The Wacko State.

[therunner]

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 3 — A shy 18-year-old who never won a high school election. A racy Hollywood billboard vixen. And a former homeless man who now lives at a rest stop. What could these three possibly have in common?

.

They're all seeking to replace Democratic Gov. Gray Davis in California's recall election.

While the media has focused on Davis' better-known possible challengers — like former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, his 2002 opponent William Simon, and GOP Congressman Darrell Issa — there are dozens of other possible nominees.

That's because for those Californians eager to get on the road to the governor's mansion, the toll is relatively cheap: for just $3,500 and 65 signatures, you, too, can get on the ballot. As pithily summed up by the former homeless man, Jerry Morissette, this election provides "the first chance that a common person has … to run for governor."

But is this democracy in action or democracy run amok?

"It says that we're a wacko state, politically; that's what it says," San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown told ABCNEWS. "You can't characterize it any other way. In this democracy, there is too much democracy."

Curse or Blessing?

To Brown and other career politicians, you can have too much of a good thing; in the same way too much vitamin C can give you kidney stones, too much democracy can give a state too many candidates. But to others, this is a chance for common citizens to send a message to career politicians and shake up the system.

This is not just an academic exercise. In the Golden State, the fifth-largest economy in the world, it's so easy to get on the ballot, there will be multiple candidates. As of Thursday, 123 Californians had taken out papers to run in the recall. They must make a decision by Aug. 9; the election is Oct. 7.

So Davis might be replaced by someone with a small percentage of the vote — perhaps even a plurality in the single digits. Like William Pratt, 18, whose parents refused to pay the filing fee. Candidates can avoid it by collecting 10,000 signatures, so Pratt has a summer job: running for governor.

Or Georgy Russell, a 26-year-old software engineer who has become something of a media darling by selling campaign goods, including thongs on her Web site, georgyforgov.com. She admits to inexperience but argues that "Gray Davis is an experienced politician and in a lot of respects most people would say he's failed the state."

Humble Goals

Michael Wozniak, a retired Oakland police officer, is also running for governor and also has a Web site, vote4woz.com. He says he doesn't understand why politicians in Sacramento can't balance a budget as he and other Californians do. Plus he has a pet issue. "It would be nice to have the domestic ferret legal in California," he says.

While some laugh, there may be lessons in the idealism of these long shots. "I've heard all the concerns and needs of people," says Morissette, who has been living and taking care of a rest stop 15 miles south of San Francisco since 1990. His tale of redemption has been an inspiration to many in the area.

And Wozniak's goals seem more attainable — and humble — than those of his better-known competitors. "If I get people to actually vote or register to vote and participate, I've won right there," he says]