing well behind both.</p>

When leading Republicans cast about last year for a gubernatorial candidate to resuscitate their flagging party, they spoke of finding a different kind of California Republican. But now, as the GOP primary winds to a nasty finish, the contest has reverted to a familiar fight over tax-cutting, Reagan-loving and who can best shrink the reach of Sacramento. Click remainder for rest of story here: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-030302gov.story

<p>Maybe there's a Viagra commercial in Bill Jones' future. He has become, after all, California's Bob Dole. Like the longtime U.S. senator who ran for president in 1996, Jones is the decent, plain-spoken man from the heartland who dedicated his life to public service and who now is trying to take that last step up to the state's most important office.</p>

By Howard Fineman SPECIAL TO MSNBC.COM WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 - When I met Bill Simon Jr. in Concord, California, last month I was surprised. I had expected to see a specimen of Republican road kill, a non-entity destined to be flattened on the 10-lane freeway of state politics by George W. Bush's handpicked candidate for governor, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan. INSTEAD I FOUND a chipper, focused and intelligent fellow brimming with confidence despite being 30 points behind in the polls. I knew only a little about him. He was a pro-life Catholic and former prosecutor, a successful investor ...

<p>The White House never wanted its fingerprints on the California governor's race -- but Richard Riordan and his supporters put out the message that he was encouraged, cajoled and backed by President Bush and his advisers.</p> <p>Now, with polls showing Riordan falling behind, the Bush administration faces the possibility of an embarrassing comeuppance: Republican Party voters appear poised to reject the moderate Riordan and are leaning toward conservative businessman Bill Simon, a political neophyte once dismissed as a lightweight by White House insiders.</p>

<p>California voters passed Proposition 34 in 2000 to limit contributions and clean up campaigns, but records show monied interests have simply switched tactics to pump more cash into political races.</p> <p>Under Proposition 34, organizations may give no more than $3,000 to a state Senate or Assembly candidate. But as long as groups do not coordinate with a campaign, they can still spend unlimited funds on mailers, television advertisements and phone calls that can help decide an election.</p>

Elusive Univision Chairman Spreads Wealth Around in Gubernatorial Race Politics: Billionaire has donated $1.3 million to Davis, Riordan and Jones.A. Jerrold Perenchio, the Los Angeles billionaire who heads the nation's largest Spanish-language television network, has become the biggest contributor in the California governor's race, donating $1.3 million to three candidates. Perenchio's extraordinary largess--he has given $625,000 to Democrat Gray Davis in this race, along with $500,000 to Republican Richard Riordan and $205,000 to Republican Bill Jones--not only distinguishes him in the gubernatorial campaign. It also helps deepen the sense of mystery around the television executive, who is as well known ...

SACRAMENTO – The three main Republican candidates for governor want to push forward with a corrected version of electricity deregulation, but only businessman Bill Simon advocates something like deregulation in its purest form. Polls show that most Californians think Gov. Gray Davis mishandled the problem created by the failed deregulation plan, allowing the utilities to run up huge debts that resulted in the state stepping in to buy power for utility customers. But instead of just responding to criticism from the Republican candidates, Davis is trying to turn the electricity issue to his advantage by warning that the Republican candidates ...

<p>Republican Bill Jones' foundering campaign for governor suffered another blow Friday when his Web site was yanked offline after he sent thousands of unwanted ``spam'' e-mail messages to people as far away as Canada.</p> <p>Jones, who has been widely praised for his use of the Internet as secretary of state, turned to the unpopular tactic in an attempt to reach a million voters.</p>

Meet Bill Simon before the big upset victory Tuesday! Saturday, March 2, 2002 The following are the locations and times of the Bill Simon will be in your area for a Rally. All the rallies are on Saturday, March 2, 2002 Come and see and hear Bill Simon. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA/SACRAMENTO &nbsp; 10:30 a.m. Mather Airport Trajen Flight Support 10510 Superfortress Avenue Rancho Cordova BAY AREA/OAKLAND &nbsp; 11:15 a.m. Oakland International Airport Kaiser Air 8735 Earhart Road Oakland CENTRAL VALLEY/FRESNO &nbsp; 1:30 p.m. Yosemite International Airport 5045 E. Andersen Avenue Fresno CENTRAL COAST/SANTA MARIA &nbsp; 3:30 p.m. Santa Maria / Hancock ...

