Campaign Talk : A weekly window on the California elections.

INTELLIGENCE

Looking ahead: The day after the Tuesday primary, the winning Democrat for governor will not have the luxury of taking a deep breath before launching a 25-day, madcap fund-raising drive. That’s the window between the primary and the end of the June 30 fiscal year when the victor can go to the campaign donors of the vanquished and try to eke out contributions up to $1,000 apiece. Those contributions will count against this fiscal year’s limit of $1,000 per year per donor. A new year with a fresh set of $1,000 limits starts July 1. So the strategy will be to raise as many $1,000 contributions as possible in June and then tap the same sources in July for another $1,000.

No such problem awaits Republican Pete Wilson. He has tapped practically every source available for the current fiscal year and has a fat pot of money ready to spend. Watch for Wilson to move swiftly after Wednesday.

Gender bender: If--as Dianne Feinstein seems to hope--gender is to become the dividing issue for the primary, John K. Van de Kamp wants to make sure his half of the population gets some notice, too. The attorney general awkwardly launched into a gender argument of his own the other day. “I want to tell you men who are listening,” Van de Kamp said. “. . . I want you to view her just as you view me and judge us both on our capacity to lead. This is a vote which should be sex neutral.”

But he has not, Van de Kamp hurried to say, given up any hope of winning over women. His comments were meant “for any men thinking of retaliating against what appears to be a sort of a backlash among women at this point to vote for my opponent because she is simply a woman,” he said. “I tell them don’t do that. Make your judgment on the basis of rationality.”

STAR WARS

To be quite honest, the gubernatorial campaigns have been rather disappointing in the amount of Hollywood star power they have attracted so far. John Van de Kamp’s campaign won’t even talk about his star supporters. Dianne Feinstein has a respectable list but it’s not exactly Academy Awards time. And Pete Wilson has the usual retinue of Republican stalwarts.

But for the real star wars, look to the ballot measures clogging the June ballot. Here’s an abbreviated look at celebrity support, with appropriate awards.

Most Eclectic: Prop. 107, housing bond act: PeeWee Herman, Richard Gere, Bob Hope, Gregory Hines, Rita Coolidge and Melanie Griffith.

Most Imaginative: Tying Prop. 118, a rail bond issue, with Prop. 117, mountain lion protection, during a train trip to a lion preserve: Suzanne Pleshette, Tony Curtis, Michelle Phillips and Elliot Gould.

Most Rancorous: The proponents and opponents in the fight over reapportionment Props. 118 and 119: Jack Lemmon and James Garner opposed and Charlton Heston in favor.

Most Youth: Assemblywoman Maxine Waters’ campaign for Congress: Denzel Washington, debbie Allen, Blair Underwood and Keenen Ivory Wayans.

SOUNDING

Secretary of State March Fong Eu, releasing the latest voter registration information:

“Of the estimated 19,132,860 Californians eligible to register to vote, 67.85 % are now on the rolls--a record number of registrants for a primary election.”

EXIT LINE

“People work too much . . . Nobody has time for each other or the kids.”

Richard Such, a Palo Alto attorney who is pushing an initiative to give Californians six weeks of guaranteed, paid vacation each year.