Turnout at 62%; Mail Vote Heavy : Election: More than 1 million voters cast absentee ballots, which may delay count. Feinstein and Wilson complete historic race for governor.

Californians took to the polls in measured numbers Tuesday, in their hands the fates of hundreds of incumbents, a slate of ballot measures that could drastically change the face of state government and the historic governor’s contest between Democrat Dianne Feinstein and Republican Pete Wilson.

Early indications were that about 8.3 million people--or roughly 62% of registered voters--would cast ballots. Actual turnout was running slightly behind projections, but officials at the secretary of state’s office said that was probably because more voters cast ballots by mail.

In Los Angeles County, officials said 30.74% of registered voters had cast ballots by 4 p.m.

Because of the huge number of absentee ballots--more than 1 million--the outcome of close races might not be known for days. As many as 500,000 absentee ballots already sent in may not be counted until well after Tuesday’s ballots are run through the system, officials said.

At more than 26,000 polling places across the state, voters arrived armed with sample ballots that rivaled a phone book in bulk, representative of a daunting array of issues. Besides the governor’s race, at stake were six other state constitutional offices, 28 ballot propositions--some of which cancel each other out--45 congressional seats, 80 seats in the California Assembly and 21 seats in the state Senate.

That did not even take into account city and county races and such regional matters as four seats on the State Board of Equalization.

Feinstein, bidding to become the state’s first woman governor, cast her ballot near her San Francisco home and waited out the remainder of Election Day in private. She was to join supporters election night at the Fairmont Hotel.

The Democrat, who based much of her appeal on gender, arrived at the polls holding a bumper sticker: “Some leaders are born women,” it said. Feinstein, 57, told reporters she was going to get her hair done and catch up on paperwork the rest of the day.

Sen. Wilson, also 57, voted at an elementary school near his home in San Diego, then strolled over to greet children gathered there.

“Some day you are going to be doing that,” he told them, pointing toward the voting booth. Wilson then traveled to Los Angeles, where he was to spend part of the evening with other Republican candidates in Los Angeles. Later, he planned to fly to back to San Diego, where he served as mayor for 11 years.

Early turnout figures were basically in line with projections made last week by Secretary of State March Fong Eu. All told, only about 8.3 million of the 19 million Californians of voting age--about 43%--will vote.

Whether or not Feinstein was elected, the governor’s race was guaranteed a place in history as the most expensive such contest in state history. By Election Day, the major participants will have spent more than $40 million in pursuit of the chief executive’s job, not counting millions more spent by candidates who did not make the final cut.

The governor’s race was crucial for reasons both personal and political: Whoever wins will vault onto the national political stage in time to attract notice for the 1992 federal elections.

While Feinstein would be the first woman governor, Wilson would be the first Republican elected to follow a fellow Republican in 60 years. He also would have the power to appoint his Senate successor, who will run for election in 1992.

The national political parties were holding their breath at the outcome, for the governor will have a major role in the upcoming reapportionment process. California is expected to gain seven congressional seats and the lines for legislative seats also will be redrawn.

The candidates closed out their races with traditional arguments, Wilson alleging that Feinstein would hike taxes and spend frivolously, Feinstein countering that Wilson would favor the rich at the expense of the bulk of California.

Both embraced the notion of change, with Feinstein arguing that she represented a leap from the policies of current Gov. George Deukmejian, and Wilson asserting that he would be a more activist and flexible governor than his predecessor.

Choosing a governor was perhaps simple in contrast to the complex and frustrating list of ballot measures that irritated voters and could provoke a whiplash of change in California.

Seeking to tap into voter anger at career politicians, supporters placed two measures--Propositions 131 and 140--on the ballot that would limit the terms of elected leaders, turning the present Legislature on its collective head.

Four measures sought to address environmental concerns, the best known of them Proposition 128, which would outlaw offshore oil drilling, protect forests, ban cancer-causing pesticides and establish limits on emissions that endanger the ozone layer.

Farmers banded together to get Proposition 135 on the ballot--it would step up pesticide testing but allow continued use of carcinogenic materials. And two measures dealt with the future of historic redwood stands--Proposition 130, put on the ballot by environmentalists, and the competing Proposition 138, backed by lumber companies.

Besides term limits, another proposition posed a huge threat to business as usual in government. Proposition 136 would require local officials to put all new taxes or increases to a public vote, and would nullify parts of three of the initiatives on Tuesday’s ballot.

Battles for state office earned less attention than the governor’s race or some initiatives, but the contests were hard-fought.

Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy, a Democrat, was seeking a third term against Republican state Sen. Marian Bergeson of Newport Beach. Democrat Arlo Smith, the San Francisco district attorney, was wrangling with Republican Dan Lungren, a former congressman, for state attorney general.

Democrat Kathleen Brown, part of a political dynasty that has sent two members to the governor’s office, was running a well-financed race for treasurer against appointed incumbent Thomas W. Hayes.

Two Democratic incumbents, Secretary of State March Fong Eu and Controller Gray Davis, were battling against two Republicans making their first bid for statewide office--Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores against Eu and, against Davis, Eu’s son, attorney Matthew Fong.

In the first race for an elected insurance commissioner, Democrat John Garamendi, a veteran legislator who recently resigned his state Senate seat, was a heavy favorite to defeat Republican Wes Bannister, a Huntington Beach insurance agent and former city councilman.