Zschau Won’t Seek Cranston Seat Again

Former Rep. Ed Zschau, a Republican moderate widely viewed as a repeat contender for the U.S. Senate after his narrow loss to Sen. Alan Cranston in 1986, said Friday that he has decided not to run in next year’s election.

Zschau said he explored the possibility of running for Cranston’s Senate seat over the last several months and concluded that although the race was winnable, it would be too disruptive to the Silicon Valley computer company he has headed for about two years.

“I came to the conclusion that I could win this . . . and I put that together with the fact that the President is popular, and I felt I might have the wind at my back,” Zschau said. “But as I began to think through the details, I concluded that I would be putting the future of the company in jeopardy.”

Zschau is head of Censtor Co. of San Jose, which he said is at a critical stage in developing magnetic recording technology for computer disc drives.

Next year will be politically tumultuous, with candidates battling for both Senate seats in an election cycle dominated by a presidential campaign.

Four Democrats--Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy, former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr., U.S. Rep. Barbara Boxer of Greenbrae and her colleague Robert T. Matsui of Sacramento--have announced that they will run for the seat being vacated by Cranston. No Republicans have formally entered that race.

For the second seat, appointed Republican Sen. John Seymour will be challenged in the primary by U.S. Rep. William E. Dannemeyer of Fullerton, while former Democratic gubernatorial nominee Dianne Feinstein is running on the Democratic side. That seat was occupied by Gov. Pete Wilson until he left for Sacramento. Under electoral rules, it must be contested next year and again in 1994, when it resumes its regular cycle.

Zschau’s decision not to seek the Senate seat will primarily benefit other Republican moderates, including Rep. Tom Campbell (R-San Jose), who has held off a decision on a Senate race until Zschau made his intentions clear.

A Campbell aide said the congressman would spend the weekend deciding whether to run for the Cranston seat. Campbell is expected to announce his plans early next week.

A former Stanford University law professor, Campbell, 38, is closely allied with Zschau. In 1988, Campbell sought and won the congressional seat Zschau had held before his bid for the Senate in 1986. The two men also share the same circle of political supporters and financial benefactors, which would have made it all but impossible for Campbell to run for the Republican nomination against Zschau.

Zschau said he has encouraged Campbell to enter the race.

“I offered him my support, but I don’t know what decision he will make,” Zschau said.

At least three members of the Republican Party’s conservative wing are considering a run for Cranston’s seat, among them television commentator Bruce Herschensohn and two members of Congress, David Dreier of La Verne and Robert K. Dornan of Garden Grove.

Times political writer Cathleen Decker contributed to this article.