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Carly working with Arnie?

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Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. He's been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late '70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers.
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Steven Musil

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina is seriously considering running for lieutenant governor of California on the Republican ticket, according to published reports. Fiorina, who was ousted by HP's board of directors in February after five turbulent years at the helm, would be backing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (assuming of course that they do both run and are elected, or reelected in the guvernator's case).

During her tenure at HP, Fiorina resisted calls to break the iconic Silicon Valley company into two separate companies, with one focused on business customers and another focused on consumers. HP's merger with Compaq Computer, which was spearheaded by Fiorina, has also been criticized.

Fiorina's interest in GOP politics is well-known, and in recent months, Fiorina has made public speeches in which she hinted at going into public service and possibly politics. She is also writing a book to be published by the Penguin Group that is expected to be a combination memoir of her Silicon Valley career and her views on women in business.

If she were to run, she would join other Silicon Valley veterans on the state election slate. California State Controller Steve Westly, a former eBay vice president, is waging a campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor. Steve Poizner, who founded Strategic Mapping and SnapTrack, is a Republican running for state insurance commissioner. SnapTrack was acquired by Qualcomm for $1 billion in 2000.