The former press secretary for Gray Davis during his governorship says Gov. Gavin Newsom should focus on keeping Democrats out of the recall campaign.

“Gray Davis suffered because he was getting knifed from the left as well as the right,” said Steve Maviglio. “They have to keep Democrats out of this race.”

Rob Stutzman, who served as deputy chief of staff for Arnold Schwarzenegger, says that although there is no candidate similar to Schwarzenegger, it’s still early in the recall effort.

“There’s the x factor. This is a state full of rich people and wealthy people, and is there an Arnold equivalency? Well, realistically, there very well could be,” Stutzman said.

In 2003, Schwarzenegger won the recall election against Davis.