. . . And They’re Off ! : 2 of State Senate’s Brightest Faces Exploring a Run for Governor in ’86

Tall and handsome, Gary K. Hart and John Garamendi are the pretty boys of the California Senate, a legislative body noted more for paunch than punch.

These former athletes glide through the Senate chamber like thoroughbreds looking for a race. Now they think they have one: Unlike more seasoned Democrats who are wary of Republican Gov. George Deukmejian’s high ratings in the polls, Hart, 41, and Garamendi, 40, are openly exploring a run for governor in 1986.

Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy, 54, and Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp, 49, have indicated that they will seek reelection to their present jobs. Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, 67, barely lost to Deukmejian in 1982 and says he will decide later whether he wants to run for governor again.

Although Hart and Garamendi praised Bradley after the mayor’s sweeping reelection last week, both said they will continue seeking support for a governor’s race. They have been jetting around California for meetings with Democratic contributors and activists--sometimes seeing the same people within hours of each other.

“It’s time for some fresh faces in California politics,” Hart said in a recent interview. He said he believes government can play a “positive role” in people’s lives.

New Activism in California

“I saw my entire legislative package go up in smoke last year,” Hart said, noting that Deukmejian had vetoed three bills designed to help pregnant teen-agers, latch-key children and nursing home patients. “The thought of six more years with this governor is not pleasant.”

Garamendi talks about “a government and business partnership” and charges: “Deukmejian is a caretaker governor. . . . We need to be planning for the future around here.”

John Emerson, the Los Angeles lawyer who managed presidential candidate Gary F. Hart’s California campaign, said: “I think we are poised for a new activism in California. Someone who has lived through activism, someone with the idealism that Gary K. Hart and John Garamendi have shown in the past, that could be the person who issues the challenge and reawakens this generation in California.”

In the 1960s, Gary K. Hart worked for the late liberal activist Allard Lowenstein. Hart turned in his draft card in 1967 to protest the Vietnam War. Garamendi and his wife spent two years in the Peace Corps in the late ‘60s and are now raising money for African famine victims.

If he runs for governor, Hart, who represents the coastal areas of Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, will have to relinquish his Senate seat, which is up in 1986. Garamendi, who represents parts of the Sacramento Delta and the Mother Lode country, gets a “free ride” since his seat is not up until 1988.

One person making phone calls for Hart is Santa Monica Assemblyman Tom Hayden, whose grass-roots group, Campaign for Economic Democracy, can deliver hundreds of volunteers for election efforts.

Hart has raised more than $150,000 for his exploratory effort, including $50,000 from General Motors heir Maryanne Mott of Montecito, and $25,000 each from Santa Barbara philanthropist Katherine Tremaine and Los Angeles economist and philanthropist Stanley Sheinbaum.

When Garamendi held a fund-raiser recently to pay off a campaign debt from his 1984 Senate race--and get a little exposure for his current ambitions--liberal activist David Mixner of Los Angeles helped Garamendi find a place to hold the event.

Mixner, who has not committed himself to either candidate, is the kind of young Democrat whose contacts and fund-raising clout will be important to any “new face” attempting to push aside the old guard.

So far Garamendi has about $10,000 to spend on his exploratory efforts, according to top aide Tom Epstein. “We have a number of commitments from people who can write $25,000 checks,” Epstein said, “but we won’t start raising it until John can tell them what he definitely plans to do. We should be able to raise $400,000 by the end of the summer.”

Garamendi ran against Bradley in the 1982 Democratic primary race for governor. He got 26% of the vote and some valuable statewide exposure. Because of that race, for example, Garamendi is much better known than Hart in California’s high-tech communities.

Hart has never run for statewide office. But in a state in which name identification is crucial to political success, he got a lucky break when Colorado Sen. Gary F. Hart won California’s Democratic presidential primary last year.

