Socialite joins California race

The Special election to recall California's unpopular governor, Gray Davis, will receive a shot in arm today if, as expected, Arianna Huffington, the gadfly columnist and political salon hostess, announces she is joining the race as an independent.

Ms Huffington, who once wrote a book called How to Overthrow The Government, has come under pressure from thousands of grassroots activists who set up a website called Run Arianna Run.

She announced yesterday that she would be holding a news conference in south central Los Angeles, a world away from her mansion in the Brentwood hills but an eye-catching way of establishing her populist credentials.

Sources close to her said she had decided to run.

Ms Huffington's supporters believe she can turn political business upside down and restore honour to a money-tainted business.

In 2000 she ran shadow political conventions to highlight the corporate money-grubbing of the major parties and has since been involved in campaigns against the War on Drugs and gas-guzzling four-wheel-drives. Her latest book, about the unholy alliance of politicians and corporations, is called Pigs At The Trough.

The Republicans and Democrats have not yet made up their minds who to back.