Cranston to Quit in ’92 : Reveals He’s Suffering From Cancer

California’s Alan Cranston, one of five senators being investigated for their dealings with the former chairman of the bankrupt Lincoln Savings & Loan, said today he has cancer of the prostate and will not seek reelection when his term expires in 1992.

“The physicians tell me that the cancer is apparently totally curable, but immediate treatment is necessary,” Cranston said in a statement released by his office. “A positive factor is my otherwise robust health. Whether I face an operation or radiation therapy will be determined shortly.”

Cranston, 76, also said he will not seek another two-year term Tuesday as deputy majority leader for the Congress that convenes in January.

He was first elected to the Senate in 1968 and has been elected to the No. 2 Democratic position in the Senate every year since 1977.

Cranston’s popularity among voters has plunged since he was named as one of the senators who allegedly intervened with federal regulators on behalf of savings and loan executive Charles H. Keating Jr., a campaign contributor. The Senate Ethics Committee has been investigating those allegations.

Cranston said the cancer was first detected during a routine annual physical examination and was confirmed by a biopsy at Walter Reed Hospital on Oct. 15.

Since then, Cranston said, he has consulted specialists in New York and will undergo further consultations at Stanford University Hospital and Johns Hopkins Hospital within the next few days.

“I look forward to two years in the Senate free of the burdens and the perils of campaigning and fund-raising,” Cranston said. “I intend to make them years of great achievement for the people of California and the United States.”

Because of Cranston’s steep decline in the polls since the savings and loan scandal began unfolding over the last two years, a long list of potential contenders for his seat had already been forming.

Pollster Mervin Field did a survey last summer listing 10 potential Democratic contenders for Cranston’s seat and found Cranston finishing third among the 10 in voter support and last among those 10 in favorable-unfavorable reactions of California Democratic voters.

Field’s California Poll reported former Gov. Jerry Brown and Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy tied for first choice for the U.S. Senate in 1992, followed by Cranston.

Other prospective Democrat candidates include, in descending order according to the poll, Rep. Barbara Boxer of San Francisco, state Controller Gray Davis, San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos, Reps. Bob Matsui of Sacramento and Tom Lantos of Burlingame, Walt Disney Corp. President Frank Wells and Rep. Mel Levine of Los Angeles.