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With the recall election a week away and neither Tom McClintock nor Arnold Schwarzenegger looking to drop out of the race, the Bruin Republicans are hard-pressed to decide which of the two GOP frontrunners to endorse.

The question of who to endorse has gained even more significance in light of the California Republican Party’s decision Monday to endorse Schwarzenegger.

“The reason why (the state Republican party) is doing that is because they think he’s the best hope of getting a conservative in office,” said Chris Riha, a fourth-year economics student and executive director of the Bruin Republicans.

However, it is almost certain that the Bruin Republicans won’t be endorsing a candidate this year, Riha said.

Because of the intense race between the two Republican candidates, choosing to endorse one may create a rift among Bruin Republican members.

“(If the Bruin Republicans chose Schwarzenegger) I would not like that at all. I’m not going to leave the Bruin Republicans over it, but I think it would be a poor choice,” said group member Andrew Reinicke, a fifth-year political science and history student who supports McClintock.

The group similarly avoided creating a division among its members during the 2002 gubernatorial election, when it did not endorse a Republican candidate since neither Richard Riordan nor Bill Simon had the vast majority of the organization’s support.

But members believe that having two Republican frontrunners has not split the organization at all and that there is no need to split the organization over an endorsement.

“I think if anything, it’s united them because most people don’t like Davis and that’s the primary aim: to get Davis out of office,” Riha said.

“I think if either Schwarzenegger or McClintock won, (the group would) be happy. They wouldn’t if Bustamante got the office, but it doesn’t look like that will be the case,” he added.

Among the Bruin Republicans, the more conservative members have decided to back McClintock, whereas those who consider themselves more moderate have sided with Schwarzenegger.

Regardless of the California Republican Party’s endorsement of Schwarzenegger, McClintock’s supporters believe that he holds a more conservative Republican stance than Schwarzenegger, who they say may be a Republican in name only.

“McClintock is the real conservative in the race. I think he represents what we need to help California and get us back on track,” Reinicke said.

However, others in the group say Schwarzenegger’s stances on issues mirror Republican views as much as McClintock’s do.

“On about 90 percent of the issues, Arnold has the same views that I do. (Schwarzenegger and McClintock are) both Republicans when it’s all said and done,” said fourth-year political science student Scott Latchem, also a member of Bruin Republicans.

Other Republican-leaning students who identified more with McClintock said they would vote for the more moderate Schwarzenegger so a Republican would be in office.

“I’m hearing that from a lot of people ... that they’ll vote for Schwarzenegger because they feel their vote will be wasted (if they vote for McClintock),” said second-year political science student Jon English, who did not claim any political party affiliation but was leaning toward voting for Schwarzenegger.