In Rare Move, O’Connor Endorses Van de Kamp

Mayor Maureen O’Connor made an unexpected exception to her own rule Saturday, endorsing state Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp in the race for governor on the eve of his first televised debate with Dianne Feinstein, his opponent in the June 5 Democratic primary.

“Everyone knows that it’s rare that I make an endorsement in a partisan race, let alone a primary,” O’Connor said at a brief news conference at the San Diego Convention Center, where Van de Kamp was holding a fund-raising event. “But John Van de Kamp is a friend of San Diego.”

Standing at Van de Kamp’s side, O’Connor lauded his efforts to stop federal plans for off-shore oil drilling and singled him out as the only gubernatorial candidate to oppose the proposed merger of Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric.

“Unfortunately, Pete Wilson is still studying the issue,” O’Connor said, referring to the U.S. Senator--and Republican gubernatorial candidate--who was once her colleague on the San Diego City Council. However, O’Connor denied that a tiff with Wilson had sparked her support for Van de Kamp.

“I’ve had no falling out with anybody,” she said, admitting that when she last spoke to Wilson about a year ago, they “hotly” debated San Diego’s sewage issue. “Pete Wilson is a great senator. He does well in Washington. With John Van de Kamp in Sacramento, it’s a win-win situation in San Diego.”

She added that since she and Wilson served together in San Diego, “things have changed. The person that is most current and on top of the issues in San Diego is John Van de Kamp.”

Van de Kamp, who called his race against Feinstein “close,” said O’Connor’s support is “terrific. It’s a real shot in the arm.” If elected, he promised to put a San Diego representative on the Board of Regents and give the county more of a voice in Sacramento.

“Historically, previous governors have tended to regard San Diego as part of Baja,” he said. As governor, he said, when O’Connor or her successor called he would “pick up the telephone and I would try to say, ‘Yes.’ ”

O’Connor’s partisan endorsement is only the second since she was elected in 1986. The first time was when she endorsed U.S. Sen. Alan Cranston in his 1986 re-election campaign against Ed Zschau, a former U.S. Congressman. The reason she broke her rule, she said, was that Zschau had misrepresented Cranston’s record.