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SACRAMENTO — Republican Secretary of State Bill Jones announced Monday he will challenge Democratic incumbent Gray Davis for governor in 2002. 

Jones, the only Republican holding statewide office in California, said his top campaign issues will include the state’s energy crisis, education and jobs. 

“I believe I have the leadership, the experience and the vision to lead California,” Jones said at a news conference. 

Jones said he will set up campaign committees as the first step to running for governor. He filed his statement of candidacy Monday, and plans a statewide tour within the next several weeks to officially kick off his campaign. 

Davis, who is expected to run for a second four-year term but has not announced it, has a huge lead in fund-raising. 

Davis has raised at least $27 million since taking office in January 1999 and had $25.87 million in the bank at the start of 2001. He spent $35.3 million in his fall 1998 campaign against then-Attorney General Dan Lungren. 

Jones had $118,336 in his campaign fund at the start of 2001. He said he has hired a national fund-raising firm to help his campaign, but declined to identify it. 

“If money was everything, I suppose it’d be Governor Checchi now instead of Governor Davis,” Jones said, referring to Al Checchi, Davis’ multimillionaire Democratic rival in the ’98 race, who spent $40 million of his own money on his unsuccessful campaign. 

Jones has tried to make an issue of Davis’ aggressive fund-raising, particularly campaign donations the governor has taken from utilities, now at the center of California’s energy crisis. 

The contributions include at least $48,500 from Pacific Gas and Electric and $15,000 from Southern California Edison last year. Davis’ campaign also drew at least $67,000 from energy wholesalers in 2000. 

Davis’ chief political adviser, Garry South, predicted Jones’ lack of money will handcuff his campaign. He said Davis had no choice but to step in when the utilities could no longer buy power. 

Jones said he disagrees with Davis’ decision to buy power for Edison and PG&E and spend billions to acquire their transmission lines. The spending will eventually be paid back by utility customers. 

“Basically socializing the energy business – it is just clearly the wrong way to go,” Jones said. 

Jones said the utilities’ parents should put money back into their subsidiaries.  

also wants to encourage private investors to build new power plants in California. Jones declined to outline a specific plan, saying he was working on the details. 

Other potential Republican candidates include wealthy investment banker William E. Simon Jr. The political novice expects to decide by late spring or early summer whether to run. 

GOP leaders are courting others with deep pockets, such as Silicon Valley venture capitalist and school voucher sponsor Tim Draper, and high name recognition, such as actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, to challenge Davis.