Five elections to watch

California

Candidates: Gov. Gray Davis (Democrat), Bill Simon (Republican)

Tech trends: Davis is trying to get the state back on track following the shutdown of the California Department of Information Technology in June. Clark Kelso, the state's new chief information officer, is taking a decentralized approach to IT management in response to an award made without competition to Oracle Corp., which had led to the department's closure.

 

Florida

Candidates: Gov. Jeb Bush (Republican), Bill McBride (Democrat)

Tech trends: The Florida State Technology Office is rebounding under the leadership of Kim Bahrami, who was appointed state CIO in June following the resignation of Roy Cales in September 2001. A turnover would be yet another setback for the office.

 

Georgia

Candidates: Gov. Roy Barnes (Democrat), Sonny Perdue (Republican)

Tech trends: The $1.8 billion Georgia Convergent Communications Outsourcing Project is scheduled for award in November or December, with the winning team scheduled to begin the initial work in January. If Barnes is re-elected, the contract is likely to proceed on schedule.

 

Michigan

Candidates: Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus (Republican), Jennifer Granholm (Democrat)

Tech Trends: Gov. John Engler issued an executive order in August transferring the employees and assets of the e-Michigan Office to the Department of Information Technology. The new governor has the power to make or break the consolidation.

 
New York

Candidates: Gov. George Pataki (Republican), Carl McCall (Democrat)

Tech Trends: Pataki appointed James Dillon to serve as the state's first CIO in January. Under Dillon, the state has embarked on a centralized approach to IT leadership and is on the verge of awarding a major statewide wireless network contract.