Gates to Test Waters for Governorship Bid in ’90

Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates will announce today that he will form a committee to explore his 1990 gubernatorial prospects, The Times has learned.

A source familiar with Gates’ plans said he will not step down as police chief during the exploratory effort but wants to serve notice that others will be raising money for him and promoting his candidacy in the coming months.

Recent polling by Gates has persuaded him that his name identification in vote-rich Southern California, where the chief of police is often on television and in the newspapers, would make him a formidable candidate for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

Gates, 62, has been chief since 1978. He succeeded Ed Davis, whose high profile in the job helped him win a state Senate seat in 1980 and made him the favorite for a while in the 1986 GOP U.S. Senate primary.

Republican consultant Ron Smith, who does not have a client in the governor’s race, said Wednesday that “Daryl Gates is one candidate who would have the credibility to take on Van de Kamp on the issue of law and order.”

Smith was referring to Democratic Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp, considered by many to be the front-runner for his party’s gubernatorial nomination in 1990.

Other Republicans pondering a run for governor are U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson, baseball commissioner Peter V. Ueberroth and state Sens. William Campbell of Hacienda Heights and John Seymour of Anaheim.

Sources close to former Rep. Ed Zschau, who barely lost to Democratic U.S. Sen. Alan Cranston in 1986, say that Zschau is also considering the governor’s race after initially ruling it out.

Smith said, “If Wilson or Ueberroth or Zschau don’t do it, Gates could very well win the nomination.”

“The upside for Gates is the name ID he has (in Southern California) and the law and order issue,” Smith said. “His problem will be getting known in other parts of the state and putting together a solid campaign organization.”

That was a reference to the fact that Gates has never run for public office, and the lack of expertise can be a problem in a high stakes race for governor.

Also in question is whether a Los Angeles police chief’s high visibility can be translated into a statewide political candidacy. Former Chief Davis tried to run for governor in 1978 and failed, and in the 1986 U.S. Senate primary race, he finished far back in the GOP pack.