CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS / U.S. SENATE : Davis Opens Campaign With Call for Tax Credits to Spur Recovery

State Controller Gray Davis officially kicked off his drive for the U.S. Senate in Los Angeles on Monday by calling for a broad array of tax credits and other incentives to promote business investment and help spark economic recovery.

Davis, who will face former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein in the June primary for the seat held by incumbent Republican Sen. John Seymour, said he thought Southern California should become the “economic epicenter” for development and manufacture of electric cars.

“Let’s lead the nation in bullet trains, rapid transit and environmental technology,” he said at a Century City news conference.

Davis offered few details, but said he would like to see tax incentives for employers willing to retrain workers who have lost jobs in the recession and a massive infusion of public works dollars that would put people to work.

He said he favored giving employers a $1,500 tax credit, to be spread over five years, for each job they create during 1992.

While Davis spoke mostly in generalities about his economic plan, he offered sharply focused criticism of Feinstein in an attempt to undermine her popularity with women voters.

Feinstein is considered the favorite for the Democratic nomination because of her strong challenge of Pete Wilson in the 1990 governor’s race and because of early public opinion surveys that show her leading Davis by a wide margin, particularly among women.

Davis drew attention to the gender-gap problem, appearing at the news conference with three women: his wife, Sharon Davis; Lucie Bava, head of Women For:, a Southern California political action group with 2,000 members; and Dorothy Green, president of a Santa Monica Bay preservation group, Save the Bay.

Davis twice called Feinstein a “born-again feminist,” noting that as mayor of San Francisco she vetoed several resolutions supported by women’s groups, including several requiring equal pay for equal work.

In light of those vetoes, Davis called “the height of hypocrisy” Feinstein’s mailings in support of Anita Hill, the law school professor who testified during Senate hearings last year that she was subjected to sexual harassment by U.S. Supreme Court justice nominee Clarence Thomas.

Davis added that he ardently opposed Thomas’ appointment to the high court, going so far as to say he thought the justice “probably did molest” Hill.

Kam Kuwata, a spokesman for Feinstein, said public opinion polls show the former mayor with as much as a 3 to 1 lead among women voters. “Clearly, the women of California are supporting Dianne if you look at the polls,” he said.

Davis, who last year announced his intention to challenge Feinstein, went through the time-honored ritual of “officially” beginning his campaign with news conferences in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento.

Either Davis or Feinstein will face the winner of the Republican primary in November to serve out the remaining two years left on Wilson’s term when he became governor. Seymour, appointed by Wilson, is being challenged in the GOP primary by Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton) and several other candidates.