Wilson Says He Regrets Vow Not to Enter Race : Politics: Likely presidential candidate addresses critics who say he reneged on campaign promise. He cites changing Republican field and GOP Congress as reasons.

Responding to widespread criticism, Gov. Pete Wilson on Monday said he regrets promising California voters that he would not run for President if reelected to a second term as the state’s chief executive.

In remarks at a Capitol news conference, Wilson provided his first detailed response to complaints that he is reneging on a campaign pledge by seeking the 1996 Republican nomination.

The governor made his most public promise to serve out a second gubernatorial term and not seek the White House during a televised debate with his Democratic opponent, Kathleen Brown, in October.

On Monday, Wilson said that when he made that pledge, he meant it. “I did not in any way expect to be standing here talking to you about running for President,” he said.

But since his reelection, Wilson said, things have changed. For starters, several Republican contenders--including former Vice President Dan Quayle, former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and former Housing Secretary Jack Kemp--have dropped out of the presidential race.

When they withdrew, Wilson said, dozens of Republicans in California and beyond urged him to run. These supporters, whom Wilson would not identify, expressed qualms about the strength of the two most prominent candidates for the GOP nomination, Texas Sen. Phil Gramm and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas.

“They are good men,” Wilson said of Dole and Gramm, but those urging the governor to run reportedly view him as a more potent candidate, largely because of his come-from-behind victory last fall.

“They said both the themes that we sounded and the credibility they thought I had on so many of these issues as a governor . . . would give us a better chance to be successful,” Wilson said.

He also cited a second factor that nudged him toward the White House--the GOP’s sweeping victory in congressional races in November.

“Another unknown (last fall) was the exciting prospect of having a Republican Congress--both houses--to make the kind of changes that we see beginning to unfold with the ‘contract with America,’ ” Wilson said.

Since Wilson formed an exploratory committee to promote his candidacy, he has been viewed as a top contender, largely because of his role as governor of the nation’s most populous state and his track record as a prodigious campaign fund-raiser.

But his presidential ambition has been attacked by some Republicans. They complain that he would abandon his job as governor at a time when the GOP is pushing a long list of state changes--notably a 15% income tax cut that Wilson proposed this year.

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Some also gripe that if Wilson becomes President, he will surrender his office to a Democrat, Lt. Gov. Gray Davis. To blunt that criticism, Wilson supporters have launched a ballot drive for a measure that would order a special election to fill a vacancy in the governor’s office.

In a Los Angeles Times poll last month, 63% of Californians said Wilson should not run for President. Voters who supported Wilson say they feel betrayed by the man they picked to run the state.

On Monday, Wilson said California voters will get a chance to tell him whether they resent his broken promise, or whether they believe, as the governor apparently does, “that I am more valuable as a Californian in the White House.”

“They get the opportunity twice,” Wilson said, “once in March, in the Republican primary, and, if good fortune is with me . . . again in November.”