Rep. Boxer Will Seek Cranston’s Senate Seat

One day after Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) announced he would not seek reelection, Democrat Barbara Boxer, a congresswoman from Marin County, declared Friday her candidacy for one of the two California Senate seats to be contested in 1992.

Boxer, 49, who has been raising money and considering a challenge of Cranston all year, had planned to announce her candidacy in January. But she said she moved up her timetable because of Cranston’s announcement Thursday that he would not run because he has prostate cancer.

“I felt it was important to state my intentions now,” Boxer said.

She joins Rep. Robert T. Matsui (D-Sacramento), also 49, as declared contenders for Cranston’s seat. Matsui has said he intends to run but will not make a formal announcement until later. Boxer’s announcement was seen as an attempt to stake out the left-of-center turf in the 1992 primary.

“I will be running based on issues of the environment, a world of peace, economic prosperity, individual freedom of choice (on abortion) and freedom of the arts,” she said. “I want to get to the Senate and be a fighter for the people.”

Democratic political experts have said the potential Senate candidacy of Dianne Feinstein, who narrowly lost the governor’s race to Republican Pete Wilson on Tuesday, could lessen Boxer’s chances. By pitting two San Francisco Bay Area women against each other, Feinstein would hold a clear edge in statewide visibility and fund-raising ability.

Boxer was a Marin County supervisor for six years before winning the 6th Congressional District seat in 1982. She was reelected by more than a 2-1 margin Tuesday. The seat covers portions of San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma and Solano counties.

Boxer has been an active member of the congressional military reform caucus in the House, a leading proponent of abortion rights and a foe of offshore oil drilling. The “Almanac of American Politics” describes Boxer as “a team player, a member usually loyal to the Democratic leadership, to feminist causes, to caucus groups representing significant constituencies in her district and a good pol.”

Other potential Democratic candidates are Rep. Mel Levine of Santa Monica, former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr., Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy, Controller Gray Davis and Walt Disney Corp. President Frank Wells.