Poizner attacks Whitman's record as a nonvoter. Campbell mocks front-runners' budget plans.
Reporting from Indian Wells - The battle for the Republican nomination to succeed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took a nasty turn Saturday as a trio of Silicon Valley candidates tussled over fiscal plans and contender Meg Whitman's apparent failure to vote until she was 46 years old.
Most aggressive was state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, a mapping software mogul who called on Whitman to drop out of the race for the good of the party. The former chief executive of EBay, he argued, would lead Republicans to certain defeat in a general election, thanks to the civic indifference indicated by her voting record.
"There's never been a person elected governor anywhere in this country with a voting record like hers," Poizner said. "I mean 28 years of not voting at all, not even being registered to vote -- meaning she had no intention of even voting -- is something that will make her really not qualified."
Whitman promptly rejected Poizner's demand. "I can imagine that Steve Poizner would like me to get out of the race, and it's not happening," said Whitman, who has put more than $19 million of her personal fortune into the race.
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