CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS / LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR : ‘No-Name’ Republican Candidates Look to Television

The invisible campaign just became visible. Televisible, to be exact.

The race for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, so far barely a blip on the public opinion radar screen, has moved to the television screen.

State Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) today began a $500,000 advertising campaign she hopes will give her the name recognition that polls show she sorely lacks. Her equally unknown opponent, state Sen. John Seymour (R-Anaheim), is expected to follow suit within a week or two.

The Republican winner will face Democratic Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy in the general election.

Bergeson’s campaign previewed the 30-second commercial Monday. It is to run on major network affiliates in Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento until Election Day, provided Bergeson can raise enough money to keep it on the air.

The spot begins with a rush of bold music as Bergeson spins around in her office chair. The technique is an attention-getter that is modeled, said Bergeson’s political consultant, after the dramatic use of film clips in an ad earlier this year by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dianne Feinstein. The clips showed Feinstein announcing the 1978 assassination deaths of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, who she succeeded in office, and county Supervisor Harvey Milk.

“We didn’t have an assassination,” said Ron Smith, Bergeson’s campaign manager. “We had to use dramatic music.”

An announcer’s voice describes the 64-year-old Bergeson as “smart, effective, principled” and “one of the most respected members of the California Legislature.”

The piece points out that Bergeson was chosen the “Republican (state) senator with the highest integrity” in a poll by the California Journal, a magazine that covers state government and politics. Her opponent, Seymour, finished ninth among the 15 GOP senators in the survey of lawmakers, lobbyists, staff members and reporters.

With close-ups of Bergeson on the Senate floor, on the phone and in Capitol Park, the ad says Bergeson has been “a tough crusader” against crime, air pollution and offshore oil drilling. Picturing an Orange County elementary school named for Bergeson, the commercial extols the former school board member’s record as a leader on education issues.

After touching on her support for the death penalty and tax-cutting Proposition 13, the ad’s close describes Bergeson as “a Republican with principle.” Although abortion isn’t mentioned, the line dovetails with past Bergeson statements questioning Seymour’s motive for switching his position from opposing abortion rights to supporting them. Bergeson is staunchly anti-abortion.

Seymour’s campaign manager, Eileen Padberg, disputed the ad’s statement that Bergeson has been tough on polluters. Padberg said Bergeson was one of only four senators who voted against the Clean Air Act of 1988.

“That was the big one for California,” Padberg said.