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California race brings out oddballs

Georgy Russell hopes a thong and a pretty face will persuade voters to make her governor of California. Ned Roscoe is banking on support from the state's 4 million smokers.

Leonard Padilla thinks his year in prison gives him the edge. Michael Jackson -- no, not that Michael Jackson -- wants to make the recall race a thriller.

Some 195 candidates, most of them political novices, officially submitted their names for the Oct. 7 recall ballot by the Saturday deadline. More than 500 had flirted seriously enough with the idea to take out the papers needed to run for governor should voters decide to recall Democratic Governor Gray Davis.

The celebrity challengers have been all over TV: Arnold Schwarzenegger and former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth, porn magazine Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and commentator Arianna Huffington have joined politicians such as Republicans Tom McClintock and Bill Simon, and Democratic Lieutenant-Governor Cruz Bustamante.

But the ballot will stretch on and on with others -- from lawyers and engineers to bounty hunters and unemployed workers. Under the state's recall law, they needed to submit only US$3,500 and 65 valid signatures to run, or even less money with more signatures.

There's no guarantee that the big-name candidates will even appear on the first -- or second or third -- page of such a ballot. On Monday, the secretary of state holds a random draw to determine the order in which candidates' names will appear.

Voters will decide Oct. 7 if Davis should be recalled -- and his replacement if he loses his job.

Davis will lose if he gets 49.9 percent of the vote or less. With so many challengers on the ballot, the winner may need much less to become governor.

Then, the top vote-getter will have about 30 days after the election while the vote is certified before assuming control.

Ned Roscoe, owner of the national Cigarettes Cheaper! discount chain, is courting smokers -- a group he considers to be an afflicted minority in the state, where smoking is banned in indoor public places, including bars. His slogan: "Smokers, now you count."

"There are about 4 million smokers in California and if one out of four of them votes to stop getting kicked around, I'll be your next governor," Roscoe said.

Leonard Padilla, a bounty hunter, says he's got the experience to be governor -- he learned all about key issues like drug trafficking and immigration during his year in federal prison.

Padilla said he would cap state salaries at US$60,000 a year, decriminalize drugs and deport illegal immigrant prisoners. "If we don't do this, we're going to watch California sink into bankruptcy," he said.

Georgy Russell, a Democrat, 26, sells "Georgy for Governor" thong underwear and coffee mugs on her Web site, which features a smiling picture of herself in a skimpy T-shirt. Her slogan: "Brains, Beauty, Leadership."

"You just have to step outside yourself and see the big picture. And vote for me," said the co-founder of a storage software company. "My lack of experience is an asset."

Russell hopes to appeal to twentysomethings with an agenda pushing clean energy, marijuana legalization and gay marriage.

Michael Jackson, a 39-year-old electrical engineer, hopes his name will "open the door" to a win. His platform: stopping an "invasion" of illegal immigrants. His ultimate goal is more personal: "I'll take my name back and bring some character and quality to it, instead of weirdness."
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