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Whitman eyes California post
Source: Agencies |
January 7, 2009, Wednesday
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FORMER eBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman has resigned from three corporate boards for personal reasons, a turn-of-the-year move that would free her to run for governor of California, the United States.
Term limits mean Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican like Whitman, must leave the job in 2010, and high-profile figures in the Golden State from Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein to former high-technology executives are considering making a run.
The job will be difficult, barring a major change in the economy. California is in crisis as housing foreclosures and unemployment rise and state revenues fall. Credit markets are closed to it and state coffers may be empty in a month.
Whitman quit the boards of Procter and Gamble, eBay and DreamWorks Animation on December 31 for personal reasons, spokesman Henry Gomez said.
The former online auction company chief had been considered by Republican presidential candidate John McCain as a potential Treasury secretary.
A person close to Whitman said she had not made a decision on whether or not to run for governor but the board resignations were intended to clear the deck. This was also a fairly clear indication of her intention, the insider said, declining to say specifically if she would run.
The decision would be clear within four to six weeks if she created an exploratory committee for her candidacy.
Two other Republicans have already formed exploratory committees for potential 2010 gubernatorial campaigns: State Insurance Commissioner and former high-tech entrepreneur Steve Poizner and former California Department of Finance Director Tom Campbell.
Whitman's business background could attract voters but as a novice politician she may be unprepared for the rough and tumble of politics, said Jack Pitney, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College.
"A big minus is she has never run for anything," he said. "When you're a rookie running for governor, mistakes can be very hurtful."
Term limits mean Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican like Whitman, must leave the job in 2010, and high-profile figures in the Golden State from Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein to former high-technology executives are considering making a run.
The job will be difficult, barring a major change in the economy. California is in crisis as housing foreclosures and unemployment rise and state revenues fall. Credit markets are closed to it and state coffers may be empty in a month.
Whitman quit the boards of Procter and Gamble, eBay and DreamWorks Animation on December 31 for personal reasons, spokesman Henry Gomez said.
The former online auction company chief had been considered by Republican presidential candidate John McCain as a potential Treasury secretary.
A person close to Whitman said she had not made a decision on whether or not to run for governor but the board resignations were intended to clear the deck. This was also a fairly clear indication of her intention, the insider said, declining to say specifically if she would run.
The decision would be clear within four to six weeks if she created an exploratory committee for her candidacy.
Two other Republicans have already formed exploratory committees for potential 2010 gubernatorial campaigns: State Insurance Commissioner and former high-tech entrepreneur Steve Poizner and former California Department of Finance Director Tom Campbell.
Whitman's business background could attract voters but as a novice politician she may be unprepared for the rough and tumble of politics, said Jack Pitney, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College.
"A big minus is she has never run for anything," he said. "When you're a rookie running for governor, mistakes can be very hurtful."
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