Sen. Tom McClintock and Arnold Schwarzenegger meet with former gubernatorial candidate in SM
Former gubernatorial candidate Peter Ueberroth swept through Santa Monica on Tuesday, meeting with Republicans Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sen. Tom McClintock, but failed to endorse either one in their respective bids to replace Gov. Gray Davis in the recall election.
Ueberroth, who pulled out of the race for Sacramento’s top job last Wednesday, said he will meet with Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante next before announcing which candidate he supports in the statewide recall election.
“I’ve found two terrific individuals and I still have further meetings,” he said during a joint press conference with Sen. McClintock of Ventura County at the Doubletree Guest Suites Hotel, located at 1707 Fourth St. in Santa Monica.
Though a federal court threw the scheduled Oct. 7 date of the recall election into question earlier this week, Ueberroth, the former commissioner of Major League Baseball and head of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, said he is not considering rejoining the race.
Meanwhile, Sen. McClintock said his campaign has not slowed down.
“Punch card ballots reelected Gray Davis less than a year ago and there was no objection then,” Sen. McClintock said, adding that he is confident the ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will be overturned. “The punch card ballot has been used in California without incident for over a generation.”
During his 90-minute, one-on-one meetings with the two candidates, Ueberroth said he discussed creating more jobs in California while saving the ones that already exist. Though he said he gave Schwarzenegger and McClintock specific policy suggestions, Ueberroth declined to say what they were.
McClintock described Ueberroth’s insights as brilliant and said receiving Ueberroth’s endorsement would be a huge boost to his campaign.
A panel of three judges on Monday postponed the Oct. 7 recall, saying old punch card voting equipment still used in some California counties could disenfranchise thousands of voters. That equipment was scheduled to be replaced before the next election in March but would be used if the recall election is held on its original date. On Tuesday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals announced it may hold an extended hearing on the matter and ordered parties from both sides to file briefs by 2 p.m. today.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 17, 2003. Read the original PDF.