Herschensohn Leads in GOP Senate Race Poll

For Los Angeles commentator Bruce Herschensohn, being first in the latest statewide poll in the Republican U.S. Senate race is sweet, indeed. But Rep. Ed Zschau of Los Altos and state Sen. Ed Davis of Valencia had their reasons for finding second place just as sweet.

With 20 days left before the primary, a new California Poll has several of the campaigns in the crowded field putting in some long hours on strategy sessions.

Herschensohn led the pack with 18%, a jump from 12% in the March California Poll. His campaign expects fund raising to pick up sharply now, enabling it to run more television ads in the final days.

“In terms of movement, this is now a two-man race,” Herschensohn spokesman Rick Minyard said. “It’s us and Zschau.”

Zschau got 15% in the new survey, up from 11% in March and a big leap from the 3% he registered when he announced his candidacy last November. With about $600,000 to spend on television ads in the final weeks--much more than any other candidate--Zschau thinks he is well-positioned for the stretch.

He also hopes the attacks made on him recently by some of his rivals will now end--or at least that Herschensohn will draw the fire.

“It wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense to bring me down and have somebody else pull ahead,” said Zschau, “so I think the fact that we’re bunched together will insure that the candidates will focus on getting their own messages out.”

California Poll Director Mervin Field found Zschau getting 24% of his support in Northern California and 9% in the Southland.

Perhaps the best news for Zschau was that he had the lowest negative rating among the seven top contenders. Only 34% of those polled said they would not be inclined to vote for him, compared with 42% who said they would not be inclined to vote for Herschensohn, for example.

Zschau is the only candidate with a statewide fund-raising base, anchored by high-tech entrepreneurs in the north and more traditional corporate leaders in the south. He recently surprised Orange County political professionals by raising $300,000 at a fund-raiser there, much of it from people who have never given to a campaign before.

Davis’ 15% showing is up one point from the California Poll in March, and he has been in the 12% to 15% range since he became the first to enter the race in February, 1985.

He said the new poll shows that he continues to be a serious contender even though he has not been able to match the radio and television advertising of some of his rivals.

Depth of Impressions

“Some of my opponents have made a recent impression on voters,” said Davis, the former Los Angeles police chief, “but I made a deeper impression on Californians some time ago. I don’t think the voters are so dumb that they are going to buy their statewide political candidates based on a 30-second commercial.”

The senator said his campaign will run some TV spots before the June 3 primary but believes his best weapons remain his name-recognition statewide and his use of direct mail--both to promote his candidacy and to urge the defeat of California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird in November.

The California Poll found Davis with 17% of his support in the south and 11% in the north.

“My peripheral strategy is paying off,” Davis said. “I figured I would share the L.A. media market with several others because I’m well-known there and therefore could devote a lot of my time to areas the other southern candidates would ignore, places like Yuba City and Salinas.”

Antonovich Slips

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich slipped a point in the California Poll, to 8% from 9% in March. Campaign manager Jim Dutra said he thought the poll’s sample, 328 Republicans, was too small to make it credible.

But when asked if he would be touting the poll if his candidate were leading, Dutra replied, “Yeah, sure.”

Rep. Bobbi Fiedler of Northridge also registered 8%, as did economist Arthur Laffer of Rolling Hills Estates and Assemblyman Robert Naylor of Menlo Park.

For Fiedler, it was a bad slip from 12% in the March poll, but campaign manager Paul Clarke also questioned the size of the sample. Laffer showed no change. Naylor, however, moved up from 5% in March.