CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS: THE AD CAMPAIGN

The race: Governor. Whose ad: Republican Pete Wilson. Cost: The Wilson campaign refused to disclose. Producer: Don Sipple and Larry McCarthy.

Republican Sen. Pete Wilson launches a 30-second television commercial throughout California today that seeks to blunt the Senate absenteeism issue that Democrat Dianne Feinstein has used against him and to further brand Feinstein as a candidate who will raise taxes.

Elements of the ad, with analysis by Times political writer Bill Stall:

Ad: The commercial shows a photo of Feinstein followed by a graphic from Congressional Quarterly magazine and a photo of Wilson casting a Senate vote after surgery. An announcer says: “When Dianne Feinstein attacks Pete Wilson’s attendance, remember: Wilson’s attendance is a solid 92%. Wilson missed votes while helping earthquake victims and for an emergency appendectomy.”

Analysis: Wilson was recorded on 92% of 312 roll call votes in the Senate during 1989, the third-worst voting record in the Senate. Twenty senators voted on every bill for a 100% record. A tally of 98% or 99% was relatively common. Wilson missed 14 votes while in California after the San Francisco Bay Area earthquake a year ago. His post-surgery vote in pajamas in favor of the balanced-budget constitutional amendment occurred in 1985. The Feinstein campaign claimed that since 1987, Wilson has had the worst attendance record in the Senate, missing 71 of 291 votes during 1990. This summer, Wilson attended most Senate sessions during the week and campaigned in California on weekends until the August recess. From the time Congress went back into session after Labor Day until he returned to Washington late Monday, Wilson campaigned full time in California and missed 46 Senate roll call votes. Twenty-five of the 33 senators who are up for reelection this year made every roll call vote.

Ad: With newspaper headlines showing on the screen, the announcer says, “Feinstein is attacking Wilson to hide her own record on taxes. As mayor, Feinstein raised taxes six times, but still left a $172-million deficit. Now, Feinstein proposes increasing sales and income taxes by nearly $2 billion a year. Can we afford Feinstein for governor?”

Analysis: Taxes did go up during Feinstein’s terms as mayor of San Francisco, including at least one levy that she opposed. Technically, all of Feinstein’s budgets were balanced as required by state law. When Feinstein was succeeded by present Mayor Art Agnos, with whom Feinstein often has quarreled, Agnos claimed that Feinstein left the city with a potential $172-million deficit in his first year.

As a candidate for governor, Feinstein has endorsed Proposition 133 on the Nov. 6 ballot, an initiative sponsored by Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy that would increase the state sales tax by half a cent on the dollar to support a variety of anti-drug programs.

Feinstein had proposed to continue the quarter-cent sales tax levied after the Oct. 17, 1989, earthquake beyond its current expiration of Dec. 31 to make buildings and highways earthquake safe. This week, however, she said she is no longer certain that the money is needed. Feinstein has not specifically called for an increase in income taxes. She has said that if elected, she would attempt to achieve savings and budget reforms that would obviate the need for new taxes. If more tax income was necessary, she proposed reinstating the 11% bracket of the state personal income tax for the wealthiest taxpayers.