Feinstein’s TV Ads Carry Her to Top in Race for Governor : Campaign: The California Poll is expected to release statistics showing her leading both Democratic and Republican opponents.

In a startling turnabout, former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein has caught and passed her two male opponents in the 1990 governor’s race, according to political professionals who have seen the numbers in the new California Poll.

The independent survey of 1,007 voters statewide found Feinstein, a Democrat, leading Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson by 46% to 43% in a theoretical November matchup.

In the June 5 Democratic primary, Feinstein leads Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp by 42% to 38%.

According to those who have seen the news poll, which is conducted by Mervin Field of San Francisco, the margin of error is 3%, meaning Feinstein may be dead even or way ahead of each opponent.

She trailed both men badly in the California Poll’s previous survey last October. Then, Wilson led by 50% to her 39%, and Van de Kamp was ahead of her by 53% to 35%.

The dramatic flip in the match-ups since October was attributed Monday to Feinstein’s decision to spend $600,000 on television commercials--most of them aired in the Los Angeles media market--starting in late January.

“See, I told you the power of TV,” quipped Wilson when told of the new California Poll numbers as he campaigned in California on Monday.

Another factor in Feinstein’s surge may be the fact that the California Poll’s surveyors were apparently already in the field when Feinstein formally declared her candidacy last week and got a lot of positive publicity as she held press conferences around the state.

“What the Field poll highlights is Feinstein’s strategy of buying early TV and having the good fortune to announce during the week they were taking the poll,” said Richie Ross, Van de Kamp’s campaign manager.

There are some caveats to go with Feinstein’s surge in the new California Poll, however. For one thing, she had the TV channels to herself since no other campaign of any kind is on the air. Later, when the airwaves are more crowded with political commercials, she may not get the same bang from her ad dollars. Related to that will be the effect of ads run by Van de Kamp and Wilson when they buy their TV time.

But the new numbers do raise some questions about Van de Kamp’s strategy in the race. He has chosen to largely ignore Feinstein until now and concentrate on Wilson.

According to those who have seen the numbers, which will be published today, there was other bad news for Van de Kamp.

The attorney general now leads Feinstein among male voters by only 42% to 41%: last October he led among the same group by a lopsided 67% to 27%.

“We have felt from the beginning that this was a wide-open race,” said Feinstein’s chief adviser, William Carrick.

Also, among Southern California voters, Feinstein has cut into the natural advantage in name recognition that Van de Kamp--a resident of Pasadena--has had in the race in the south. In October, the attorney general led Feinstein by 35 points among voters in the Los Angeles-San Diego media markets. In the new poll, he leads her by only five points.

There was more bad news for Van de Kamp in the survey. The margin of error aside, he now trails Wilson slightly, 45% to 42%--a fact that Feinstein no doubt will try to exploit with potential campaign donors since she is slightly ahead of Wilson. Last October it was Van de Kamp 44%, Wilson 43%.

Carrick and his partner, Hank Morris, took over the lagging Feinstein campaign last November. They cut one 30-second spot and started airing it Jan. 22 in all the California media markets outside San Francisco. Carrick would not discuss how much air time he purchased, but Wilson campaign manager George Gorton said his research found the Feinstein campaign spent $450,000 to air the ad in the Los Angeles media market alone--a buy that ensured steady TV viewers would see the commercial about 10 times over a three-week cycle. Another $150,000 was spent in such places as Sacramento, Fresno and San Diego.

The first image in the ad is of live footage from Nov. 27, 1978. Feinstein, then the president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, announced to a stunned City Hall press corps that Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk “have been shot and killed.” (A disgruntled former supervisor, Dan White, was later convicted of the murders.)

On the tape, there are loud groans and a woman screams after Feinstein’s announcement.

Then the ad’s narrator says, “Forged from tragedy, her leadership brought San Francisco together.”

Gorton said Monday, “The opening of that ad is definitely a grabber. The big problem with political commercials today is that unless you can figure out an unusual way to open the spot, a lot of viewers are going to change channels.”

Carrick said, “Nothing is more symbolic of Dianne’s having been tested under fire than that footage about the assassination,” he said.

As president of the Board of Supervisors, Feinstein became acting mayor and went on to win the job twice at the polls.

Times political writer John Balzar contributed to this report.