California, Here They Come

By James Kelly

A gaggle of candidates heads for the primary finish line

California is first with a lot," says a media maven for San Diego Mayor Pete Wilson. Right now, the state is first with a lot of candidates to succeed Republican Senator S.I. Hayakawa, 75, who is not seeking reelection. When voters go to the polls next Tuesday to choose party nominees for both the Senate and the Governor's mansion, as many as 13 names will be on the G.O.P. primary ballot as candidates for the Senate, and seven of them, including Wilson, are running seriously.

What started as a shoo-in has evolved into a tight, tough three-man race. The early leader was seven-term Congressman Barry Gold water Jr., 43, of Los Angeles, whose famous name has enormous appeal for the state's conservatives. BARRY GOLDWATER FOR THE U.S. SENATE, A TRADITION goes his slogan, and one TV spot shows him sitting on the Capitol steps with dad. Goldwater, however, now appears to be running neck and neck with Wilson and another seven-term Congressman, Paul (Pete) McCloskey of Menlo Park, near San Francisco. A Los Angeles Times poll released last week showed Wilson leading Goldwater 25% to 22%, while McCloskey was favored by 21% of the voters. Another recent poll, by the Mervin Field organization, has Goldwater leading with 29% followed by Wilson (28%) and McCloskey (21%). President Reagan's daughter Maureen, 41, who entered the race against her father's wishes, drew 7% in the Times survey.

Early in the campaign, Goldwater decided not to debate his opponents, a strategy that could cost him the election. "I don't want to give a forum that could possibly advance [Wilson's] situation," he explained. Wilson, who calls Goldwater "my phantom opponent," retorted, "He owes the voters the right to see the candidates and compare them." Last week Wilson, McCloskey, Reagan and two other hopefuls appeared in the first televised question-and-answer session of the campaign. All slammed Goldwater for not showing up.

Each of the three top candidates has disadvantages. Wilson, 48, a bland moderate with a good eleven-year record as mayor, does not inspire the voters. Well liked in the Bay Area, McCloskey, 54, may be too liberal for Southern California, where conservatives remember his strong stance against the Viet Nam War and Jews resent his call for U.S. recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization. As for Goldwater, Wilson has attacked his mediocre attendance record in Congress (he was present for only 18% of the votes this year) and asked whether he is intelligent enough to handle the almost certain winner of the Democratic primary: Jerry Brown, 44, who is running for the Senate after eight years as Governor.

Brown is what bettors would call a mortal lock to win the Democratic nomination. The latest Field poll has the Governor running about 45 points ahead of his nearest rival, Novelist Gore Vidal, 56, who refers to Brown as "Lord of the Flies"--a snide reference to last summer's Mediterranean fruit-fly crisis. At the moment, Brown trails all three top prospective G.O.P. opponents in the polls. However, the Governor has a $2 million campaign fund and is a formidable vote getter when he steers clear of moonbeam topics, a mistake he makes far less often than he did when he had thoughts of entering the 1980 presidential race.

Almost as certain a primary victor as Brown is his prospective Democratic successor, Los Angeles Mayor Thomas Bradley, 64. If he were to win in November, the soft-spoken Bradley would be the first elected black Governor in U.S. history. Bradley has a substantial lead over the two top Republican contenders:

Lieutenant Governor Mike Curb, 37, and the state's attorney general, George Deukmejian, 53. An erstwhile record producer, Curb made a fortune by teaming up Donny and Marie Osmond and churning out hits for Debby Boone. Deukmejian, sober and colorless, to beat served in the state senate for twelve years before being elected attorney general in 1978.

Both men are staunch conservatives, and the only real issue in the campaign is Curb's personality. Despite his boyish good looks and Eagle Scout manners, Curb has something of a reputation as a mudslinging hustler and a political flake. Early in his second term, Brown worried about leaving the state on trips lest Curb, as acting Governor, make an outrageous appointment. Two weeks ago, Curb paid for a mailing to 500,000 state Republicans that accused his opponent of being "disloyal" to Ronald Reagan. The usually mild-mannered Deukmejian blasted the two-page letter as "political hit mail" and pointed out, accurately, that Curb never bothered to register to vote in Reagan's two gubernatorial races. With polls showing voters to be notoriously fickle in this race, the two will spend the final days attempting to prove who has been more faithful to the philosophy of the President -- a California voter who has care fully stayed aloof from both primary fights.

-- By James Kelly.

Reported by Benjamin W. Cate/San Diego and Joseph J. Kane/Los Angeles

With reporting by Benjamin W. Cate, Joseph J. Kane

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