Wilson Aide Apologizes for Democrat ‘Endorsement’ Gaffe

Embarrassed officials from the Pete Wilson GOP gubernatorial campaign Monday removed three prominent Democrats from a list of local officeholders and business leaders endorsing the former San Diego mayor’s candidacy.

“We erred. Out of 61 (endorsers) we got three wrong. We apologize. It was not intentional and we will try not to do it again,” campaign spokesman Otto Bos said.

Former state Sen. Jim Mills, chairman of the Metropolitan Transit Development Board, Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller, and Roger Revelle, director emeritus of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography--all Democrats--were listed as having endorsed Wilson in a press release issued by campaign officials on Friday.

At a Friday press conference, Wilson surrounded himself with what he called “an all-star” team of local supporters. A campaign press release listed “San Diegans for Wilson,” identified as “a group of local citizens . . . pleased to endorse” Wilson’s candidacy.

Anne Shumway, Revelle’s daughter, said her father is “a lifelong Democrat” who was “very upset” about reports that he had endorsed Wilson. In fact, Revelle has endorsed Democrat Dianne Feinstein in the governor’s race, Shumway said.

She released a statement from Revelle, which read:

“I have great respect for Pete Wilson, but I will vote for Dianne Feinstein for governor. We need Pete in the U.S. Senate. That is where he belongs.”

Neither Miller nor Mills said he was offended by being falsely identified with the Wilson camp, but said Wilson campaign officials were wrong when they released their names as endorsers.

“I’m not making any endorsement in the race for governor . . . as long as I am chairman of the MTDB,” Mills said. “It would impair my effectiveness to serve the public if I started to get involved in races.”

Miller is on vacation, but district attorney spokesman Steve Casey said Miller “has great affection for Pete, but hasn’t endorsed him.”

Bos blamed “confusion and a clerical error” for the faulty endorsements. According to Bos, the people listed under “San Diegans for Pete Wilson” were merely meant to be “experts in fields” where Wilson excelled as San Diego mayor.

“We went down a list and categorized and talked to knowledgeable people where issues might arise in the campaign,” Bos said. “Miller was a mainstay in helping write a campaign reform law. Mills was the father of the trolley idea. Revelle is an expert on sewage. Their names were inadvertently attached to the list.”

Miller, Mills and Revelle were the only names mistakenly included in the list of endorsers, Bos said.

“I think we’re OK on all the others,” he added.

Wilson, who is a U.S. senator, was an assemblyman before he was elected mayor of San Diego.