Sen. Wilson Releases Income Tax Return, Challenges McCarthy

Challenging his Democratic opponent to do the same thing, U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson released his 1987 tax return Thursday, a voluntary gesture showing that Wilson and his wife continue to draw income well in excess of his $87,483 salary.

Wilson’s opponent, Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy, has not released his returns, and aides said Thursday that he will make them public as soon as they are completed. However, the aides said the returns may not be prepared in time to meet today’s deadline for filing with the Internal Revenue Service, and McCarthy may have to ask the IRS for an extension.

The Wilsons reported an adjusted gross income of $287,863, up dramatically from the $135,925 reported last year. A spokesman for Wilson said the increase in income reflects the sale of assets from a blind trust belonging to Wilson’s wife.

The Wilsons’ income points to a level of family wealth that has led McCarthy to refer to Wilson as “a country club Republican.”

However, Otto Bos, who heads Wilson’s campaign, Thursday described McCarthy as a “country club Democrat,” on the basis of two condominiums that McCarthy owns as income property next door to the luxurious La Costa Hotel & Spa in Carlsbad. Bos said McCarthy’s tax returns would make it clear that the lieutenant governor is no piker when it comes to upscale investments.

“Owning a couple of condos worth $500,000 on the fairway at La Costa isn’t bad for a guy that likes to make fun of rich people,” Bos said.

McCarthy aide Kam Kuwata confirmed the value of the condominiums but quibbled over their proximity to the La Costa golf course.

“You may be able to see the golf course from them,” he said. “But they are not part of the La Costa complex.”

‘I Have Photographs’

But Bos insisted that “they are on the golf course. I know. I have photographs of them.”

On their tax returns, the Wilsons’ reported income includes $142,806 in capital gains. The Wilsons reported a combined state and federal income tax obligation of $86,758. They listed more than $13,914 in charitable donations to groups ranging from the Greater Los Angeles Partnership for the Homeless to the United Negro College Fund to the Junior League.

Besides his Senate salary, Wilson reported other income, including honorariums, totaling $46,090.

But the bulk of the Wilsons’ estate and the source of much of their income comes from the sizable stock and property holdings that Gayle Wilson brought into their marriage.