Low-Key Politics of California’s Hart Is a Boon and a Bane

Two years ago, state Sen. Gary K. Hart was viewed as an attractive prospective candidate for governor when he considered seeking the 1986 Democratic nomination--the first of a new generation of younger politicians to enter the gubernatorial sweepstakes.

After flirting with the idea amid encouragement from some powerful Los Angeles lawmakers, Hart decided that even if he defeated Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley in the Democratic primary, Republican Gov. George Deukmejian was nearly unbeatable. Instead, Hart won a landslide reelection to his state Senate seat, and Deukmejian trounced Bradley.

Now, the 43-year-old Santa Barbara Democrat says he is considering a bid for Congress in 1988 or statewide office, including governor, in 1990. But key Hart allies such as Los Angeles Democratic Rep. Howard L. Berman and state Sen. Herschel Rosenthal, say it is unlikely he will join a field of heavy-hitting Democratic gubernatorial aspirants. Hart’s name has been conspicuously absent from the speculative gubernatorial candidate lists drawn up by journalists and power brokers.

“I really don’t think Gary Hart’s a serious candidate for governor in 1990,” said Berman, who had encouraged his friend and former Assembly colleague to run in 1986.

Several Options

Berman said Hart’s foreseeable options in the future are remaining in the Senate, opposing veteran Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino, a Ventura Republican, or running for superintendent of public instruction in 1990 if incumbent Bill Honig seeks the governorship as expected. Other Democrats interviewed recently tended to agree.

Hart, a Stanford- and Harvard-educated former teacher, says a bid for school superintendent is an option if the 50-year-old Honig goes for governor. Hart and Honig have often been allies, such as when Hart sponsored a Honig-backed landmark education reform act in 1983, which provided an additional $800 million for schools and set up financial incentives for local districts to expand the academic year and school day.

In addition to Honig, who has reaped enormous publicity in his pitched battles with Deukmejian, statewide officeholders Atty. General John Van de Kamp and Controller Gray Davis are considered well-positioned to challenge for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and have made no secret of their desire to do so. Both have close ties to Berman and his powerful Westside organization.

Though Hart won’t rule out a gubernatorial bid--”never say never,” he says--he has done nothing to lay the groundwork for a race or encourage speculation he’ll run.

“I’m just not making those plans,” he said in a recent interview. “When other people are spending their spare time going to dinners at the Beverly Wilshire or whatever the appropriate hotel is in San Francisco doing all that networking, I tend not to do that.”

The 6-foot-4-inch former college athlete acknowledges he lacks the single-minded drive--others call it “the fire in the belly”--to charge up the political ladder.

“I would rather spend the major portion of my energies focusing on my legislative responsibilities than being out there positioning myself for every media opportunity or fund-raising dinner that’s happening around the state,” Hart said. “I’m just not cut out that way.”

A Democratic consultant who requested anonymity recalled a 1985 political dinner at which Bradley and state Sen. John Garamendi--a Walnut Grove Democrat who was then also considering a gubernatorial bid--circulated in search of potential supporters and contributors. Hart barely left his seat. And Hart, who is described as private and somewhat aloof, concedes he tends to skip Sacramento social events attended by lobbyists, who are often major contributors.

Frustrates Aides

Longtime aides, meanwhile, express frustration over Hart’s refusal to seize media opportunities, such as when he taught in Los Angeles High School for a week last year but would not contact reporters to publicize his experience.

In contrast, the aggressive Davis, 44, has been determinedly raising money to pay off the $900,000 debt from his $2.2-million 1986 controller’s race and Van de Kamp, 51, has put together an organization to garner funds and tap support for a possible 1990 gubernatorial bid. Both also have high media profiles.

Though Hart’s intelligence, integrity, and effectiveness--particularly on education matters as chairman of the Senate Education Committee--have made him one of the state’s most respected lawmakers, recent events have also lowered the value of his political stock.

For one thing, some political insiders such as Sacramento-based political consultant David J. Townsend, said “Honig has stolen Hart’s issue out from under him” through Honig’s series of high-profile clashes with Deukmejian over school funding.

Name Becomes Liability

Moreover, the coincidence that made Hart’s name a hot political property during his 1985 exploratory campaign for governor now looms as a liability. The sudden demise of former Sen. Gary W. Hart’s Democratic presidential campaign amid allegations of his association with actress Donna Rice could jeopardize the squeaky clean image of his West Coast namesake and longtime supporter.

“It’s hard enough to run on your name and your merits without having to carry someone else’s name and reputation,” said California’s Hart, as he is often called.

“It’s something I’m going to have to look at real carefully and try to figure out an appropriate strategy to make sure that people do understand and are able to make distinctions.

“With enough media exposure and fund raising, I think almost anything can be overcome,” he said.

Still, some colleagues were chortling because Hart had hoped to capitalize on the name coincidence in a statewide race when Colorado’s Hart was riding high--especially since both have strongly appealed to the post-war baby-boom generation.

Unsolicited Advice

“This was an advantage up until a month ago,” said Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights). “Now it’s a disadvantage. The question is: how much of a disadvantage is it? He’s got to spend money to overcome that.”

Hart says he has received much unsolicited advice on how to respond.