Hart acknowledged that the increased name identification had a lot to do with his decision to seek higher office in 1986 and added: “The other Gary Hart and I share pretty much the same political philosophy. We’re good friends.”

Right now Hart also has something Garamendi does not--political mentors. Hart’s best friends are Democratic Reps. Mel Levine of Santa Monica and Howard Berman of Los Angeles, who are part of the political organization headed by Rep. Henry A. Waxman of Los Angeles, one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress.

The Waxman-Berman group has encouraged Hart to explore a race for governor.

Although there are differences between Gary K. Hart and John Garamendi, there are also some striking similarities.

In addition to their youth and good looks, they were both top athletes in high school and won college football scholarships--Hart to Stanford, Garamendi to UC Berkeley. Both have advanced degrees from Harvard--Hart in education, Garamendi in business.

Both also have attractive families, which they are eager to show off.

Garamendi’s wife, Patti, recently organized a trip back to the Ethiopian village that she and John lived in when they were in the Peace Corps. They have a son and four daughters.

After a recent dinner in the Garamendi’s restored mansion on the Sacramento River, the family conversation revolved around projects to help victims of the African famine. Son Jack, 14, reported that his fund-raising efforts have pulled in more than $1,500.

Dinner conversation at the Harts’ home in a posh Sacramento suburb dwelt on books and schoolwork. Hart’s wife, Cary, is a pediatrician. They have three daughters, the oldest of whom is 8.

“My family accepts this step in my career,” Hart said. “Cary says it isn’t the 18 months of campaigning that she minds, it’s the thought that I might actually win and she would have to be the state’s First Lady.”

Hart and Garamendi also talk a lot about their independence as politicians.

Hart has called for the testing of teachers, a very unpopular idea with some teacher labor groups. Garamendi angered many liberal Democrats by coming out in favor of the death penalty. (Hart opposes the death penalty.)

In the state Senate, Hart has made a name for himself with education legislation, including a big package of reforms that was signed into law in 1983.

Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti said he made Hart chairman of the Senate Education Committee because he thought Hart’s integrity and attractiveness would help sell the educational reforms to various interest groups and the media.

As for Garamendi, Roberti said: “John is outstanding on the nuts and bolts of the budget. He’s like a staff person and he’s willing to put in the long hours on budget details. People say he’s a self-promoter, but he’s very bright and he works hard and I just don’t think you can take that away from him whatever his motivation.”

Of the two legislators, Hart is seen as the more liberal.

“You can count on Gary’s vote on most issues dear to liberals,” said one liberal lobbyist who asked not to be identified. “That isn’t always the case with John, who I think has to worry about the ranchers in his district. Still, you’d be surprised how many times John comes through on liberal issues. But he always keeps you guessing up to the end.”

Some of Garamendi’s colleagues accuse him of being “self-righteous,” and his ambitious style has made him some enemies. He recently gave up the post of Senate Majority Leader after Democratic senators complained that he was spending too much time promoting his own career.

“Those kinds of feelings may hurt John in the early fund raising and organizing for the governor’s race,” said a Democratic contributor who requested anonymity. “But I’m not sure it hurts him with the general public. What they see on TV looks great.”

In the jargon of Hollywood directors, the camera “likes” Garamendi. And he likes the camera. Most state senators have inexpensive paintings or brass plaques in their office waiting rooms. Open the door to Garamendi’s office and the first thing you see is a huge color photograph of the senator.

In Garamendi’s campaign literature there are photographs of the senator riding a horse; dressed up like a Basque peasant; wearing a kimono in a Japanese tea house; standing with schoolchildren in front of the American flag, and giving medical aid to Ethiopian villagers.

Hart, who has the friendly manner of a camp counselor, is also photogenic, but is more reserved than Garamendi. As he explores a statewide race, Hart’s problem seems to be the opposite of Garamendi’s: It is hard to find anyone who doesn’t like him, but some say Hart must overcome a tendency to hang back in crowds if he is to become a statewide candidate.