The Rise of Women in California Politics: Both Parties Praise Their New Presence : Government: More women than ever before are running for statewide office. But they still don’t compete on a level playing field.

SACRAMENTO —  This could be the Year of the Woman in California politics.

While only two women have ever been elected to statewide office, there is the sudden mathematical possibility--although not probability--that a majority of the state’s seven statewide partisan offices could be won by women this November.

Most media attention has centered on former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein, who jumped ahead of state Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp in recent polls on the the Democratic gubernatorial race (and, by a slight margin, ahead of U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson if the two were matched in the November general election).

In addition to Feinstein, the list of possible women officeholders includes incumbent Secretary of State March Fong Eu, favored to win a fourth term; State Sen. Marion Bergeson of Newport Beach, who faces a tough road in both the Republican primary and a November face-off against the incumbent lieutenant governor, Democrat Leo McCarthy, and two candidates for state treasurer, Democrat Kathleen Brown and Republican Angela (Bay) Buchanan.

Brown, daughter of former Gov. Edmund G.(Pat) Brown Sr. and sister of former Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr., seems to have succeeded in her drive to lock up the Democratic nomination without a heavy outlay of primary cash. She has been actively running ever since the death of Treasurer Jesse Unruh more than two years ago. Buchanan, sister of conservative commentator Patrick J. Buchanan, is engaged in a bruising primary battle against incumbent Thomas Hayes, who was appointed to the post by Gov. George Deukmejian.

Compared with past election years, this is an extraordinarily long list of high-profile female contenders. Aside from Eu, the only other woman ever to win a statewide office was Ivy Baker Priest, chosen state treasurer on a 1966 Republican slate led by Ronald Reagan. She served two terms.

Not counting political unknowns, few women have even run for statewide office in California. No woman has ever won the Democratic or Republican nomination for governor; only one has ever made it to the finals for a seat in the U.S. Senate. That was in 1950, when then-Rep. Helen Gahagan Douglas of Los Angeles lost to Richard Nixon in an election noted more for Nixon’s red-baiting tactics than for Douglas’ break of the gender barrier (one of her supporters was then-Democrat Ronald Reagan).

More recently, former Assembly Republican leader Carol Hallett was the losing Republican candidate for lieutenant governor in 1982, and former Rep. Yvonne Brathwaite Burke of Los Angeles was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for attorney general in 1978.

What alchemy or activity makes this the first year with more than one or two female candidates in the mainstream of a statewide election in California? Is it the result of an organized campaign to get more women nominated or elected, or has there been a change in the political climate that lures more women into the political arena?

No common link connects any of the five women with a chance to win statewide office in 1990; it is mostly happenstance that accounts for the convergence of so many women in a single election. The relatively large number on the ballot is the product of a ladder-climbing process, with female representation growing first in local and district elections.

Nevertheless, there was a significant change during the last decade in the attitude of the political world toward female candidates. No office is now considered out of reach to a qualified woman--a situation definitely not the case during most of American history. Strategists for both major parties now see women as assets on state or national tickets, despite the failure of Geraldine Ferraro’s pioneering campaign for vice president in 1984.

For the past 20 years, women have been jumping on the bottom rungs of the political ladder, establishing credibility for the upward climb. They have been especially successful in city elections--Sacramento, Fresno and San Diego now have woman mayors. It is commonplace to have female majorities on school boards, city councils and county boards of supervisors.

But there is still a wide gulf between the sexes in state and national offices. The first female state senator, Rose Ann Vuich (D-Dinuba), was elected only 14 years ago. There are now five women in the 40-member senate. Only in the last dozen years have women been elected to the Assembly in more than token numbers, with 14 currently serving in the 80-member body. And only two of the state’s 45 Representatives in Washington are women, Democrats Barbara Boxer of Greenbrae in Marin County and Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco.

Not many women have advanced beyond local offices for various reasons: Family responsibilities often make women reluctant to seek posts in Sacramento or Washington. Female candidates now find they have more trouble than men raising campaign funds. Money should flow more readily to women as they advance in both the chambers of government and the boardrooms of corporations.

Few women possess another important ingredient for success in media-oriented California politics--visibility. Without name identification in Southern California, it is difficult for anyone--male or female--to win a statewide primary election without spending millions of dollars just to become known. The family name is the major asset of Kathleen Brown and, to a lesser extent, Bay Buchanan.

Feinstein cuts through all the roadblocks--one reason she is doing so well in the early polls. She has no young children, can raise money and has excellent name recognition after her tenure as mayor of San Francisco. She is out of office and has nothing to lose politically by taking a shot at the office Deukmejian is vacating.

Bergeson’s term in the state Senate doesn’t expire until 1992. That allows her to run for lieutenant governor without risking her legislative position. She is facing another senator with a free ride, John Seymour of Orange County, in the GOP primary. As more and more women are elected to the Senate, the free-ride factor could play a major role in helping women advance to the top rungs of the political ladder.

Theoretically, women should have an advantage over men in races where other factors are equal--more women vote than men and polls show that at least Democratic females prefer to vote for candidates of their own sex.

But other factors are not yet equal, and only time will give women a fair shot at all of the state’s most prestigious offices. Still, 1990 qualifies as a watershed year for women--reaching new sexual parity in California politics.