A Republican party group in California has launched a movement to draft Hollywood actor and producer Mel Gibson to replace Arnold Schwarzenegger as the party's candidate in next year's governor election.

The California Republican Assembly, a grass-roots organization that is separate from the state party, even has set up the website www.melgibsonforgovernor.com to promote the cause, a Los Angeles Times report said Wednesday.

The appointment of a longtime Democrat activist as his new chief of staff by Governor Schwarzenegger last week has induced angers among many fellow members of his Republican Party, who were threatening to abandon their support for him during his reelection bid next year.

Schwarzenegger's choice of Susan Kennedy, a former executive director of the state Democratic Party, as his top aide was widely seen as a move to win back support of California's largely Democratic-leaning voters, who rejected all the governor's four reform proposals in last month's special election.

But Schwarzenegger is facing sustained opposition against the appointment from moderate and conservative Republicans, and observers said a nasty fight in the party could cost the former Hollywood action star's chance to seek a second term as governor.

Some frustrated Republicans said they want to see the party to withdraw its endorsement of him during February's convention.

"We need to have a good backup," said Mike Spence, president of the California Republican Assembly, the group that has proposed Mel Gibson to run against Schwarzenegger in the party's primary next year.

The group favored Gibson as a replacement of Schwarzenegger partly because the success of Gibson's 2004 movie, "The Passion of the Christ," could help his chances among religious conservatives.

Gibson "seems to be more consistent with the Republican message " than the governor is, Spence said.

Raised in Australia, Gibson was born in New York and is a US citizen, but he has not expressed an interest in elected politics.

Meanwhile, directors of the California Republican Party have demanded a private meeting with the governor to complain about the appointment of Susan Kennedy as his chief of staff.

High-ranking Republicans are particularly worried about Kennedy getting inside information about their statewide election efforts next year, reports said.

Source: Xinhua