SACRAMENTO (AP) — Former Republican congressmember and openly gay U.S. Senate candidate Michael Huffington took out nominating papers to run for governor of California in the October recall election and his spokesperson said he is seriously considering a candidacy.

“He’s been contemplating it and made a final decision this past week to file the papers,” said Huffington’s spokesperson Bruce Nestande.

“You don’t take out papers for the nomination and not be very serious. So it’s a very serious step,” he said.

Huffington served one term in Congress from 1992 to 1994, representing the Santa Barbara area, before losing a close and bitter Senate race to Dianne Feinstein that broke records for spending. He made headlines in 1998 when he disclosed he is gay, and since then has occasionally resurfaced at Republican gatherings and talked of re-entering politics.

Huffington’s ex-wife, maverick columnist Arianna Huffington, is herself the subject of a draft campaign by San Francisco Bay area activists to get her to run for governor.

Nestande said Arianna Huffington’s plans are “irrelevant to anything we’ll do.”

He said the divorced couple live within blocks of each other in Los Angeles’ Brentwood district.

The news about Michael Huffington was the latest development in what was becoming an increasingly diverse field of potential candidates a day after the lieutenant governor announced an Oct. 7 date for the recall election of Democratic Gov. Gray Davis. Candidates have until 5:00 p.m. Aug. 9 to file. At press time, July 29, a federal judge in San Diego had ruled the recall ballot unconstitutional.

Also in the mix as potential Republican candidates are actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, former GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Simon, former vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp and state Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks). The only declared GOP candidate is U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), who funded the recall.

Though GLBT leaders have cited antigay ties to the recall election since the beginning, 365Gay.com on July 29 pointed to a clearly gay-baiting comment by Issa campaign spokesperson, Scott Taylor, who said, “Voters aren’t going to embrace the first bisexual gubernatorial candidate,” in regards to Michael Huffington.

Issa’s campaign was quick to say Taylor’s remarks do not reflect the views of the campaign.

Michael Huffington, an oil and banking heir, poured $27.5 million of his own money into the 1994 Senate race, outspending Feinstein more than 2-to-1 in what was then the nation’s most expensive Senate race.