Garamendi Calls Off His Run for Governor

State Sen. John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove) ended his exploratory run for governor Monday, saying his pollsters had found that the only way he could defeat Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley for the Democratic nomination in 1986 would be to run a highly negative campaign.

“It is clear that I can only defeat Tom Bradley by running the kind of campaign that would discredit him, weaken our party and ultimately damage the issues that drew me into politics in the first place--it isn’t worth it,” Garamendi said at a capital press conference.

Bradley has not formally announced that he will run for governor in 1986, but he is putting together a campaign apparatus and discussing his prospects with contributors and Democratic leaders. He lost to Republican Gov. George Deukmejian by fewer than 100,000 votes in 1982.

Garamendi said he telephoned Bradley on Sunday night to tell him of his decision, which leaves Bradley without a likely challenger for the Democratic nomination.

Bradley acknowledged Monday that Garamendi had called him and said: “I am very pleased about this development. It’s just one more step, one more bit of good news in my exploration of the possibility of running for governor again in 1986.”

Garamendi lost the Democratic gubernatorial nomination to Bradley in 1982 and for more than a year has been trying to put together a campaign for 1986 that would capitalize on “new ideas”--the same theme used by Colorado Sen. Gary Hart when he won the California Democratic presidential primary in 1984.

But Garamendi, who spent a little more than $200,000 in his exploratory effort, said Monday that Bradley’s popularity among California Democrats is difficult to overcome.

“Tom Bradley is just very popular with Democrats all over California,” Garamendi said in an interview. “I will say that I think he faces some problems with independents and Republicans.”

Garamendi said polling done on his behalf indicated that Bradley’s statewide popularity had not been damaged by the mayor’s recent decision to buck local Jewish leaders and not speak out against Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, before Farrakhan spoke in Los Angeles. “We found it had little impact,” Garamendi said.

Garamendi, who grew up on a ranch in the Mother Lode country, represents part of that area and part of the Sacramento Delta. Getting votes in those parts requires a toughness on issues such as crime and capital punishment that would seem to position Garamendi well for a statewide race in an increasingly conservative state.

But balanced against that--and against Garamendi’s photogenic looks and attractive family--was the wide name recognition that Bradley has gained in the Southern California media market, as well as the popularity Bradley has built up in four terms as mayor and as the man who helped bring the 1984 Olympic Games to Los Angeles.

“I still think I could be a formidable candidate in a general election,” Garamendi said in the interview, “but first you have to get past Bradley in the primary.”

‘We Got Nowhere’

One Garamendi aide, who requested anonymity, said, “All our polling showed that we got nowhere with our positive stuff, the call for new leadership and an agenda for the future.”

The aide said even the difference in ages of the two men--Garamendi is 40, Bradley 67--was of little consequence to poll respondents.

“In the abstract it seemed to matter,” the aide said. “If the poll asked do you think someone over 65 is too old to run for governor, the response was yes. But if you made it specific and asked about Bradley, then they said it didn’t matter. There is a lot of good will toward him.”

The aide said that polls showed that “to move the people we needed to move meant attacking Bradley on the issues of welfare and special interest politics.”

Another Garamendi aide described a meeting last weekend in Santa Cruz, where the decision was made to pull out. In attendance was Garamendi’s media adviser, Robert Squier, and his pollster, Ed Lazarus, both from Washington and both with national reputations.

“At one point Squier said we’d see movement immediately if John went on TV and said, ‘Hi, I’m John Garamendi. I have put welfare recipients back to work and Tom Bradley hasn’t.’ ” an aide said. “But John said there was no way he would do that.”

A ‘Workfare’ Architect

Garamendi has been one of the prime shapers in the Legislature of “workfare,” the recently established program to force able-bodied welfare recipients to find jobs.

Linking black politicians such as Bradley with the issue of welfare has been a standard ploy in some negative political campaigns around the country.

Garamendi, who served in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia with his wife, Patti, said wandering into racist politics--even unintentionally--would be anathema to what he has worked for since he entered the Legislature in 1974.

Garamendi echoed the statements of Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara), another Democratic state senator who explored a race for governor in 1986 before withdrawing earlier this year.

“The California population is very complacent,” Garamendi said, talking of his frustration in trying to create an exciting alternative to the low-key political leadership in both major parties in the California.

“That surprised me,” Garamendi continued. “People are apparently unaware of the significant challenges facing California as we move into the future, and I don’t think they will pay attention unless we are suddenly in a pit.”

Times staff writer Janet Clayton contributed to this story.