CA-GOV: Meg Whitman Enters The Race

Ending weeks and months of rumors, former EBay CEO (billionaire and confirmed homophobe) Meg Whitman announced today that she has formed an exploratory committee, the first official step in seeking the Republican nomination for Governor in June 2010.

Ms. Whitman is a Republican and, like others in her party, may well face an uphill battle for the post, given the economic crisis battering the state. Governor Schwarzenegger has suffered a drop in popularity as he institutes mandatory furloughs for state employees and other sweeping cutbacks. But on Monday, Ms. Whitman, 52, sounded as if she were running for chief executive of California as she explained why she wanted the post.“California faces challenges unlike any other time in its history — a weak and faltering economy, massive job losses, and an exploding state budget deficit,” Ms. Whitman said in a statement. “California is better than this, and I refuse to stand by and watch it.”

On her campaign Web site, which also made its debut on Monday, Ms. Whitman calls for a “New California.”

The largest LGBT political group in the state, Equality California quickly issued a statement from executive director Geoff Kors condemning her entry into the race.

“Republican and Democratic voters alike know that the only way to win statewide elections in California is to nominate candidates who will work for all Californians and bring people together, not politicians who pit one group against another in an attempt to divide us.

“As our country and our State move forward, Meg Whitman is stuck in the past, practicing the politics of divisiveness by publicly supporting Prop 8. Whitman is wrong for LGBT people and wrong for California.”

It will be interesting to see how much the 2010 Gubernatorial primary elections become another proxy fight over marriage equality and Proposition 8, especially if the California Supreme Court doesn't settle the issue definitively this summer by striking down the measure.

On the Democratic side, all the major candidates, Attorney General (and former Governor)Jerry Brown, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and State Superintendent of Instruction Jack O'Connell (and even U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein) not only opposed Proposition 8 but support civil marriage for same-sex couples.