Two GOP tycoons gear up for gov.'s race

By Michael Finnegan

Jan. 14, 2009 12 AM PT

Both are strangers to most Californians, and neither possesses the star power of the man whose job they covet, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

But the two Silicon Valley tycoons preparing to battle each other for the Republican nomination in 2010 command fortunes big enough to advertise their way to fame: Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner.

Both have hired top strategists in recent days. Whitman, a new arrival to California politics, introduced herself to lawmakers at the state Capitol last week. And Poizner, now state insurance commissioner, foreshadowed the clash ahead with an apparent swipe at Whitman, saying in an interview that the state cannot rely on “rookies” in a crisis.

The high-tech rivals are both out-of-state transplants -- Whitman a New Yorker, Poizner a Texan. Each led tech companies that rocketed to the top of their fields. Whitman was chief executive of EBay, the Internet auction giant. Poizner founded SnapTrack Inc., a pioneer in putting satellite positioning devices in mobile phones.

They are unconventional Republicans. Neither hails from the party’s conservative wing. Both support abortion rights, a potential flash point in the primary that leaves an opening for the type of candidate the party has most often embraced.

“If a genuine conservative candidate emerges, I think they’ll have a tough time defeating that person,” said Terry Christensen, a political science professor at San Jose State.

None has yet surfaced, so for now money makes Whitman and Poizner the most viable GOP contenders in a state where campaigns are notoriously expensive. A third Republican weighing a run, Tom Campbell, represented the Silicon Valley in Congress for nearly a decade but lacks the money to pose a major threat.

Should Whitman or Poizner capture the nomination in June 2010, the ensuing contest against a Democrat would also prove daunting. Apart from Schwarzenegger, California has snubbed Republicans in top races for more than a decade. The Democratic field could include Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown and Mayors Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles and Gavin Newsom of San Francisco; U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has not ruled out a bid.

Even with their electoral advantage, Democrats risk producing a wounded nominee after a brutal primary and are casting a wary eye at Whitman and Poizner. Each has tens -- perhaps hundreds -- of millions to lavish on a campaign. Either could replicate Schwarzenegger’s success in running as a fiscal conservative and social moderate, and a check on the liberal Legislature.

“It behooves Democrats to always be careful,” said Roy Behr, a Democratic strategist. “It was not too long ago that this was a genuinely swing state.”

Whitman, whose 10-year run as leader of EBay ended last year, is off to a bumpy start. Two top advisors have bowed out after an internal turf war. She recently hired Schwarzenegger campaign veteran Rob Stutzman to help fill the void.

Whitman is also waging a court fight with an awkward edge for a captain of high tech: She is trying to gain rights to such website names as megforgovernor.com after losing them to an alleged cyber-squatter.

Still weeks away from formally announcing her candidacy, Whitman declined to be interviewed.

“At this point, I’ll demur,” she said Tuesday at a district attorney’s conference that she and Poizner attended in Rancho Mirage.

Advisors have fielded questions on such topics as her failure to vote in four statewide elections since 2003, including the gubernatorial recall that put Schwarzenegger in office.

“It’s something that Meg regrets,” spokesman Mitch Zak said.

The daughter of a Wall Street financier, Whitman grew up on Long Island’s North Shore. She achieved quick success in marketing, starting with Head & Shoulders shampoo at Procter & Gamble. At Hasbro, she oversaw the marketing of Teletubbies, Barney and Mr. Potato Head. At Stride Rite, she directed the launch of Munchkin baby shoes. EBay recruited her in 1998 for the job that would turn her into a billionaire.

Whitman lives in Atherton with her husband, Griffith Rutherford Harsh IV, a brain surgeon at Stanford. They have a second home near the Telluride ski resort in Colorado.

Whitman’s Republican ties are recent, a fact sure to be explored by primary opponents. She was nonpartisan until 2007, when she switched her registration to the GOP. In the recent presidential campaign, Whitman worked as a top fundraiser for Mitt Romney, her boss at an early-career job at Bain & Co. in Boston. After Romney’s defeat, Whitman signed on as national campaign co-chair for party nominee, John McCain.

In November, she gave an interview suggesting that her marketing background would influence her campaign. McCain’s team, she said, needed “a positive narrative.” “If you can have a great brand that encapsulates the essence of who you are, it’s ownable only by you, not by your opponents or your successor, that’s great branding,” she told Jon Fleischman, a conservative blogger.

At a time of deep economic pain, Whitman will face the challenge of showing that a mogul accustomed to corporate-jet travel understands the needs of ordinary voters. Sharing memories of childhood vacations, she once told Fortune magazine: “I’m happy to camp. I’m happy to stay at the Four Seasons.”

Her bigger task is simply to avoid the fate of other wealthy novices who spent millions on gubernatorial campaigns that withered under attack, like Democrat Al Checchi’s in 1998 and Republican Bill Simon’s in 2002.

Poizner, who lives in Los Gatos with his wife, Carol, and their teenage daughter, holds an important edge over Whitman: He has run for office twice before, gaining a familiarity with the state’s byzantine politics. He spent more than $6 million of his own money on a state Assembly race in the Silicon Valley in 2004, and lost. Poizner then plowed more than $11 million into his successful 2006 campaign for insurance commissioner. In the years since, Poizner has worked California’s local Republican machinery relentlessly in areas where Whitman has only begun to meet key players.

Poizner has also made full use of incumbency. After the Sylmar fire in November, he drew half a dozen TV news crews to his visit with victims at a recreation center. “There’s a lot we can do to cut through the red tape and get people to collect on their claims as quickly as possible,” he said after consoling residents whose homes had burned down.

Poizner ran a mapping software firm in the Silicon Valley for 12 years, then founded SnapTrack. In 2000, he and his partners sold the company to Qualcomm for $1 billion.

For the primary, Poizner sees his blend of experience in the public and private sectors as an advantage. Voters “don’t want career politicians,” he said in an interview. “They’re also not looking for rookies.”

So far, Poizner and Whitman have declined to release details of their personal finances. But both have made clear that they would spend whatever it takes to win.

“Before election day,” Poizner said, “people will know who I am. I assure you that.”

michael.finnegan@ latimes.com

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Meg Whitman

Age: 52

Hometown: Raised in Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. Lives in Atherton, Calif.

Education: Princeton University, bachelor’s in economics. Harvard Business School, MBA

Source: Times reporting

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Steve Poizner

Age: 52

Hometown: Raised in Houston. Lives in Los Gatos, Calif.