Poizner to get free ride?

At the FlashReport Phil Paule is reporting that Dr. Phil Kurzner is going to drop out of the race for Insurance Commissioner. That would leave the path all but clear for moderate Republican Steve Poizner, who in 2004 ran for the Assembly and lost in a Democratic district in the Bay Area while spending millions of his own money. Gary Mendoza, the 2002 GOP nominee for Insurance Commissioner, is still announced for the race, but his fundraising has been anemic--with only $1700 cash on hand as of the latest filings. He has not been actively campaigning for months. Kurzner had $83,000 as of last month's filings, which is dwarfed by Poizner's $3 million--most of it self-given. A moderate, Poizner has drawn the ire of the more conservative wing of the Republican party, particularly for giving money to Democratic presidential candidates Al Gore and John Kerry. Kurzner's dropping out would be bad news for Cruz Bustamante, who himself only had $85,000 cash on hand, and was likely hoping that Poizner would spend some of his millions in a primary battle painting himself as conservative enough to be the GOP nominee.