Feinstein Wins a Big Victory; Gas Tax Increase Is in Doubt : Elections: Reiner and Smith locked in neck-and-neck race for Democratic attorney general nomination. Bergeson leads in GOP lieutenant governor contest.

Leading a parade of women reaching for history this election, Dianne Feinstein won a smashing victory in the Democratic race for governor Tuesday on a promise to bring new, compassionate values to government in Sacramento.

The former county supervisor and two-term mayor of San Francisco, who championed empowerement for women and minorities, claimed victory at 11 p.m. over Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp. “We did it!” she enthused. “One mission completed. One to go.”

Van de Kamp conceded 10 minutes earlier.

Feinstein now seeks to become the first woman governor in California history, a job that would put her almost automatically in contention for national office.

She will be matched in a sure-to-be-spirited general election against Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson, who was nominated Tuesday without major opposition. Wilson is one of the most seasoned politicians in the state with three hard-fought statewide campaigns under his belt and positions in local, state and federal office on his resume.

Voter turnout was tentatively predicted by state officials to be just under 44%, slightly better than the record low 40% in the lackluster gubernatorial primary of four years ago. If unregistered but eligible Californians are considered, the far-reaching decisions of Tuesday were left in the hands of less than a third of the voting-age population.

Overall, this primary, in one party or the other, women were in contention for nomination for half of the eight statewide constitutional offices.

The race for lieutenant governor was such a contest, matching two Orange County state senators in a hard-fought battle for the GOP nomination. Sen. Marian Bergeson of Newport Beach headed toward an apparent victory over Sen. John Seymour of Anaheim as the vote count proceeded.

Two-term Democratic Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy ran unopposed for nomination to a third term and will meet the winner in November.

The governor and lieutenant governor do not run as a ticket in California--and, in fact, voters have chosen a governor of one party and a lieutenant governor of the other in the last three elections.

In a free-swinging brouhaha between prosecutors, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner ran neck and neck with San Francisco Dist. Atty. Arlo Smith in the Democratic primary for attorney general, California’s top law enforcement job. Republican Dan Lungren, a lawyer and former Long Beach congressman, won his party’s nomination without opposition.

Still another important race for women was the contest for state treasurer, a powerhouse job as chief investment officer of the state. But Republican incumbent Thomas Hayes, who had been appointed to the job, defeated former U.S. Treasurer Angela (Bay) Buchanan.

Kathleen Brown, heir to the legacy of the Brown family name in California politics--the daughter of one governor and sister of another--easily won the Democratic nomination.

In the GOP race for secretary of state, California’s top elections official and keeper of the state archives, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores moved ahead of Los Angeles Deputy Dist. Atty. Gordon P. Levy as the count continued deep into the night. The winner will be matched against venerable Democratic incumbent March Fong Eu, the ranking woman in state government and one of her party’s biggest vote-getters during her four terms in the office.

Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig won reelection to a third term in the nonpartisan job over only minor challengers. Democratic state Controller Gray Davis ran unopposed for his party’s nomination, as did his GOP opponent, attorney Matt Fong, son of Secretary of State Eu.

In the governor’s race, Van de Kamp delivered a concession speech and wished Feinstein well, making note of the historic forces at work.

“To Dianne Feinstein: My congratulations on an extraordinary victory. And to those of you in both parties and both sexes for whom her candidacy symbolizes a new era of promise and opportunity, even through the disappointment of this night, I share your hope and your excitement. And starting in the morning, tomorrow morning, Dianne, I just want you to know this--I will be working on your behalf to make history.”

Feinstein accepted her nomination with more gratitude than fight.

“Tonight we reach out to all Californians, not only Democrats but Republicans and independents as well. Tonight I ask all Californians to join with me, a different kind of candidate, a different kind of Democrat, in our campaign for a different and a better future,” she said.

Wilson earlier in the evening sounded a game note about taking on this new political celebrity and challenged her to a debate.

“My congratulations to Dianne Feinstein,” he said. “. . . My friends over there on the Democratic side, whoop it up tonight because this is your last victory party of 1990!”

The Democratic campaign for governor began with Van de Kamp the Establishment favorite and Feinstein ambivalent, even hesitant, about whether to run at all. When she decided to give it everything, she turned it into a long, costly and wearing effort.

And in the end, the choice went beyond gender and regional rootstock, to give voters a quartz-clear contrast in leadership styles.

Van de Kamp presented himself as a detail man, seasoned in the ways of Sacramento, wholly in command of the intricacies of state government. He was a candidate who asked voters to use their sense of reason, to ignore airy promises, and to judge the pros and cons of one of the more elaborate platforms ever brought forth in a primary election. He promised to bring political change to Sacramento.

Feinstein took a different approach. Her platform was as selective as it was scanty. She argued that problems such as the state budget or insurance rates required executive negotiation and compassionate handling--not fiat. She was the candidate who asked voters to follow their hearts, to see her as someone who understood their interests, and someone who would act accordingly. “A matter of values,” she called it.

In other respects, the two were very much alike--both members of California’s gilded social class, both political veterans, both mainstream Democrats who seemed more eager to march in step with the opinion polls than to try to bend public will. And both advanced the promise that they represented political activism after eight quiet, unadventurous years under Republican Gov. George Deukmejian.

It was estimated that the primary cost $12 million--a little more than $6 million spent by Van de Kamp and just under that amount by Feinstein. Campaign spending records showed that Feinstein and her husband, investment manager Richard Blum, provided more than $3 million of her total.

All during the yearlong primary, Republican Wilson watched from the sidelines without serious primary opposition--confident of his capacity to raise record sums of money--$10 million so far--and determined to advance his formula for governmental progress in Sacramento.

The Republican lieutenant governor’s election also played heavily on gender, but with a twist.

Bergeson stood fast against the polls and political experts in her opposition to abortion rights. Her opponent, Seymour, began the race with a 360-degree change of heart on the issue, becoming a champion of abortion rights and of taxpayer financing of abortions.

The winner faces two-term Democratic incumbent McCarthy, himself a proponent of abortion rights.

Perhaps the meanest and most unexpected contest of the 1990 primary was between the two big-city district attorneys for the job of state attorney general.

Californians have already seen a preview of the general election race. Thanks to a three-way debate earlier this month between the two Democrats and Lungren, it seems clear enough that the winning Democrat will emphasize abortion rights and environmental protection while the Republican will emphasize law and order.

Democrat Kathleen Brown, whose only elected service was as a member of the Los Angeles school board, accomplished a rare feat. She used her famous name as the sister of former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. and daughter of former Gov. Edmund G. (Pat) Brown and her fund-raising abilities to scare all other brand-name Democrats out of the race without benefit of incumbency.

In another intriguing race, Paul Carpenter--under federal corruption indictment--nonetheless appeared headed for renomination to another term as one of five members of the state Board of Equalization.

ELECTION TABLES: A20-A22