A Senate colleague suggested Hart enter the Democratic presidential primary in California--which his namesake won in 1984--pick up 20% to 25% of the vote, and then play a major role at the national convention if it becomes deadlocked. Several Santa Barbara backers urged him to grab the other Hart’s bumper stickers and buttons, run in the crucial Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, and reap a media bonanza.

In addition, Hart said, he’s been exhorted to change his name if he’s going to run statewide in 1990. “You’re not particularly well-known statewide anyway, except among the political elite,” Hart said he was told. “Go through a name change. The other Gary Hart did it.”

In a less serious vein, others suggested a fitting alternative: Hartpence, the name Colorado Hart’s parents bestowed on him before he shortened it to the pithier Hart.

Nurses at the hospital where Hart’s wife works told her they were going to print a T-shirt for her emblazoned with the words: “I slept with Gary Hart.”

‘Boy-Scout’ Life Style

Fortunately for Hart, his devotion to his pediatrician wife, Cary, and three daughters are above question. Aside from periodic Sacramento poker games and visits to blackjack tables in Lake Tahoe, Nev., where the couple owns a condominium, friends and colleagues say Hart leads a life befitting the ex-Boy Scout he is.

Indeed, his longtime legislative assistant, Joe Caves, calls Hart “a square.”

Referring to the two Harts, Caves said, “When it comes to their domestic policy, they are 180 degrees apart.”

Hart also has a tradition of using his wife, who comes from a well-to-do New Jersey family, and daughters in his television commercials. Faced with the need to convince voters he is not an adulterer by virtue of his name, Hart says he expects to continue that practice.

The Hart-to-Hart impact may be tested shortly. State Sen. Hart is considering an uphill challenge to seven-term Rep. Lagomarsino next year.

“A lot of people in the district and some in Washington have urged me to run,” Hart said of the 19th Congressional District that includes Santa Barbara County and much of Ventura County. “I’m going to give it some careful thought. I think I have to decide by the end of the year.”

Relishes Contest

A contest between the liberal Hart and the conservative Lagomarsino would probably be one of the liveliest, costliest and most competitive in the state. Noting that President Reagan’s ranch is in Santa Barbara, Hart says he relishes the prospect of even higher stakes should the outgoing President pitch in for Lagomarsino.

Hart, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1970, could take a shot next year without sacrificing his Senate seat if he lost because his term ends in 1990. On the other hand, he says he’s unsure whether he wants to give up his chairmanship of the influential Senate Education Committee to join the 435-member Congress with no seniority. A bigger hurdle may be the prospect of uprooting of his family. His daughters attend Sacramento public schools.

Hart’s seemingly laid-back style stems from his determination to play the political game his way, rather than from a lack of competitive drive.

Enjoys Tennis, Poker

A San Diego native, Hart won a football scholarship to Stanford. He remains an accomplished tennis player and is a frequent champion of the annual legislative tournament. He’s also a spirited poker player during occasional games with colleagues, where individuals have lost $1,000 in an evening, according to three Sacramento insiders familiar with the game.

“It’s a moderate poker game,” Hart said, declining to provide details. “People are not losing their shirts, but it’s not penny-ante.”

And, after eight years in the Assembly, he triumphed in a tough 1982 contest against then-Assemblyman Charles Imbrecht in the politically moderate and highly competitive 18th Senate District that extends from Santa Barbara County through Ventura County to Malibu and parts of Pacific Palisades, Topanga and Woodland Hills. The $1.2-million race was the second-costliest legislative contest ever at the time.

Stresses Issues

Drawn to politics in the ‘60s as an anti-Vietnam War and civil-rights activist, Hart has proven an unusually issue-oriented lawmaker in a body whose members are often as keen on self-promotion and fund-raising as they are on policy. Hart has sponsored legislation requiring high school students to pass proficiency exams before graduating and teachers to pass basic-skills tests to prove they are qualified. He has been one of the Legislature’s most consistent votes for environmental protection.

“His shortcomings may be his ultimate strength,” Berman said, referring to Hart’s public appeal. “He’s not particularly comfortable at wheeling and dealing. But in some ways I think the public may prefer that.”

State Sen. Ed Davis, a Valencia Republican, says he admires Hart’s refusal to co-sponsor other legislators’ bills because he is not responsible for drafting them and can’t control compromises that might be made to get the measures passed. This is a painless way for most legislators to score points with colleagues and influential special-interest groups.

“Gary is as conscientious as any member,” said Imbrecht, now state Energy Commission chairman. “He believes and he cares. I don’t see any illustrations of the games others play.”

Shuns Political Games

It is these games, and the individuals who play them, that leave Hart openly ambivalent about the California Legislature--and the political process.

When his opponent called for drug testing during last year’s Senate race, for instance, Hart quipped, “If we test legislators, a more appropriate test would be an IQ test and a lie-detector test.”

This ambivalence, and his refusal to chalk up public relations points or campaign dollars at every turn, may restrict Hart’s political horizons. On the other hand, Caves says that working for California’s Gary Hart means never having to say you’re sorry.

“I have the almost-unique situation among my colleagues that I never have to apologize for my boss,” said the Senate aide, who has been with Hart nine years. “I never have to be embarrassed.”