On March 23, the California Secretary of State released a tentative list of candidates who will appear on the ballot for partisan state office and U.S. House. The list is tentative because there are still eight lawsuits pending for excluded candidates.

The tentative list includes sixty-two candidates for Governor. This the second-highest number of candidates for a single office (not including presidential elector) in California history. The highest was 135 candidates running for Governor in the recall election of 2003.

Among the 62 gubernatorial candidates are 24 Democrats, 23 with the label “No party preference”, 13 Republicans, and one each from the Libertarian and Peace & Freedom Parties. Included in the candidates with “no party preference” label are the candidates of the Constitution, American Solidarity, and Socialist Workers Party (respectively, Don Grundmann, Duane Laynes, and Margaret Trowe).

ACLU California Action asked ten California gubernatorial candidates to respond to a survey, and then publicized the results. But the group did not ask all California ballot-qualified candidates to participate. It only asked the eight Democrats and two Republicans who have been touted by the media as the leading candidates.

Among those who were asked to participate is Tony Thurmond, who has not been above 1% in any recent poll. Butch Ware, the Green Party candidate, when last included in a neutral poll, was at 2%. But the ACLU did not seek his answers to their questionaire. See the questionaire results here.

On March 23, the California Appellate Court refused relief to Joel Gilbert, who had sued to force the Secretary of State to investigate whether Eric Swalwell meets the duration of residency requirement to run for Governor. Gilbert has now asked the State Supreme Court to hear his case. No. S295810.