California state Treasurer Phil Angelides has won the Democratic Party's formal endorsement over the better-financed Controller Steve Westly.
"This weekend was really the start of the playoffs," Angelides said.
As the man favored by organized labor and much of the Democratic establishment, Angelides has long expected the party's formal endorsement to give a major lift to his campaign before the June 6 primary, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Personal wealth -- gained as an eBay executive at the height of the dot-com boom -- enabled Westly to outspend Angelides on television ads, propelling his candidacy and lifting him in opinion polls.
A Los Angeles Times poll published Saturday showed Westly leading Angelides 33 percent to 20 percent, but nearly half of Democratic primary voters remained undecided.
There is some divergence on issues, with Angelides renewing his call for higher taxes on corporations and the well-to-do.
But for the most part, however, the two candidates made similar pledges to preserve legal abortion, protect the environment and expand health coverage.
© Copyright 2006 by United Press International
