In Surprise Move, Hayden Enters Race for Governor

State Sen. Tom Hayden, onetime leader of anti-war student radicals and longtime challenger of the Establishment, rattled the political cage again Wednesday by entering the June 7 Democratic primary for governor of California as “a messenger” of political reform.

Hayden, 54, of Santa Monica, said he is not under any illusion about winning election as governor, but said he would use his candidacy as a platform for forcing a solution to “the obstinate problem of power and money” that he said dominates California politics and the actions of elected officials in Sacramento.

“We have become dangerously lost, I think, in the values of Babylon,” he said.

Hayden said he would withdraw from the race before the final filing deadline of March 11 if the other Democratic candidates, Treasurer Kathleen Brown and Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, embrace his political reform agenda with sufficient zeal. There was no sign Wednesday that they were willing to do that.

Even if he cannot realistically win, “victory has many meanings,” Hayden said at a hastily called news conference--opened with a prayer--at the Sportsmens Lodge in Studio City. “It is victory to me when a single voice breaks the moral suffocation and political silence of one’s time.”

Hayden’s decision came as a total surprise to the California political Establishment. Hayden said he had considered the idea for some time, but did not decide to file for office until late Tuesday night. The deadline for taking out candidacy papers for governor was Wednesday at 5 p.m.

There was no consensus among political experts on the impact of Hayden’s surprise candidacy on the contest, which all had assumed had settled down to three candidates: Brown and Garamendi in the Democratic primary and Gov. Pete Wilson running with no substantial opposition for the GOP nomination.

Some observers thought the Hayden ploy would hurt Brown, and some Garamendi. Others weren’t sure. The only agreement was that the Wilson camp should be happy with the added turmoil among the Democrats.

“We think it’s a fine idea,” said Dan Schnur, Wilson’s reelection campaign spokesman.

Mervin Field, founder of the Field Poll and California’s senior political analyst, said there is no question that Hayden’s entry is “a major temblor” in the Democratic race.

Field pointed out that Hayden, while considered by many to be a political gadfly who often is discounted because of his earlier radical student and anti-war politics, is one of California’s best known politicians and a proven vote-getter.

In a 1990 Field Poll, Hayden had 73% name identification, even though negative impressions of Hayden also registered relatively high at 31%, compared to a favorable rating of 42%.

In 1976, before he was elected to the Legislature, Hayden challenged first-term Sen. John V. Tunney in the Democratic primary and collected 1.2 million votes, nearly 37% of the Democratic vote cast. Tunney won the primary, but lost to Republican S. I. Hayakawa in November.

The 1976 campaign was helped by an infusion of money from Hayden’s then-wife, actress Jane Fonda. In 1992, after his divorce from Fonda, Hayden spent about $750,000 in winning a bitterly contested three-way Democratic primary for the state Senate seat he now holds.

Hayden’s program, outlined on a one-page sheet entitled “Reforming the Special Interest State,” includes campaign finance reform, reform of the Sacramento lobbying system and new ethics restrictions on officeholders and their appointees.

His program resembles Proposition 68, a ballot initiative that won a majority of votes in 1988 but was thrown out by court decisions. This time, Hayden would go further in limiting campaign contributions, have partial public financing of campaigns, prohibit off-year campaign fund-raising, outlaw political action committees and limit spending on legislative and gubernatorial campaigns.

Hayden also proposed a code of ethics for political consultants, greater public scrutiny of contributors, an end to tax deductions for lobbying expenses, a ban on lobbyists soliciting campaign contributions for officeholders they lobby, and a ban on the appointment of major campaign contributors to state boards such as the UC Board of Regents.

In effect, Hayden set down conditions for Brown and Garamendi to meet if Hayden is to step aside and let them resume their face-to-face contest for the Democratic nomination. Endorsement of the specific ideas is not enough, he said. They must “speak out on this general agenda to build public support during the campaign.”

Further, whoever is elected governor must agree to meet with legislative leaders in January, 1995, to formulate a reform package, Hayden said. If agreement cannot be reached, the governor should commit to support a reform initiative on the 1996 election ballot, Hayden said.

Neither Brown nor Garamendi jumped into acceptance, although Garamendi issued a statement in which he agreed on the need for reform and said, “I welcome a discussion of the issues raised by Tom Hayden.”

But Garamendi added that “what we need most is leadership” on critical issues such as jobs, education reform and public safety.

“I am running for governor to make California work, and that includes political reform,” Garamendi said.

As Hayden spoke, Brown was on the second day of her formal announcement tour of the state. Asked about Hayden by reporters, she would talk only about the issues she has been discussing, declining even to mention him by name.

Brown campaign spokesman Michael Reese issued this statement: “To build a new California, we need to create jobs, break the cycle of violence and reform our schools. Kathleen Brown is still the only candidate who has a plan to do that and these are the issues she’s going to keep talking about no matter who else joins the race.”

Wilson aide Schnur said “there’s no question” that Hayden’s presence hurts Brown more than Garamendi. “Kathleen Brown is the front-runner and front-runners like very safe and predictable primaries,” he said.

Conservative GOP strategist Ken Khachigian said, however, “That great sucking sound is John Garamendi going down the tubes.”

“Hayden’s going to make a pitch for the same blue-collar constituency that Garamendi will, a sort of populist kind of approach,” Khachigian said.

Khachigian also said Hayden and Garamendi would tend to split the male Democratic vote, allowing Brown to reap dividends from the majority of women who tend to vote in Democratic primaries.

Pollster Field thought it impossible to assess the impact at this point. He offered two contrasting scenarios. In one, Hayden’s views might appeal to Democratic women and thus detract from Brown’s possible gender advantage.

In the other, the star quality of both Hayden and Brown might put Garamendi more in the shadow, Field said.

In any event, both Democrats will find Hayden a strong competitor for attention from a voting public that often gives only limited attention to political affairs, particularly in the months preceding the voting.

Field noted that Hayden presumably would have to be included in any Democratic candidate debates, the forum in which Garamendi has been hoping to score a major breakthrough against Brown because of his greater experience in government and ability to discuss almost any subject in state government in detail without preparation.

Times staff writers John Schwada and Dave Lesher in Los Angeles, Daniel M. Weintraub and Eric Bailey in Sacramento and Amy Wallace in Monterey contributed to this report.

Profile: Tom Hayden

State Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) declared his candidacy for governor of California. If he stays in the race, he will compete against Treasurer Kathleen Brown and Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi for the Democratic nomination in the June 7 primary. The winner will run in the fall against Republican Pete Wilson, who is seeking a second term.

* Born: Dec. 11, 1939, Detroit.

* Residence: Santa Monica

* Education: Bachelor’s degree in political science, University of Michigan, 1961.

* Career highlights: As a leader of the New Left movement and a Vietnam War resister, founded Students for Democratic Society; was tried and convicted as one of the Chicago Seven for inciting riots during 1968 Democratic Convention, but conviction was overturned; author of seven books, including a memoir, “Reunion”; lost 1976 race for U.S. Senate; chairman of Solar-Cal Council, 1978-82; state assemblyman, 1982-92; state senator, 1992-present.

* Interests: Drives electric-powered car; taught course at Santa Monica College on religion and the environment.

* Family: Married to actress Barbara Williams; has a son and a stepdaughter from earlier marriage to actress Jane Fonda.

* Quote: He says he is seeking the governorship to fight the “obstinate power and money of special interests. . . . In my view, this problem is the key to all others in Sacramento.”