LOS ANGELES  —  Schwartzman sounds a lot like Schwarzenegger, but don't tell the little-known candidate who finished ninth in California's recall election that his showing was due to voter confusion.

George Schwartzman (search), a San Diego businessman, collected some 10,760 votes, finishing ahead even of porn actress Mary Carey (search), whose campaign was widely publicized.

She placed 10th among the 135 gubernatorial wannabes on the ballot with about 9,800 votes in the election that ousted Gray Davis and installed Arnold Schwarzenegger (search) as the state's governor.

Schwartzman's name was listed on the lengthy ballot near Schwarzenegger's, but he dismissed the notion that his high tally was the result of thousands of mistakes.

"It has nothing to do with that," he told The Associated Press. "I'm hearing a lot about that. ... But what are you going to do?"

In a letter to supporters Wednesday, he attributed his success to "your efforts and the innovative issues presented in my campaign."

Most of Schwartzman's campaign involved setting up a Web site and spreading word of his candidacy through friends and small-scale personal appearances.