IMHO, di Prima, has by far the most impressive credentials, (see below), 
but...

Please don't get your hopes up since, Gov. Gray Davis, being Very "political" 
and "politically correct" (read "privileges" and "preferences" for some, and 
especially those with political power), may very well prefer to nominate 
either the Chicano or the Black, and in the Decade of the Latino, might be 
inclined to choose Alaron, since he would also please the Native American, 
because of his involvements. Alaron seems however to have the least "peer" 
recognition.The nomination is subject to confirmation by the State Senate. 

The Italian Americans in California are politically impotent. For those of 
you who are somewhat naive, this is Not a Meritocracy.

The only thing that might save di Prima is a concerted campaign on the part 
of Women and Feminists, who are not so emasculated. They have three months to 
work their magic.
===================================================
Thanks to LindaAnn Loshiavo at < http://www.nonstopny.com >

Diane Di Prima, 67, was born in New York, but is a longtime San Francisco
 resident whose poems and other writings helped capture the Beat Generation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CALIFORNIA TO CHOOSE POET LAUREATE 

Newsday.com
By Associated Press
March 30, 2002 

 LOS ANGELES - A veteran of the Beatnik era, a noted Chicano writer
 and a friend of the late jazz legend Miles Davis are finalists to become
 California's first official poet laureate.

  By July, Gov. Gray Davis will nominate either Diane di Prima, Francisco 
Alaron or Quincy Troupe for confirmation by the state Senate.

 "It is a great honor to be considered," Di Prima said. "California is my
 country, in a way. How we see the world is unique."

 A committee selected the three finalists this week from among more than
 50 applicants.

 The applicants included the 11-member writing staff for the NBC sitcom
 "Will & Grace."

 "We are the poets of the Southern California landscape," said Jeff
 Greenstein, one of the show's executive producers.

 However, their entry didn't survive the first judging round.

 Di Prima, 67, was born in New York but is a longtime San Francisco
 resident whose poems and other writings helped capture the Beat
 Generation. She co-founded "The Floating Bear," which featured works
 by William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac.

 Alaron, 48, heads the Spanish for Native Speakers program at the
 University of California, Davis. One of the nation's most prominent
 Mexican-American poets, Alaron's 10 volumes include "Snake Poems:
 An Aztec Invocation," which won the 1993 American Book Award.

 Troupe, 59, of La Jolla, is a teacher at the University of California, San
 Diego. His work has won at the annual Taos Poetry Circus in New
 Mexico. He collaborated with Miles Davis on an autobiography and has
 a radio show, "The Miles Davis Project."

 The post has existed since 1915 but never officially in state law until last
 year, when the Legislature approved detailed qualifications and duties.
 Previously, legislators named poet laureates by resolution — and they
 were not necessarily recognized or even published poets.

[RAA Note:The post has been vacant for 2 years.The last officeholder, Charles 
"Gus" Garrigus of Fresno, was a former state Assembly member and teacher. He 
was appointed in 1966 and kept the position until his death in October 2000.]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

MORE on DIANE DI PRIMA:

http://www.louisville.edu/library/uarc/diprima.html
http://www.beatmuseum.org/diprima/dianediprima.html
http://www.ksu.edu/english/janette/installations/MaryV/diPrima.htm 
http://www.levity.com/corduroy/diprima.htm
http://www.charm.net/~brooklyn/People/DianeDiPrima.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTES about QUINCY TROUPE:

"Skulls Along the River". Quincy Troupe is the winner of two American Book 
Awards for Snake-back Solos and Miles: The Autobiography. He is also the 
recipient of a Peabody Award for the Miles Davis Radio Project and is the 
author of six internationally acclaimed volumes of poetry. 

"Any piece of writing he touches becomes music. With an uncanny ear for the 
language, he combines mere words into phrases and paragraphs that sing the 
range of life's raw emotions, from the elation of a Magic Johnson slam-dunk 
to the melancholy of a Miles Davis trumpet solo." -Los Angeles Times

 http://www.salon.com/audio/2000/10/05/troupe/

Quincy weaves his intimate knowledge of music into his own dynamic 
performance style. He is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of 
California, San Diego. His poems, articles and essays have appeared in over 
200 publications, world-wide; he is a celebrated performer, scholar, NPR 
radio producer and featured poet in two PBS television series : The United 
States of Poetry, and The Power of the Word.

http://www.ccae.org/events/poetry.html

Quincy Troupe (USA) is a poet, journalist, and teacher. Two-time winner of 
the prestigious Heavyweight Champion of Poetry and winner of American Book 
Awards for both nonfiction (the best-selling Miles: The Autobiography) and 
poetry (Snake Back Solos), he left audiences at PanCanadian WordFest 1997 in 
awe with his incendiary jazz performance style. Since his appearance at that 
Festival he has published a new book of poems (Choruses) and a memoir of 
Miles Davis (Miles and Me). He returns with his most recent work, the picture 
book Take it to the Hoop, Magic Johnson — a dazzling tribute in poetry and 
pictures to one of the greatest athletes of our time.

http://www.wordfest.com/troupe.htm
------------------------------------------------------ 

NOTES about FRANCISCO ALARON:

I could find very little.

>From the Bellybutton of the Moon and Other Summer Poems by Francisco Alaron 
(1997), and Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems by Francisco Alaron 
(1996) ...