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Simon drops out of recall race "I strongly believe that the desire of Californians must come before the aspirations of any single candidate. There are too many Republicans in this race and the people of this state simply cannot risk a continuation of the Gray Davis legacy," Simon said in a statement the campaign was releasing at 11 a.m. Spokesman K.B. Forbes denied the move by Simon, who lost to Democratic Gov. Gray Davis in 2002, came in response to pressure from the party. "There was absolutely no pressure, no phone calls -- this was a decision made by Bill Simon based on rational conclusions," Forbes said. The move by Simon leaves three leading Republicans among the 135 candidates on the ballot to replace Davis Oct. 7: Schwarzenegger, former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth and state Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks. Many Republicans believe Schwarzenegger should be the party's choice, but McClintock and Ueberroth have said they are in the race to stay. Democrats, meanwhile, are increasingly united behind Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and his "No on recall, yes on Bustamante" strategy. McClintock campaign spokesman Joe Giardiello repeated Saturday that McClintock would stay in the race and took a fresh shot at Schwarzenegger, saying the recall is now "a race between Gray Davis' right-hand man, an untested candidate who may or may or may not raise taxes, and McClintock, who has been fighting for fiscal reforms that we need for 20 years." Ueberroth's campaign consultant did not immediately return a call for comment and there was no immediate statement from the Schwarzenegger camp. A Davis spokesman dismissed the news as "irrelevant." "We're still focused on defeating question one on the ballot," said Gabriel Sanchez, spokesman for Davis' campaign committee. "Question two has become a sideshow with one less clown." Simon, the son of former U.S. Treasury secretary William E. Simon Sr., is a social conservative who was a political unknown before his surprise win in the Republican primary last year. He ran a stumbling campaign and lost to Davis by five percentage points in November. The Los Angeles businessman entered the recall election with support from a band of loyalists, but he was not getting the contributions or endorsements he needed. As recently as this week, though, Simon insisted he would stay in the race and spend his own money to win. Although he is dropping out, it is too late to remove his name from the Oct. 7 ballot so it will still appear there. Forbes said Simon would not be available for interviews.
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