Then there's the Austrian-born former bodybuilder and action movie star who presides over the statehouse in Sacramento.

California is the state where George Murphy, a Thirties and Forties song-and-dance man, was elected to the Senate, and where Jerry Brown was nicknamed "Governor Moonbeam" for proposing a state space academy along with the purchase of a satellite to provide emergency communication.

Among the other leading contenders vying to succeed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the November 2010 election for the top political office in the country's most populous state are: former eBay chief executive officer Meg Whitman, a Republican; and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, both Democrats.

Whitman began her career at Stride Rite shoes, and joined eBay as a startup in 1998.
She doesn't have the baggage of the Democrats. Villaraigosa had a highly public divorce two years ago after it was revealed that he was having an affair with Telemundo TV reporter Mirthala Salinas, who subsequently left her job.

    --- What do you think of California's latest celebrity candidate? Comment below. ---


In 2004, Newsom posed for Harper's Bazaar sprawled on Ann Getty's rug with his first wife, Kimberly Guilfoyle, anchor of Fox News Channel's "The Lineup." Then came an affair with Ruby Rippey-Tourk, the wife of his campaign manager and friend Alex Tourk, who was working as his aide at the time. His current wife, actress Jennifer Seibold, recently steamed up screens with a racy love scene opposite Kip Pardue in the indie film "The Trouble With Romance."

Marciano, 62, who started Guess with his brothers, Paul and Maurice, and left the company in 1992, is running as an Independent. Since selling his stake for $240 million he's been an entrepreneur and an art and jewelry collector.

California's economy has been especially hard hit in the recession and Maricano's campaign platform prioritizes job creation.

In this eclectic field, one thing seems certain -- the campaign won't be boring.