SAN FRANCISCO, March 10, 2009 (AFP) - San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom is leading a pack of California gubernatorial contenders when it comes to fans on Twitter.

The hot micro-blogging service is expected to be an influential Internet-Age campaign platform for those vying to become governor of the Golden State in an election scheduled for 2010.

As of Tuesday, 43,354 people had signed on to follow Newsom's terse Twitter musings. His 'tweets' include 'Just received Sarah Palin calendar from Pat Buchanan - signed - who says bipartisanship is dead?' and 'Help me launch my campaign for Governor, go to www.GavinNewsom.com/Contribute and give 5 dollars.'

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been firing off tweets about the budget deficit, wild fires and other state matters along with his efforts and activities.

The incumbent's Twitter page showed Tuesday that he had 24,287 followers.

In a Twitter post in January, Schwarzenegger made it known that his wife had started using the micro-blogging service.

'Let's all welcome Maria to the Twitter family; and feel free to follow #mariashriver,' he tweeted.

California attorney general Jerry Brown, a one-time governor expected to try anew for the job next year, had 753 followers on Twitter as of Tuesday.

Brown's tweets in recent days include 'Just spoke with my legal team. They are well prepared to defend the right to marry for all under the California constitution.'

The former mayor of the city of Oakland across the bay from San Francisco also told followers 'Just went jogging for 30 minutes high in the Oakland hills. Needed to clear my mind after slogging through the dreary financial news.'

Former eBay chief executive Meg Whitman started Twittering in February with a message containing a link to a Los Angeles Times news story telling, in her words, why she is vying to be California's next governor.

Her Twitter account showed 227 followers on Tuesday.

Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state lieutenant governor John Garamendi, both gubernatorial candidates, had Twitter pages showing 786 and 149 followers respectively.