CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS: GOVERNOR : Wilson in Senate; Feinstein Still Attacks : Ads: The Democratic candidate presses issue of her opponent’s attendance record in revised TV commercials.

Even though Sen. Pete Wilson returned to Washington for critical votes on the federal budget, Dianne Feinstein continued to pursue him with the Senate absenteeism issue by adding a new tag line to three gubernatorial campaign ads: “Dianne Feinstein: She’ll be there for California.”

The three 30-second commercials which began running Tuesday are revised versions of ads that Feinstein ran during her spring primary campaign against fellow Democrat John K. Van de Kamp. They include the “grabber” ad that campaign experts said propelled her into contention in the governor’s race.

The commercial opens with news footage from Nov. 27, 1978, of Feinstein announcing the shooting deaths of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. As chair of the Board of Supervisors, Feinstein became mayor upon Moscone’s death. That came only hours after she had announced plans not to run again for city office.

The second ad is another version of the same commercial, opening with the announcer’s line, “Forged from tragedy, her leadership brought San Francisco together.”

The third, running on today’s anniversary of the Oct. 17 earthquake, touts Feinstein’s “foresight and common sense” in backing the reinforcement San Francisco’s Candlestick Park to protect it from earthquakes.

The primary election messages have been removed. In the new versions, Feinstein emphasizes her positions on growth management, early childhood education and health care.

Feinstein campaign director Bill Carrick said Tuesday the timing of the three ads was not linked to Republican Wilson’s decision Monday to return to Washington for this week’s Senate sessions on the budget deficit and other issues. Wilson had campaigned steadily in California since Labor Day but was heavily criticized by Feinstein for missing votes in Washington.

Carrick also raised the possibility that a new commercial focusing on Wilson’s voting record in the Senate would run soon.

The commercials aired Tuesday in all major markets of the state are aimed at undecided voters who are just beginning to focus on the governor’s race, Carrick said.

“We’re returning to basics. This is a refresher course on who Dianne is,” he said.

Carrick has believed that about 40% of the likely voters are confirmed Wilson supporters, about 40% are Feinstein backers and the remaining 20% are “still up for grabs.” He said the undecided group consists largely of blue-collar workers, older women and suburban voters.

Otto Bos, Wilson’s campaign director, charged that portions of the commercials are misleading, including a newspaper headline that says “Feinstein Backs Police” and a statement that she is the only candidate with a plan for early childhood education.

Bos said that the headline ran above a story reporting disarray within the San Francisco Police Department and that Feinstein was supporting the police chief’s plan for stricter supervision of line officers.

As to the early childhood education plan, Bos said, “Wilson was in favor of that before she was, in December.” But Carrick said Feinstein is the only candidate with a specific proposal for paying for the expanded education program. She has proposed doing this by increasing the share of lottery proceeds going to education along with additional money from Proposition 133, a Nov. 6 ballot initiative that would increase the state sales tax by a half-cent for anti-drug education and other drug-fighting programs.