CAMPAIGN ’88 : McCarthy to Lead State Democrats at Atlanta

Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy was chosen Saturday to lead California’s delegation to the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta on July 18.

“This delegation is truly a cross section of California and I am honored to lead it to the convention,” McCarthy said in a telephone interview.

For McCarthy, the job offers a good chance to get Democratic activists behind his uphill bid to unseat Republican Sen. Pete Wilson in the fall. To get it, he beat out some tough competition.

According to Michael S. Dukakis campaign adviser Alice Travis, Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp had also expressed an interest in heading the delegation, but both Van de Kamp and State Controller Gray Davis are considering running for governor in 1990. That created a problem for Dukakis, the expected Democratic presidential nominee, who did not want to appear to be favoring either man at this point.

So McCarthy was the choice of the majority of the delegates meeting in Los Angeles on Saturday, and he noted that “this was cleared with Boston,” meaning Dukakis.

California will send 336 delegates to the convention, by far the largest group.