The expected knockdown battle for the GOP gubernatorial nomination appears to have kicked into full gear.
Meg Whitman campaign strategist Mike Murphy has fired back at opponent Steve Poizner's accusation that he sought to force the insurance commissioner out of the race with threats that the cash-flush campaign would spend $40 million "tearing up Steve if we must."
"After reading the ridiculous charges made by Steve Poizner during today's strange press conference, all I can say is that I'm starting to worry about the Commissioner's mental condition," Murphy said in a statement
Poizner called today for state and federal law enforcement officials to investigate whether what he described as "crystal-clear" threats Murphy made to his campaign consultants violated any laws.
See Murphy's explanation for the e-mails and comments cited by Poizner after the jump.
"It is true that I have been trying to find a way to avoid a costly and unnecessary Republican primary. I believe it is important that Republicans across California unite around Meg Whitman to defeat Jerry Brown in the fall. It is also true that I am not the only one with this view. Many Republican leaders are more and more concerned that the Poizner campaign, now 28+ points behind in the polls and still sinking, is becoming little more than a stalking horse for Jerry Brown and the Democrats, especially since Commissioner Poizner has been loudly threatening to run a multi-million dollar negative campaign against Meg Whitman for months.
"Several weeks ago I was advised by a source close to Steve Poizner that his pollster, my old friend Jan van Lohuizen, had been expressing grave doubts about the viability of the faltering Poizner campaign. So I emailed Jan; this is the email the Commissioner is so excited about. About ten days ago I also placed a phone call to a second senior Poizner consultant. We had a nice talk and discussed the option of Poizner considering a race for Senate in 2012. The consultant offered to discuss this with Commissioner Poizner and asked for a number where I could be called back. I do not plan to make any further comment on these discussions, as I do not want to create even more embarrassment for his consultants or get anybody fired.
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