Wilson Basks in Kinder, Gentler Sununu : Politics: Craig Fuller’s intercession opens a new era of relations between the White House and California Republicans.

The real story behind President Bush’s appearance at a million-dollar-plus dinner Tuesday in Century City to aid the state Republican Party--an indirect assist to Sen. Pete Wilson’s gubernatorial campaign--is the emergence of a kinder, gentler White House chief of staff.

John Sununu has built a reputation as an abrasive, brass-knuckled enforcer of what his boss wishes. Wilson angered him last year when the California senator refused to comply with the President’s demands on some key votes. To get even, Sununu scrubbed Bush’s scheduled appearance at a Wilson campaign dinner in Century City last fall.

Sununu further alienated California Republicans when some members of “Team 100”--contributors responsible for $100,000 in donations--were coolly received at a White House visit. All are staunch Wilson backers.

Craig Fuller, a Californian and Bush’s chief of staff while vice president, was called in to repair the political damage. Relying on his contacts with Wilson’s money people and within the Oval Office, Fuller has accomplished what few thought was possible: He removed Sununu’s political talons when dealing with California Republicans.

The first real indication of that came when neither Bush nor Sununu pressured Wilson to sustain the President’s veto of a bill protecting visiting Chinese students.

The “new” Sununu will join Fuller in California before the President arrives. He will meet party donors and leaders Monday at a Newport Beach dinner, hosted by billionaire developer Donald Bren. On Tuesday, Sununu will address two Republican events in Orange County, attend a Wilson briefing and socialize with Team 100 members at a private reception after the Century City dinner.

With Sununu on his side--or at least neutral--Wilson can rely on Bush’s support in his quest to be governor. The President will do a fund-raiser for the senator in the Bay Area Feb. 28, and return to Los Angeles for another one in early fall.

The conviction on Friday of state Sen. Joseph Montoya (D-Whittier) on racketeering, extortion and money-laundering charges guarantees that the “ethics in government” issue will be central in this year’s campaigns. The verdict’s timing will make life a little more uncomfortable for incumbents, too, who must declare their intention to run by Wednesday.

The outcome also is likely to renew interest in the FBI’s four-year probe of corruption in the Statehouse. Speculation is bound to intensify about the fate of the other targeted politicians--Assemblymen Pat Nolan (R-Glendale) and Frank Hill (R-Los Angles), Assemblywoman Gwen Moore (D-Los Angeles) and former state Sen. Paul Carpenter (D-Cypress), now a member of the State Board of Equalization. What’s clear is that the many initiatives--statewide and local--that would limit the terms of elected officials will get a boost, since the anti-politician mood fueling them was reinforced by the Montoya conviction.

Common Cause and, for the first time, the League of Women Voters, have joined the fight over two June reapportionment initiatives that would radically change the way California’s congressional and legislative districts are drawn.

Common Cause is a veteran of the redistricting wars, having co-sponsored Proposition 14 in 1982. That measure, which would have given an appointed bipartisan commission the power to draw the lines, was defeated.

At its Feb. 17 board meeting, Common Cause will decide whether to back another commission-style initiative by San Mateo County Supervisor Tom Huening. It already opposes the competing measure by Marin County businessman Gary Flynn. That initiative would leave redistricting power in the hands of legislators but make it more difficult for districts lines to be approved.

After extensive study, the League of Women Voters has endorsed the Huening initiative on the ground that it would remove the inherent conflict of interest when legislators draw their own district boundaries.

L.A. whispers. Los Angeles County Supervisor Pete Schabarum refuses to say how much he’ll spend to help qualify a November initiative that would limit the terms and expenses of state legislators and constitutional officers. Schabarum, along with anti-tax, Northern California conservatives, is a co-sponsor of the measure. He has formed a new PAC to finance a part of the petition drive to obtain 595,000 valid signatures by May 15. Informed sources said that, with the cost of obtaining signatures running between 55 cents and 68 cents each, Schabarum must pump in at least $300,000 to succeed.