Hart Abandons Quest : What’s in a Name? Not Quite Enough

Five months ago, Gary K. Hart, a Democratic state senator from Santa Barbara, believed that a coincidence had made him a hot political property. But now, after ending an exploratory effort for the 1986 governor’s race, Hart concedes that the statewide political waters turned out to be much chillier than he had expected.

In an interview, Hart, who dropped the idea of running for governor late last week, talked of the peculiar loneliness of exploratory campaigns, about the apparent strength of Republican Gov. George Deukmejian and about a surprising lack of interest in issues around the state.

The Other Gary Hart

Gary K. Hart, an attractive 41-year-old liberal, was busy with education issues in the California Senate last year when another Democratic politician with a similar name, U.S. Sen. Gary Hart of Colorado, upset Walter Mondale in the New Hampshire primary, went on to win the California primary election and nearly grabbed the Democratic presidential nomination.

Suddenly, a lot of voters were familiar with the name Gary Hart, and the California Hart’s political allies urged him to take advantage of his good fortune and consider a statewide race in 1986.

He started his exploration in January, traveling constantly around the state to seek the support of potential contributors and party activists. But, he said in the interview, after four months on the road, “I began to feel a lot of ambivalence. In a sense, I really wanted to do this, and I got into it at times. But I found that if you are going to succeed you have to do it 100%, 18 hours a day. You have to be almost messianic about it. At times I had that, at times I didn’t.

“I found that people wanted a 100% commitment and when I said I would make that decision later, it came across as too tentative to some. You could see them withdraw.”

Hart is reluctant to fully commit himself now because his state Senate seat is up in 1986. Before he would give it up, he wanted to have a reasonable shot at the Democratic nomination for governor. But that prospect was very uncertain because of increasing speculation that Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley will seek the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Bradley barely lost to Deukmejian in 1982, and many political insiders say that Bradley would be tough to beat for the nomination if he decides to run again.

Although Hart believes that “there is still a case to be made against Deukmejian in 1986,” he found in his travels around the state “that every indication is the governor will be very strong. He is a governor who has not made any major mistakes and you can sense a trend to the Republicans out there.”

Could Lose It All

“I suppose there is a scenario where you run and lose for governor and still have a political future,” Hart said. “But if you have no public office to come back to, I’m not sure that’s true.”

Hart, who said he spent about $25,000 of the more than $200,000 he raised for his exploration, was on the road at least three days a week, often more.

“People told me I had to stop being a state senator and forget about missing votes. I found that hard to do. I began to see some of the momentum (in his exploratory effort) slip away. About four weeks ago, I realized I had to make a decision and I gave myself another two weeks.

“I guess some politicians can just say, ‘I’m in this all the way.’ But if you intellectualize, as I did, it can cause you to have doubts. . . . The airports, the travel, it can be lonely.”

Asked if some of his meetings with potential backers went badly, Hart said, “Yes, there were rejections. Everybody has rejections. . . . If you are doing well, if you have had good meetings--and there were a lot of good meetings--then you’re fine. But if you have so-so meetings, you get down and begin to have doubts.”

Hart also said he found that his luckily acquired name identification helped him much less than he had expected.

Although a recent California Poll found that 51% of the 370 respondents knew the name Gary Hart, that did not translate into an immediate advantage for the California Hart, since only 2% of the respondents preferred him as a candidate for governor in 1986.

“The poll was a little disconcerting,” Hart said, “but it was a minor factor. I do think some people in the general population are confused about the two Gary Harts. I’m not sure that helps.”

Waxman-Berman Backing

Hart’s exploratory effort had the backing of the political organization headed by Democratic Reps. Henry A. Waxman of Los Angeles and Howard L. Berman of Studio City, who fear that Bradley might be a weak enough gubernatorial candidate to hurt Democrats in other races.

Waxman indicated Friday in a telephone interview that he is disappointed by Hart’s decision but still optimistic.

“Gary was exploring and we encouraged it,” Waxman said. “I think he would have been a superb candidate for governor, but the decision to run or not to run is his. I think he is someone we’ll hear from in the future.”

Asked if he had found a lot of enthusiasm for Bradley among Democrats around the state, Hart paused for several moments and said finally, “How can I answer that? Certainly, he has strong support in Los Angeles County, but I didn’t find a lot of enthusiasm for him in other parts of the state.” Hart said he found strong support among some Orange County Democrats for state Sen. John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove), who began an exploratory effort for governor right after Hart did. Garamendi lost to Bradley in the 1982 Democratic gubernatorial primary. He said last year that he would not seek the gubernatorial nomination in 1986 if Bradley wants it, but later said he had to begin an exploratory effort in case Bradley decides not to run.

Bradley recently agreed to co-sponsor a Garamendi fund-raiser scheduled for June in Los Angeles, according to aides to both Garamendi and Bradley.

Asked what surprised him most as he explored the possibility of a race for governor, Hart said, “I was surprised that there was not more interest in issues. There just weren’t many penetrating questions about issues. The other surprise was how much time I spent talking to the press. It got to where much of my day was taken up with interviews, and if I had to turn some down (in order to meet with potential backers) some people in the media got very upset about it.”

Hart, whose Senate district is considered tough for Democrats, said he expects to face a tough reelection fight in 1986. He said he may pursue a leadership role in the Senate, where his most notable work has been on education issues.

“It’s going to be tough to go back to the Senate,” Hart said. “Despite the travel and the ups and downs, it (the exploratory effort for governor) was exhilarating at times.”

Times political writer John Balzar contributed to this article.