08-05-2003, 05:31 AM
Flynt Bids for Calif. Gov. as Caring Smut Peddler
By Jill Serjeant
BEVERLY HILLS (Reuters) - Calling himself a "smut peddler who cares," porn king Larry Flynt on Monday formally announced his bid for California governor but acknowledged that voters might not be able to stomach his sleazy background.
"I don't think the business I am in has anything to do with being a good governor," the Hustler magazine publisher and casino developer told a news conference in his opulent, black and gold Beverly Hills office.
But Flynt said that if private polling over the next few days showed he had no chance of winning the October election to unseat Democratic Gov. Gray Davis (news - web sites), he would not waste millions in a campaign bid.
"If the support is there, I am willing to go the distance. If not, I will fade into the sunset," said Flynt.
Flynt, 61, who made his millions publishing raunchy sex magazines while carving out a reputation as a crusader for free speech, proposed a novel -- and admittedly partially self-serving -- way out of California's massive budget crisis.
He wants to expand California's gaming industry (in which he has recently developed a business interest) to include slot machines in all private clubs. Taxing the casino revenue, Flynt said, would help wipe out the state budget deficit,
A newly-elected Gov. Flynt would launch a study into the legalization of prostitution. Also, he would grant amnesty to all illegal immigrants currently in California, then secure the state's borders.
Flynt is one of some 200 people, including Hollywood billboard queen Angelyne and a porn movie star, who have taken out initial paperwork to challenge Davis in an election some analysts have said is making California a laughing stock.
Davis on Monday launched a legal bid to have the October ballot delayed until March, claiming there is insufficient time to ready new voting technology.
Flynt, who was shot and paralyzed by a right-wing sniper while fighting an obscenity case 25 years ago and whose career was lionized in the 1996 movie "The People vs Larry Flynt," dismissed suggestions that his campaign was motivated by self-promotion.
"I don't need any publicity," he drawled confidently "I am better known than Coca-Cola."
Seated in a gold-plated wheelchair behind an enormous antique desk bearing some of his more than 30 raunchy magazine titles, Flynt accused California politicians of incompetence and ineptitude.
"California is the most progressive state in the union, quite unorthodox at times. I think its citizens would welcome having a smut peddler who cares as their governor.
"Unlike Gray Davis, I am not paralyzed from the neck up," he quipped.
By Jill Serjeant
BEVERLY HILLS (Reuters) - Calling himself a "smut peddler who cares," porn king Larry Flynt on Monday formally announced his bid for California governor but acknowledged that voters might not be able to stomach his sleazy background.
"I don't think the business I am in has anything to do with being a good governor," the Hustler magazine publisher and casino developer told a news conference in his opulent, black and gold Beverly Hills office.
But Flynt said that if private polling over the next few days showed he had no chance of winning the October election to unseat Democratic Gov. Gray Davis (news - web sites), he would not waste millions in a campaign bid.
"If the support is there, I am willing to go the distance. If not, I will fade into the sunset," said Flynt.
Flynt, 61, who made his millions publishing raunchy sex magazines while carving out a reputation as a crusader for free speech, proposed a novel -- and admittedly partially self-serving -- way out of California's massive budget crisis.
He wants to expand California's gaming industry (in which he has recently developed a business interest) to include slot machines in all private clubs. Taxing the casino revenue, Flynt said, would help wipe out the state budget deficit,
A newly-elected Gov. Flynt would launch a study into the legalization of prostitution. Also, he would grant amnesty to all illegal immigrants currently in California, then secure the state's borders.
Flynt is one of some 200 people, including Hollywood billboard queen Angelyne and a porn movie star, who have taken out initial paperwork to challenge Davis in an election some analysts have said is making California a laughing stock.
Davis on Monday launched a legal bid to have the October ballot delayed until March, claiming there is insufficient time to ready new voting technology.
Flynt, who was shot and paralyzed by a right-wing sniper while fighting an obscenity case 25 years ago and whose career was lionized in the 1996 movie "The People vs Larry Flynt," dismissed suggestions that his campaign was motivated by self-promotion.
"I don't need any publicity," he drawled confidently "I am better known than Coca-Cola."
Seated in a gold-plated wheelchair behind an enormous antique desk bearing some of his more than 30 raunchy magazine titles, Flynt accused California politicians of incompetence and ineptitude.
"California is the most progressive state in the union, quite unorthodox at times. I think its citizens would welcome having a smut peddler who cares as their governor.
"Unlike Gray Davis, I am not paralyzed from the neck up," he quipped.
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