THE TIMES POLL : Wilson’s Performance Rating Is on Rebound : Politics: 37% approve of his work, up from 30% in March, but he trails likely Democratic rivals in popularity.

Rebounding from a year in the doldrums, Gov. Pete Wilson has improved his standing among Californians and has narrowed his deficit against the two Democrats considered most likely to challenge him in the election a year from now, a Los Angeles Times poll has found.

The embattled Republican chief executive still has big problems: Only two in five of his own party members want to see him run for his job again in 1994, and there are still more Californians who think the governor is doing poorly than those who approve of his performance.

Californians remain deeply concerned about the economy and again cite unemployment and the economy as the state’s most pressing problems. Nearly seven in 10 say the state is “off on the wrong track”--a result that does not bode well for Wilson.

But immigration is rising as a concern, and Wilson appears to be reaping dividends from his sharp views on that issue. The governor also may have gotten a boost from the voters’ increasing disenchantment with Democrats, and he may have benefited from a summer in which Sacramento lawmakers broke the gridlock and made progress on a number of key issues.

Among those surveyed by The Times statewide, 37% approved and 45% disapproved of the way Wilson is handling his job.

That rating was up from the last Times poll, conducted in March, when just 30% of Californians rated Wilson favorably, while 59% said they were dissatisfied with his performance. The governor’s turnaround among those registered to vote was even more pronounced.

Wilson’s rising fortunes were further reflected in head-to-head matchups with state Treasurer Kathleen Brown and Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, the two Democrats expected to run for their party’s gubernatorial nomination next year.

If the election were held today, Brown, who remains the favorite for her party’s nomination, would beat Wilson by 8 points, and Garamendi would top the governor by 10 points, the poll found. In each case, Wilson has sliced considerably into the leads these Democrats held over him six months ago.

Questioned about their two new Democratic U.S. senators, Californians gave slightly higher approval ratings than in a March survey. But the disapproval numbers for Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer also increased by a small amount.

The survey was conducted under the direction of John Brennan, Times Poll director, and questioned 1,162 California residents--including 896 registered voters--between Sept. 10 and 13. The overall sample has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, and plus or minus 4 percentage points among registered voters.

The numbers on Wilson are mixed, providing a glimmer of hope for his partisans to focus on while still painting a bleak enough picture to give his opponents reason to believe that the governor will find it very difficult to win reelection.

“We are very, very encouraged,” said Dan Schnur, Wilson’s chief spokesman. “The people of California are beginning to see the kind of work and the kind of effort Pete Wilson is putting in on their behalf, the kind of effort he’s been making to bring jobs back into the state.”

Among registered voters, 40% said they approved of the job Wilson is doing, while 44% said they disapproved and 16% were not sure. In March, just 31% of voters approved of Wilson’s performance while 60% held a negative view.

On the other hand, only 39% of Republicans surveyed in the most recent poll said Wilson should run again in 1994, while 32% hoped to see another candidate challenge him. When asked to choose between Wilson and a Democrat, fewer than half of those Republicans who want Wilson to step aside said they would vote for the governor.

Overall, the results suggest that Wilson has been able to halt a slide in public esteem that began in the spring of 1992, when he assumed a confrontational stance with the Democrat-controlled Legislature that led to gridlock on the state budget and other major issues.

This year, in contrast, Wilson worked closely with Democrats to produce a budget on time for the first time in seven years. He also signed legislation to overhaul the workers’ compensation program and encouraged lawmakers to enact tax breaks and other incentives for business to create jobs.

And while Wilson’s pointed attack a year ago on welfare recipients produced no political gain for him, shifting his focus this year to immigrants appears to have contributed to his improved standing with the voters.

Wilson, among other things, has called for a constitutional amendment denying citizenship to children born in this country to undocumented immigrants and has proposed denying public education, health care and other services to illegal immigrants and their families.

Asked how Wilson’s proposals had affected their view of him, 29% of those surveyed said the governor’s handling of the immigration issue made them feel more favorable toward him, while 15% said Wilson’s positions made them think less of him.

Wilson did well on that issue among virtually every group except Latinos. But Wilson gained more support from his immigration stand than he lost among Democrats, Republicans, independents and people who described themselves as liberal, conservative or moderate.

Another factor working in Wilson’s favor is a marked decline since March in voters’ belief that Democrats, rather than Republicans, are better suited to handle the problems faced by California.

On that question, the respondents were evenly divided among the major parties, with 32% favoring the Democrats, 30% favoring Republicans and 20% saying neither party was equipped to handle the state’s challenges. Six months ago, 44% sided with the Democrats and 28% went with the Republicans.

