Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- California Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante holds a 13 percentage-point lead over actor Arnold Schwarzenegger in a bid to replace Governor Gray Davis, according to a poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times.

Bustamante, the only major Democratic candidate in the race, was supported by 35 percent of likely voters, while Schwarzenegger had 22 percent, the newspaper said. Other Republicans, state Senator Tom McClintock and businessman Peter Ueberroth received 12 percent and 7 percent of the vote, respectively, the Times said. Republican Bill Simon, who withdrew from the race yesterday, had 6 percent support from those questioned, the paper said.

The survey also found that a number of likely voters are still not certain of their choices, with 46 percent saying they may change their minds between now and Oct. 7, when the recall election is to be held, the paper said.

Fifty percent of those polled also said they were in favor of recalling Davis, with 45 percent opposed and 5 percent undecided, the Times said.

The poll interviewed 1,351 people, of whom 801 were identified as likely voters, between Aug. 16 and 21. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points, the Times reported.

(Los Angeles Times 8-24 online)

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Last Updated: August 24, 2003 10:57 EDT