Gray Davis: This election is part of a right-wing conspiracy

From a speech by the Governor of California, given in Los Angeles

This recall is bigger than California. What's happening here is part of an ongoing national effort to steal elections Republicans cannot win. It started with the impeachment of President Clinton when the Republicans could not beat him in 1996. It continued in Florida where they stopped the vote count, depriving thousands of Americans of the right to vote. This year they're trying to steal additional Congressional seats in Colorado and Texas, overturning legal redistricting plans.

Here in California the Republicans lost the governor's race last November. Now they're trying to use this recall to seize control of California just before the next presidential election. They spent $3m to put this recall on the ballot. But you're going to have to spend $65m of your hard-earned tax dollars to conduct that election. I'm sure you'll agree with me that money would be better spent educating our children.

Call me old fashioned, but I believe when an election is over the people have spoken and it's time to get to work and do the public's business. There are many reasons to be against this recall: it's expensive, it's undemocratic, it's a bad precedent and it almost certainly will breed more recalls. The end result will be more campaigning not less, more politics not less and less time to do the public's business.

The Republicans behind this recall say they want you to oust me for past mistakes. My friends, they don't give a rip about past mistakes. This is all about control in the future, seizing back the governor's chair and believing with so many candidates running for office they can do it with just a handful of California voters. That's what this is about.

For the next seven weeks my highest priority will be doing the job you elected me to do. But make no mistake, I am going to fight this recall and the right-wing forces behind it. You can take that to the bank.

I may not be the warmest TV personality in politics, but I am warming to this fight. I will go all over this state, talk to all comers, answer all their questions, and I might have one or two of my own to ask them. The Republicans say this recall is about ousting me for past problems, but, friends, we're getting over our past problems. The schools are getting better and our economy will turn around. But this right-wing power grab is something we won't get over. It would do lasting damage to our state, our environment and the very fabric of our democracy.