Wilson Recalls Own Bruising Race, Says Protege May Face Tougher Fight

Gov. Pete Wilson had it tough with Democrat Dianne Feinstein in 1990, but his protege, Sen. John Seymour, may have it tougher, the governor said Friday.

Feinstein is better financed as she campaigns this time for the U.S. Senate, Wilson said, and Seymour has had to maintain a voting record in the Senate while trying to become known to California’s millions of voters.

“I would say that I think she enjoys an enormous statistical advantage that is offset by his greater energy, by his tenacity and purpose,” the governor told reporters after addressing a fund-raising lunch for Seymour at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

Former President Ronald Reagan and former Gov. George Deukmejian also spoke at the lunch, which raised an estimated $200,000 for the Seymour campaign.

Wilson has a particular interest in the contest. In January, 1991, he chose Seymour, then a state senator from Orange County, to fill the vacancy created when Wilson resigned to become governor. Wilson had defeated Feinstein by about 3.5% of the vote the previous November.

This was one of Wilson’s few campaign appearances with Seymour. Feinstein has linked Wilson to Seymour in her television ads because the governor’s popularity fell so much during the state budget deadlock this year.

Opinion polls have shown Feinstein holding a steady double-digit lead over Seymour, but Seymour said Friday that his polls indicate he has closed to within 5%.

“I don’t believe those polls,” he told the lunch, “but I sure do trust the direction and momentum.”

Wilson said Feinstein is trying to “smear” Seymour just as she tried to smear him in 1990, with allegations of using his Senate office to help struggling savings and loan institutions during the S & L scandal.

“I think that was a dangerous gambit for her to take considering she was an owner of S&L; stock,” Wilson said. “I think that backfired on her, as it should. I also think that these charges she is leveling against Sen. Seymour are going to backfire.”

Seymour described as “highly distasteful” Feinstein’s claim that he was sued 18 times while in the real estate business. Seymour has not denied that he was sued, but said no judgment was leveled against him and that damage settlements did not exceed $50,000. By contrast, “she and her husband” were involved in a $35-million settlement involving husband Richard C. Blum’s investment banking firm, Seymour said.

Blum has replied that those suits were not brought against him, but against a corporation of which he is a member of the board of directors. Feinstein had no involvement in the case, he said.