Woo Pledges to Seek State Campaign Reforms : Politics: Ex-councilman formally declares his candidacy for California secretary of state. He says he will work for spending limits and alternate means of political financing.

Expressing regrets about mudslinging on the part of his failed campaign for mayor of Los Angeles, former City Councilman Mike Woo declared Wednesday that he will work to restore faith in the political process if he is elected secretary of state of California.

“This office offers a great opportunity to address the despair and disillusionment that a lot of people feel about the political process,” Woo said in formally declaring his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for secretary of state in the primary election next June 2.

As he campaigns, he will promote such statewide political reform proposals as campaign spending limits, some form of alternate or public financing of campaigns and other restrictions on fund raising, Woo said.

The 42-year-old Woo served eight years on the Los Angeles City Council before running for mayor. He lost a contentious runoff election to Richard Riordan last June 8. Since then, Woo has been lecturing at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

Woo sought Wednesday to establish himself as the instant front-runner by taking note of his fund-raising abilities and by releasing results of a private poll that indicated he enjoyed a large lead over other potential candidates in statewide name recognition.

Other announced or likely Democratic contenders are Assembly members Gwen Moore of Los Angeles and Jackie Speier of Burlingame and Tony Miller, chief deputy to incumbent Secretary of State March Fong Eu, a Democrat.

So far, no Republicans have announced for the office.

Eu is expected to resign early next year after the U.S. Senate confirms her nomination by President Clinton to be ambassador to Micronesia. Eu, 71, has been secretary of state since 1975, and is only the fourth person elected to the office in the past 80 years. The others were Republicans Frank C. Jordan, his son, Frank M. Jordan, and Democrat Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr.

Woo, in making his announcement at the Los Angeles Press Club, said he is proud of many things about his 1993 campaign for mayor but “I also have some regrets about some of the negative tone, some of the mudslinging that took place, not only from my side but also from the other side during the campaign.”

“I regret the fact that I may have played some part in helping to get people turned off about politics,” he added.

Woo pledged not to engage in any negative campaigning as he runs for secretary of state and said, “I look forward to entering into this opportunity to restore people’s confidence in politics and to show people that their vote can really make a difference.”

In citing his qualifications for the office, Woo noted his sponsorship, as a council member, of Los Angeles’ ethics and campaign reform ordinances. He would pursue such laws on the state level if elected, he said.

As secretary of state, Woo said he would be able to provide the leadership needed to assemble a reform program that would include campaign spending limits, an alternate source of campaign money such as public financing, a ban on non-election year fund raising and a ban on the transfer of funds from one campaign treasury to another.

“The name of the game is to find a way to reduce the influence of private interests in campaigns, that is to reduce the undue influence of money in politics,” he said.

Woo’s campaign consultant, Steven Glazer, said Woo is prepared to match any of his Democratic primary opponents in fund raising for the primary, probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 million--far less than Woo had to raise for the mayor’s race.