Los Angeles, California -
A gay Republican who says the Bush administration is hijacking California by backing actor Arnold Schwarzenegger has entered the race for the governor's mansion.
Jim Vandeventer Junior appears to be a reluctant candidate. He says there should never have been a move to recall Gov Gray Davis.. Vandeventer says Davis should have been allowed to finish his second term.
A Los Angeles businessman, and former Beverly Hills BMW salesman, the 40 year old Vandeventer describes himself as 90% Democrat and 10% Republican despite his registration.
He says he backs same-sex unions, is pro-choice, relatively pro-gun, environmentalist and supports bringing back family values and ethics to society.
But even though he supports same-sex couples, Vandeventer who has been in a committed relationship for more than seven years, says he is not in favor of gay marriage.
"Let marriage be a sanctity for heterosexuals. The gay community has to come up with another vocabulary word," he says.
Vandeventer is putting up $100,000 for his campaign, a mere drop in the bucket compared to the millions being invested by Davis to keep his job and Schwarzenegger to turf him out of it.
A total of 247 people have filed candidacy papers for the Oct. 7 recall election to unseat Davis. Of those candidates, 115 have been completed for certification as of Tuesday, and the rest are being reviewed, according to the secretary of state.
by Matt Johns
365Gay.com Newscenter
Los Angeles Bureau
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