Rescue California

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Lt. Gov. Bustamente Joins Calif. Race
The first prominent Democrat to abandon Gov. Gray Davis' efforts...

August 07, 2003

Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante announced late Wednesday he plans to run in the state's gubernatorial recall election, becoming the first prominent Democrat to abandon Gov. Gray Davis' efforts to keep fellow party members off the ballot. Bustamante's announcement came hours after Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger announced on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" that he was running for governor.

Bustamante, the first Hispanic lieutenant governor in California in more than a century, said in a faxed statement he planned to pick up candidacy papers at 10 a.m. Thursday in Sacramento. As late as Tuesday, he had maintained he would not put his name on the ballot to recall Davis.

His aides declined to elaborate on his announcement Wednesday night.

The Davis camp has pressed to keep all prominent Democrats off the recall ballot, and Davis has characterized the recall as an attempted right-wing coup of a progressive governor.

Earlier Wednesday, the state's most popular Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, announced she would not place her name on the recall ballot. On Tuesday, the AFL-CIO called on all California Democrats to keep their names off the ballot after Davis spoke with the union's leaders.

Organized labor has long been one of the governor's biggest supporters.