Davis flew to Chicago on Monday to address the AFL-CIO executive council to get its support to fight the recall. No other groups are as important to Davis as labor unions, because they have deep enough pockets to quickly finance the expected $20 million, two-month campaign.

Speaking by telephone from Chicago, Davis said he would spend most of his time over the next two months working on gubernatorial business, such as passing financial privacy legislation and propping up the failing workers' compensation system.

Sacramento -- A barrage of public opinion polls showing Gov. Gray Davis at risk of being ousted from office pushed frightened Democrats closer Monday to demanding that a strong replacement candidate appear on the Oct. 7 recall election ballot.

While Davis courted labor unions in Chicago and attempted to delay the recall in the courts, leading Democrats eyed a fresh batch of private polls showing the recall supported by as much as 55 percent, with a tiny number of undecided voters leaning toward either staying home or ousting Davis.

17 STATE SENATORS MEET

With that in mind, 17 Democratic state senators met privately Monday to discuss whether they should endorse a Democratic replacement candidate on the two-part ballot or stay firmly with Davis.

There was no agreement, senators said, except that the recall should be opposed and voters need to be better informed about how a Republican governor might undermine abortion rights, labor laws and the environment.