Campaign Talk : A Weekly Window On The California Elections.

Acting the part: Since his return to Washington amid criticism over his missed Senate votes, Republican Pete Wilson has been trying to act the part of the gubernatorial front-runner. He stays in his office, emerging occasionally to cast votes, then disappears from public view--a classic move for a candidate who believes he is leading and wants to avoid mistakes. Democrat Dianne Feinstein has been trying to lure Wilson back into the fray, challenging him to a third debate even as debate No. 2 was on the ropes. Major statewide polls still show the two dead even. But Wilson’s aides said their private polls convince them otherwise. All they have to do now is convince the voters.

Ultimate donor: Campaigns are required by law to report the names of their financial contributors along with each donor’s occupation. One Alice Murphy of Sacramento was listed as among the patrons of Proposition 139, the prison labor initiative. Her contribution: $285. Her occupation: “Goddess--Domestic.”

The name game: In Los Angeles, the name “Hahn” carries with it a sense of electoral magic. Political neophyte Kenneth P. Hahn, no relation to longtime county Supervisor Kenneth F. Hahn, forced a fall runoff for the county assessor’s post when he won nearly as many votes in the June primary as incumbent John L. Lynch. In Rancho Cucamonga, incumbent Mayor Dennis Stout is facing a challenge from a businessman named--Dennis Stout. To deal with the confusion, each ballot contains the following notice: “Warning: There are two candidates for this office with identical names.” Meanwhile, a third candidate, Fran Manzano, is hoping to cash in. Her campaign slogan: “One Small Woman Against Two Stout Men.”

The big jump: B. T. Collins, the state’s chief deputy treasurer and a man who once drank a glass of malathion to defend Medfly spraying, celebrated his 50th birthday by sky-diving from a small plane 9,000 feet over South Florida. Collins, an ex-Green Beret who lost his right arm and right leg in Vietnam, has been under fire from Democrat Kathleen Brown for campaign fund-raising activity on behalf of his boss, appointed Treasurer Thomas W. Hayes. The unorthodox state official, who has also been treated for heart trouble and diabetes, shrugged off his political problems and the danger of the risky jump but said he doesn’t plan an encore. “I’ll be a good boy from here on out,” he vowed. THE GOVERNOR’S PARTY

For most of this century Republicans have occupied California’s highest office. Only three times since 1899 have Democratic gubernatorial candidates made inroads to Sacramento. This occurred during the elections of 1938, 1958, and 1974. Overall, Republicans have occupied the governors’ mansion for 69 years compared to Democrats’ 22 years.

Governor Party Date Assumed Office Henry T. Gage R Jan. 3, 1899 George C. Pardee R Jan. 6, 1903 James N. Gillett R Jan. 8, 1907 Hiram W. Johnson R Jan. 3, 1911 Hiram W. Johnson *Pr Jan. 5, 1915 William D. Stephens R Mar. 15, 1917 Friend Wm. Richardson R Jan. 9, 1923 Clement C. Young R Jan. 4, 1927 James Rolph, Jr. R Jan. 6, 1931 Frank F. Merriam R Jan. 7, 1934 Culbert L Olson D Jan. 2, 1939 Earl Warren R Jan. 4, 1943 Goodwin J. Knight R Oct. 5, 1953 Edmund G. Brown D Jan. 5, 1959 Ronald Reagan R Jan. 2, 1967 Edmund G. Brown, Jr. D Jan. 6, 1975 George Deukmejian R Jan. 3, 1983

* Hiram W. Johnson changed his party affiliation from Republican to Progressive for his reelection bid in the 1914 election.

Source: California Almanac

SOUNDINGS

From Assemblyman Tom McClintock of Thousand Oaks, commenting as one of nine GOP Assembly members who have endorsed Proposition 140, which would limit Assembly terms to six years:

“If I could end my political career by leaving office and taking every one of those yo-yos with me, I’d consider it a glorious success.”

From Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, remarking about the potential for big contributors to line up behind Supervisor Pete Schabarum’s Proposition 140:

“The sleazy, coldblooded special interests are going to see an opportunity and they’re going to be supporting Schabarum.” EXIT LINE

“We’ve gotten down to the point where the single most important unit of political thought is the 30-second spot.”--Nicholas Burnett, communications studies professor

at California State University, Sacramento, on television campaigns