Former EBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman joined the race for governor of California on Monday, setting off a battle between Silicon Valley moguls for the 2010 Republican nomination.
Whitman, 52, has never run for public office but is banking on Californians' viewing her corporate background as just what the state needs to break its chronic cycle of fiscal disasters.
"California faces challenges unlike any other time in its history -- a weak and faltering economy, massive job losses and an exploding state budget deficit," she said in a written statement. "California is better than this, and I refuse to stand by and watch it fail."
Whitman faces a tough fight, with a wide field of better-known Californians already jockeying to replace Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican who is barred by state law from seeking another term.
Whitman's chief rival for the party nomination is state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, also a high-tech tycoon. Another Republican exploring a run is a former Silicon Valley congressman, Tom Campbell, now a visiting law professor at Chapman University.
With vast personal wealth, Whitman and Poizner can each spend tens of millions of dollars apiece on the race; Campbell faces a steep challenge in raising enough to be competitive.
A spirited primary appears increasingly likely among Democrats as well. Lt. Gov. John Garamendi is the only major formal contender in the Democratic race for now, but Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom are both preparing to run. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is also weighing whether to join the race after his likely reelection next month. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has also not ruled out a run for the party nomination.
Whitman has offered no details on the agenda she would pursue as governor, and her campaign website, which debuted Monday, avoided specifics.
But she has made clear that she will position herself -- like Poizner and Campbell have -- as a fiscal conservative and social moderate who supports abortion rights.
That profile, a successful formula for Schwarzenegger and other Republicans in statewide races, leaves an opening for a more conservative candidate in the June 2010 primary. So far none has surfaced.
Raised in an upscale suburb of New York City, Whitman started her business career in marketing, promoting products including Head & Shoulders shampoo and Mr. Potato Head toys. As chief executive at EBay from 1998 to 2008, Whitman became a billionaire as she oversaw its rapid growth from obscure upstart to global Internet auction giant.
