CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS / GOVERNOR : Brown’s Views Like Brother’s, Wilson Says : New ad about death penalty is most direct attempt yet to link challenger to former governor’s legacy. Her camp denounces it as misleading and unfair.

Gov. Pete Wilson’s campaign, in its most direct attempt yet to link Democrat Kathleen Brown to the legacy of her older brother, unveiled a television ad Friday that says Brown holds “the same position on the death penalty as her brother, Jerry Brown.”

Television viewers are left to guess at precisely what that position is. The ad says only that former governor Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. “appointed dangerously lenient judges like Chief Justice Rose Bird, who voted to overturn 68 out of 68 death sentences.”

It concludes: “With the same view on capital punishment as Jerry Brown and with close ties to the criminal defense lawyers, Kathleen Brown will appoint more lenient judges. In times like these, can we afford the risk?”

The ad provoked outrage in the Brown campaign, where press secretary John Whitehurst accused Wilson of “using symbols from the past to falsely characterize her position” and called the ad “misleading, unfair and cynical.” Brown has said that despite her personal opposition to capital punishment, she would carry it out if elected governor.

“In terms of her judicial appointments,” Whitehurst said, “the qualification is that they will uphold the law. Period.”

Brown’s brother also called the ad deceptive propaganda.

During his two terms as governor, he said, his views were similar to his sister’s current stand--despite his personal objections, he did not rule out the death penalty and vowed to make decisions on a case-by-case basis. (He never had to make such a decision as governor because the state’s death penalty law had been declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court).

But in recent years, Jerry Brown said, he has taken a harder line that distinguishes him from his sister.

“I don’t believe the death penalty is right. It is basically a device by which people like Wilson intimidate the population and keep themselves in power,” he said Friday. “My sister is her own person. She’s got her own perspective. My ideas and my thoughts are separate.

“My father (former Gov. Edmund G. (Pat) Brown Sr.) opposed the death penalty and executed more people than Wilson and (former Gov. George) Deukmejian times a factor of 15. So being against it doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t carry it out,” he said, adding: “If Wilson’s so anxious to discuss these things, why doesn’t he debate her?”

Dan Schnur, Wilson’s press secretary, defended the ad, which began airing statewide Friday night. He stood by the assertion that Kathleen and Jerry Brown think alike, saying that--at least while Jerry Brown was governor--it was true.

“In the context of running for governor and serving as governor, he made the precise same argument” as his sister, Schnur said, offering 20-year-old news clippings as proof. “Kathleen and Jerry Brown not only have the same position on the death penalty, they articulated it in the precise same way.”

Schnur continued, “Throughout this campaign, Kathleen Brown has gone out of her way to use her family as a selling point for her candidacy. Well, sometimes you have to take the bad with the good. Especially if your family has a genetic predisposition against the death penalty, the way her family does.”

Whitehurst, the Brown spokesman, said the ad was a diversionary tactic designed to steal attention away from the topic of debates. All week, Brown has challenged Wilson to debate her at a scheduled event on Oct. 16, while Wilson has proposed another date with a format more to his liking.

“Why is Pete Wilson debating Jerry Brown’s record instead of Kathleen Brown as a candidate?” Whitehurst asked.

Political Scorecard

45 days to go before Californians go to the polls.

THE GOVERNOR’S RACE

* What Happened Friday: Gov. Pete Wilson signed two economic development bills in Sacramento and unveiled an ad that links state Treasurer Kathleen Brown to her brother, former Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. Brown attended a luncheon in Santa Barbara, where she discussed her plan to revitalize California’s economy.

* What’s Ahead: Today, Brown plans to speak to the California Conference of Machinists in Universal City and to attend an education round table in Fresno. Wilson will sign legislation all weekend.

THE SENATE RACE

* What Happened Friday: Sen. Dianne Feinstein returned from Washington and attended a fund-raising dinner in San Francisco with Vice President Al Gore. Rep. Mike Huffington also returned from the capital, but held no campaign events.

* What’s Ahead: Feinstein plans to attend a women’s political event in San Francisco today. Huffington is scheduled to campaign in Auburn, Placer County and Yuba City before attending a fund-raiser in Sacramento.

NOTABLE QUOTE

“Kathleen Brown says she opposes the death penalty, but says she’d enforce the law. The last person to say that was Rose Bird, and she voted to overturn 68 death sentences in a row after Jerry Brown appointed her chief justice.”

--George Gorton, Gov. Pete Wilson’s campaign manager, in a statement announcing a new ad.