SIMON SAYS, "I'M A REPUBLICAN!" BY JAMES BEMIS Well, the "electable" candidate may turn out to not be so electable after all. With astonishing swiftness, support for former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan's gubernatorial campaign has plummeted faster than Kmart stock. Simultaneously, the fortunes of Bill Simon skyrocketed, leaving even seasoned pollsters shaking their heads. A month ago, Simon, a Los Angeles businessman and philanthropist, was virtually unknown while Riordan was a prohibitive favorite to win the GOP nomination and then do battle with Democrat Governor Gray Davis in November. But Simon's support has nearly tripled in the past three ...

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<p>GOP gubernatorial contender Richard Riordan acknowledged Thursday that a deluge of attack ads have left voters with questions about where he stands on issues. But he said he's not second-guessing himself.</p> <p>"You take somebody that's been in the public eye for years, and particularly somebody like myself who before I was (Los Angeles) mayor didn't even consider being in elective office, so I thought out loud," Riordan said during a wide-ranging interview with the Contra Costa Newspapers editorial board.</p>

LUIS OBISPO -- Richard Riordan brought his struggling GOP gubernatorial campaign to the conservative Central Coast on Thursday, as Bill Simon kept up his attacks on the former front-runner four days before the primary. Riordan toured downtown San Luis Obispo on foot and in an open-air electric car, pressing his candidacy and jesting with a noontime crowd in this farm-and-college town. "You know, you could be executed for not voting," the moderate former Los Angeles mayor joked to one 18-year-old who said he wasn't registered. Seeking to cut into Simon's new standing in polls as the top choice of conservative ...

<p>SACRAMENTO - As months of campaigning dwindle to just days, a giddiness has begun to seep into the Bill Simon camp. Supporters of the Republican candidate for governor are e-mailing each other a photograph with Simon's face superimposed on Hollywood's Clark Kent as he rips off his business shirt to reveal his Superman garb with a big ``S.''</p>

<p>SAN LUIS OBISPO -- While his opponents choreograph ambitious campaign blitzes in the final days before Tuesday's primary election, Republican gubernatorial candidate Richard Riordan's low-key approach is starting to raise eyebrows.</p> <p>He made only one public appearance Thursday, shaking hands, slapping backs and slamming down a tri-tip sandwich and fries in this central coast town.</p>

<p>Although Gov. Gray Davis easily will win next Tuesday's Democratic primary, for the general election he faces not only the Republican nominee but his own record in office, especially on two issues: energy and the state budget. From being seemingly invincible just 14 months ago he has become vulnerable even as the state becomes more aligned with his own Democratic Party.</p>

Riordan's Moderate Tack Alienates California's Conservative Republicans By JOHN HARWOOD Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL GOLETA, Calif. -- For a photo opportunity at a medical equipment company here, gubernatorial candidate Richard Riordan tried out surgical tools in a mock operating room. "I just took out somebody's heart and bladder, and I forgot where they go," the former Los Angeles mayor joked. He slapped the rubber mannequin on the table and added, "Poor guy." As it happens, Mr. Riordan's bid for governor is an attempt at radical surgery on a California GOP that has been fading badly since ...

Declan McCullagh'sPolitech home page / search / subscribe / about / declan mccullagh Confirmed: Calif. gov wannabe Bill Jones is a recidivist spammer Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 12:22:38 -0500 To: politech@politechbot.com Subject: FC: Confirmed: Calif. gov wannabe Bill Jones is a recidivist spammer From: Declan McCullagh &lt;declan@well.com&gt; Cc: laura@blighty.com, neil@petemoss.com, PoliticalReform@ss.ca.gov,Elections@ss.ca.gov Previous Politech message: "Calif. governor candidate, DNC chairman turn to political spam" http://www.politechbot.com/p-03199.html ********* Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 08:42:10 -0800 From: Laura Atkins &lt;laura@blighty.com&gt; To: Neil Schwartzman &lt;neil@petemoss.com&gt; Cc: declan@well.com Subject: Re: FC: Calif. governor candidate, DNC chairman turn to political spam On Thu, Feb 28, 2002 ...

<p>California Gov. Gray Davis may get what he wants: an upset win by conservative Bill Simon over liberal Richard Riordan in the Republican gubernatorial primary Tuesday.</p> <p>But Mr. Davis, a Democrat, may regret it, just as California Gov. Pat Brown lived to regret similar tactics against Ronald Reagan 36 years ago.</p>