Schwarzenegger to Back Jones

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will back former Secretary of State Bill Jones for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, repaying an ally with a prized endorsement that would strike a major blow to rival GOP candidates, sources said Wednesday.

Schwarzenegger and Jones plan to announce the endorsement Friday in Los Angeles, an advisor to the governor confirmed.

The governor’s intervention in California’s most important Republican primary of 2004 -- unusual by conventional political standards -- boosts Jones’ efforts to cast himself as the frontrunner. Jones, the only one of the four main contenders who has won statewide office, is the first candidate to be endorsed by Schwarzenegger since the October recall election.

“He’s the one that everybody’s been wanting to get, and now we’ve got him,” said a Jones advisor, who declined to be identified.

Asked about the endorsement Wednesday during a San Francisco radio interview, Jones responded: “I’m not denying it.” But he deferred further comment until Friday.

With candidates in the Senate primary struggling to raise money, Schwarzenegger’s endorsement of Jones could make it harder for them to win donors’ confidence. The other candidates are former U.S. Treasurer Rosario Marin, former Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian and former Los Altos Hills Mayor Toni Casey.

A poll released Wednesday showed Jones leading among likely Republican voters in the March 2 primary, but also found that 73% of them were undecided. The survey, which was conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan think tank, found Jones ahead with 17%, followed by Kaloogian, 4%, and Casey and Marin, each with 2%.

Jones was a staunch supporter of Schwarzenegger during the recall campaign, despite Jones’ more conservative positions on social issues like abortion rights and gun control. The Fresno farmer and former state assemblyman spoke on Schwarzenegger’s behalf on water and agriculture matters.

He helped Schwarzenegger put together his first Central Valley rally in Fresno and introduced Schwarzenegger’s open-government platform in Sacramento. He later served on the governor’s transition team.

In kicking off his Senate campaign last week with former GOP governors Pete Wilson and George Deukmejian, Jones repeatedly echoed Schwarzenegger’s campaign lines, vowing to put a stop to “politics as usual.”

Marin strategist Ken Khachigian called Schwarzenegger’s decision “a big disappointment.”

“I think Rosario’s precisely the kind of candidate who’s very much in the image of the governor,” Khachigian said.

Marin, who had endorsed Schwarzenegger a week before the recall election, had hoped to meet with Schwarzenegger on Wednesday, but was unable to see him, Khachigian said.

Marin’s campaign suffered another blow last week when Jones won Wilson’s endorsement; Marin was Wilson’s liaison to the Latino community when he was governor.

For Jones, the Schwarzenegger endorsement means a rosier start to this campaign than he had for his last: a lackluster effort to win his party’s nod for governor in 2002.

In that race, Jones was hampered by chilly relations with President Bush’s political team, which he had angered in 2000 by withdrawing his endorsement of the future president to side with challenger John McCain.

Jones ultimately finished third in the primary behind businessman William Simon Jr. and former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan.