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Many hats may enter recall ring One after another, at the urging of labor leaders who support the governor, five of Davis' fellow Democratic officeholders said last week they don't intend to run should a recall make the ballot. On Saturday, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein added her name to the list. "I am not a candidate," said Feinstein, who appeared with Davis at ceremonies to open a BART extension to San Francisco International Airport. So if Davis faces a recall, who would the alternatives be? The possibilities include some of the usual suspects, including the man who lost to Davis last time. But the list of potential governors also includes the Terminator and Meathead. And not everyone at the Capitol is convinced the Democrats who bowed out this week would resist the temptation to run. The recall drive has yet to collect hundreds of thousands of signatures of voter support needed to qualify for what would be a history-making election this fall or next spring. Still, there is now a swarm of public figures with gubernatorial ambitions who are hurriedly polling and strategizing, trying to decipher how dozens of possible ballot scenarios might affect their odds should the window of opportunity present itself. "Once the recall qualifies, it will be the closest thing to political anarchy you will ever see in this state or anywhere else," said Republican strategist Dan Schnur. "Because there are no precedents. There are no guidelines. And there are no rules of engagement. Every single candidate is going to be making this up as he goes along." Rep. Darrell Issa, the San Diego County Republican financing most of the recall campaign, is an official candidate. The Green Party also has a candidate. A Democrat has yet to declare an interest. With a multimillionaire financing the recall try, proponents predict they'll collect the legal minimum of 897,158 signatures by mid-July, six weeks before the state's September deadline. Should voters reject Davis, a replacement would be decided on the same ballot, chosen by a plurality of the vote, with no runoff. The more candidates, the smaller the percentage of the vote needed to win. That could give an ultra-conservative or -liberal, an untested celebrity or an obscure third-party candidate a window he or she might never have in a standard election. "You're going to have a menagerie of candidates who look at this as a free shot," said Garry South, a longtime political strategist for the governor now working for U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman's presidential campaign. "You could be the governor of California the next day, when no one has ever heard of you, when you've never run statewide before." In a recall election, Davis' best chance of retaining his job might be a ballot that offers only Republican alternatives. But if enough voters wanted him out, or if turnout skewed heavily to Republicans, that could cost Democrats the governorship. If a recall qualified in time for a special election in October or November, the outcome could hinge on Republicans motivated to vote; Democrats could benefit if a recall shared the March ballot with the presidential primary. Democrats hope Republicans crowd the ballot; Republicans hope to keep infighting down and the focus on Davis. With those variables in mind, The Bee offers this compilation of possible candidates: Peter Camejo
The 63-year-old money manager, who drew 5 percent of the statewide vote last year as the Green Party nominee for governor, announced last week he plans to run again if a recall election is held. In last year's campaign, he advocated expanding alternative energy, issuing driver's licenses to
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