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Gavin to Stay Out of Senate Contest

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<i> From a Times Staff Writer</i>

John Gavin, a former actor and ambassador to Mexico, has decided not to seek the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in California next year despite entreaties by prominent conservative Republicans, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Gavin had been urged by officials in the Bush Administration and some congressional Republicans to become a candidate to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Alan Cranston.

“He reflected on it a good deal after all the calls and activity and decided, for both business and family reasons, that he would not enter the race,” said Judy Miller, Gavin’s aide. A major factor was Gavin’s commitment as chairman and chief executive officer of the Century Council, a recently established nonprofit organization funded by distillers, brewers and vintners that seeks to reduce alcohol abuse and drunk driving, she said.

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Some conservatives had hoped that Gavin would emerge as an alternative to the two declared GOP candidates--Los Angeles television and radio commentator Bruce Herschensohn and Rep. Tom Campbell (R-Stanford). They maintain that neither would be viable in the general election.

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