Hard Battle May Face Golding for State Office

If serving good food could get you elected to statewide office, San Diego County Supervisor Susan Golding would be well on her way.

Golding, flanked by quesadillas and tortilla chips with first-rate guacamole and salsa on the side, entertained dozens of rank-and-file Republican activists and a few party leaders at the state GOP convention here over the weekend. While officially attending only as a county supervisor and chairwoman of the party’s group for locally elected officials, Golding made no secret of her ambition to move beyond San Diego and play in the state’s political big leagues.

Golding said she is “99% sure” she will run for lieutenant governor in 1990, when U. S. Sen. Pete Wilson seems assured to top the Republican ticket as the candidate for governor.

Eager Field of Legislators

But it will take more than tasty Mexican food to propel Golding into the second spot. With Wilson ready to reenter state politics after six years in Washington, an eager field of legislators and others who had been hoping to run for governor are now looking at the other constitutional offices.

Republican state Sens. William Campbell of Hacienda Heights, Marian Bergeson of Newport Beach and John Seymour of Anaheim all have said they are interested in the lieutenant governor’s job, which until now has been a largely symbolic post, ineffective even as a stepping stone to higher office. Orange County Supervisor Gaddi Vasquez and former Rep. Daniel E. Lungren (R-Long Beach) have also been mentioned as possible candidates.

All of them have as much as or more statewide stature than Golding because of their legislative activity, connections to Gov. George Deukmejian or previous attempts at statewide office themselves.

Still, Golding, 43, said she believes she would have as good a chance as any of those yet named as possible candidates.

“No one who is talking about running already has a statewide constituency,” she said in an interview in her hotel hospitality suite, which she rented with personal funds and staffed with three employees from her county office, whose expenses she also paid out of her own pocket. “Everyone who is running is going to have to start with a local base.”

Golding does have some state government experience. After being appointed to the San Diego City Council in 1981 with the help of then-Mayor Pete Wilson, she left in 1983 to take the job of deputy secretary of business, transportation and housing in Deukmejian’s administration. Golding quit that post a year later to run for county supervisor, and she was reelected to a second four-year term last year.

‘What You Make of It’

Golding first toyed with the idea of running for state office when she went to work for Deukmejian. Since her return to San Diego, she has been considered a potential candidate for mayor, but Maureen O’Connor was recently reelected and will hold that post at least through 1992.

The lieutenant governor’s job, Golding said, is “what you make of it.”

“You can take any constitutional office and become a spokesperson on important issues,” she said, mentioning as examples the lieutenant governor’s role as a member of the State Lands Commission and the University of California Board of Regents.

A Golding candidacy could be well served by her relationship with Wilson and his longtime political advisers, Otto Bos and George Gorton of San Diego. As chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors this year, Golding has a chance to be in the limelight on important issues such as growth management, the homeless and AIDS. And she has proven to be an effective fund-raiser, even though she has raised money under local laws that limit contributions to $250. State law allows donations of $1,000 from businesses and individuals and up to $5,000 from political action committees.

But some party insiders were saying privately over the weekend that Golding might be seen as too liberal, once she is known, to win the GOP nomination. And she has been questioned repeatedly about the wisdom of putting two San Diegans at the top of the Republican ticket, a question that assumes Wilson will follow through with his intention to run for governor and win the nomination.

Geography Factor Downplayed

Golding discounts the geographical disadvantage, contending that Wilson, a statewide officeholder since 1982, is no longer seen as a San Diegan. And even if he is, she said, voters pay little attention to a candidate’s hometown when they go to the polls.

“I don’t ever remember voting for someone because of where they lived,” she said. “I’m more concerned about what they stand for.”

At any rate, Golding said, there is still a year before candidates for state office must declare their intentions. Although she will be forming an “exploratory committee” soon and probably doing some fund raising, Golding said she will not make up her mind for many months.

“I’m testing the waters,” she said. “I’m trying to decide in my own mind what I’m going to do.”