Yet Wilson, who has repeatedly sought to blame the federal government for many of the state’s problems, remains less popular in California than President Clinton. Fifty percent of those surveyed approved of Clinton’s performance, while 40% disapproved. In March 51% approved of Clinton, 29% disapproved.

State Treasurer Brown remains the favorite for the Democratic nomination next year but has seen her lead over Wilson in a hypothetical matchup erode.

Paired with Garamendi in a survey of Democratic voters, Brown led by a wide margin--38% to 23%. But nearly two in five of those polled--38%--said they were still undecided.

Garamendi, however, fared as well as Brown when matched against the incumbent governor. In head-to-head pairings, Garamendi was the choice of 49%, compared to 39% for Wilson. Brown held a 48% to 40% lead over the governor.

In March, Garamendi’s lead over Wilson was 17 points. Brown led Wilson by 22 points.

Darry Sragow, Garamendi’s campaign manager, said the high number of undecided Democrats was evidence that Brown is far from wrapping up the party’s nomination.

“She has made no movement up and is way short of the kind of numbers of someone who has a lock on it,” he said.

Roy Behr, policy director for Brown’s campaign committee, said Brown remained well positioned in the Democratic race and added that it was “not surprising” that Wilson had improved because the governor, Behr said, has been campaigning uncontested for the past three months.

“He has run paid ads in parts of the state and has held press conferences everywhere,” Behr said. “The entire time he was unchallenged.”

Behr predicted that voters’ concern about the economy and their conviction that the state is “on the wrong track”--68% agreed with such an assessment--ultimately will hinder Wilson’s ability to stage a comeback.

“He going to have a hard time winning back swing voters, who feel so strongly about the lousy job he’s done on the economy,” Behr said.

The poll also showed that more Californians than before have formed opinions about the performance of Boxer and Feinstein, the state’s first female U.S. senators.

Of Boxer, who has a six-year term ending in 1998, 33% of respondents said they approved of her performance, while 27% disapproved and two in five--40%--had no opinion.

Feinstein had the approval of 46% of those surveyed, while 26% disapproved and 28% had no opinion.

Registered voters were asked if they thought Feinstein deserved reelection or if it were “time to give a new person a chance.”

In response, 45% sided with Feinstein, 39% said someone else should be elected and 15% had no opinion.

Two-thirds of Republican voters remained undecided about potential candidates in their party’s Senate primary. Former Orange County congressman William E. Dannemeyer led with 15%, followed by Rep. Duncan Hunter of El Cajon with 8%, Rep. Christopher Cox of Newport Beach with 7% and Rep. Michael Huffington of Santa Barbara with 3%.

How the Poll Was Conducted

The Times Poll interviewed 1,162 adult California residents statewide, including 896 registered voters, 407 registered Democrats and 336 registered Republicans, by telephone from Sept. 10 to 13. Telephone numbers were chosen from a list of all exchanges in the state. Random-digit dialing techniques were used to ensure that both listed and non-listed numbers could be contacted. Interviewing was conducted in English and Spanish. Some questions were asked of a half-sample of approximately 550 respondents. Results were weighted slightly to conform with census figures for sex, race, age, education and labor force participation. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points for the total sample and plus or minus 4 points for registered voters; for other sub-groups it may be somewhat higher. Poll results can also be affected by other factors such as question wording and the order in which questions are presented.

THE TIMES POLL: Rating California’s Leaders

Gov. Pete Wilson’s job rating remains lackluster but has recovered some from his low point last October. Wilson is less popular than President Clinton, but has been helped more than hurt by his controversial immigration proposals.

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Pete Wilson is handling his job as governor?

9/93 3/93 10/92 9/92 5/92* 4/92* 12/91 10/91 5/91 Approve 37% 30% 28% 32% 43% 44% 36% 39% 52% Disapprove 45% 59% 61% 59% 52% 48% 54% 46% 34%

Do you approve or disapprove of the way the following are handling their jobs?

Gov. President State Sen. Sen. Wilson Clinton Legislature Boxer Feinstein Approve 37% 50% 24% 33% 46% Disapprove 45% 44% 54% 27% 26% Don’t know 18% 6% 22% 40% 28%

What do you think is the most important problem facing California? (Two replies accepted.)

Most mentioned Crime/gangs: 27% Unemployment: 27% Economy: 21% Immigration/illegal aliens: 16% Education: 14%

Have the proposals Gov. Wilson has made regarding illegal immigration made you feel more or less favorable toward him, or haven’t they changed your opinion one way or the other?

Registered Registered Total Voters Democrats Latinos Elderly More favorable 29% 33 % 29% 14% 51% Less favorable 15% 12% 15% 27% 9% No effect 41% 42% 45% 50% 31%

* Registered voters only

NOTE: Some percentages may not add to 100% because of “don’t know” responses not shown.