LAKE OZARK, Mo. -- Gov. Bob Holden acknowledged Friday discussing the University of Missouri's presidential search with members of the system's constitutionally independent governing board.

But Holden said he didn't "lean on" members of the Board of Curators in favor of any presidential prospect, including two fellow Democratic politicians -- former Gov. Roger Wilson and incumbent Attorney General Jay Nixon.

"I have no preference," the governor said when asked whether he favored either Wilson or Nixon as the successor to Manuel Pacheco, the university president since 1997 who plans to retire next year. Holden has previously said either man would make an "outstanding" president for the university, which both men attended.

Holden added: "I actually think if the governor endorsed anybody, it's the kiss of death for that individual. I know many of those curators and I know how independent they are."

Under the Missouri Constitution, the governor appoints the curators, they go through Missouri Senate confirmation and then they are supposed to be independent, even from the person who named them.

The late Democratic Gov. Mel Carnahan was criticized in the mid-1990s for meddling in a fight about the Columbia campus chancellor. The chancellor and the then-university president both wound up exiting their jobs under pressure.

Holden would seem to gain greater influence through Nixon's appointment, because the governor would get to appoint a new attorney general.

Wilson retired from politics after serving as governor, lieutenant governor and state senator from Columbia. He is now a partner in a St. Louis-headquartered investment company.

If Holden named a sitting statewide officeholder as attorney general -- State Auditor Claire McCaskill has been mentioned in Statehouse speculation -- the governor could appoint their replacements as well, reshaping major offices in Missouri government.

The appointments of either Nixon or Wilson -- or the elevation of McCaskill to attorney general -- would presumably remove them as possible 2004 challengers to Holden, since the curators want to sign the new president to at least a five-year contract.