Businessman Mulling Bid for Governorship

Sitting on a $550-million nest egg is not enough for Alfred A. Checchi, so the co-chairman of Northwest Airlines is considering another job--governor of California.

The Democratic businessman, who has cultivated connections in the national party hierarchy for years, is mulling a bid in 1998, when incumbent Pete Wilson will be tossed out by term limits.

In a Wednesday interview at his Beverly Hills home, Checchi said he had spent a year privately ruminating about a run for office and decided that it is time to broaden his discussions. Beginning next month, he said, he will begin speaking in large and small venues across the state to try to gauge support for his candidacy.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that this is worth pursuing further,” he said.

Checchi’s pronouncement raised eyebrows in the state’s political community, where some suggested that his money will make him prominent but will not guarantee him success. In political circles, Checchi is known primarily for his largess. In the last nine years, he has contributed almost $325,000 to state and national Democratic causes.

“My experience with self-made financiers is that it’s very difficult to make the transition to politics,” state Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres said. “Voters are not their staff. Sometimes, people live in a vacuum and have gotten coddled by politicians asking for donations, and they find it a very rude awakening. They don’t tend to have thick skins.”

A spokesman for one of Checchi’s prospective opponents, Lt. Gov. Gray Davis, issued what amounted to a challenge to the financier, comparing him to a wealthy Republican candidate in the 1994 Senate race.

“I think Michael Huffington demonstrated in 1994 that there are limits to what a first-time statewide candidate in California can do even with unlimited money,” said Garry South, Davis’ chief of staff, now on leave to prepare Davis’ own run for the governorship.

“Candidates for governor in this state come under extreme scrutiny, and if they have not been previously vetted by the voting public, many of them can’t withstand that scrutiny. Now, it’s a free country and anyone can run, but my word of advice is you’d better know what you’re getting into before you take the plunge.”

Checchi’s potential entrance adds new uncertainties to a race already rife with them. Only one well-known Democrat--Davis--has committed to the race, but several others are circling it uncommitted. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is considering a bid but will not make a formal decision until some time next year, her spokeswoman Susan Kennedy said.

President Clinton’s outgoing chief of staff, Leon Panetta, is also investigating whether he should run. And state Controller Kathleen Connell has long made known her interest in the governor’s office.

On the Republican side, Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren appears to have the race to himself.

Checchi said he would not base his decision whether to run on the entrance of any other candidate, but a contest with Feinstein could prove touchy. Feinstein’s husband, Richard Blum, serves on the board of Northwest Airlines, in which he also invested. In 1990, when Feinstein ran for governor, Checchi and his wife, Kathryn, contributed $29,000 to her cause.

Checchi has one obvious advantage in any political bid--money. That will be particularly true in 1998, the first elections to be held under new spending limitations approved by state voters last month.

Under the new rules, candidates will be limited to individual contributions of $500 or less, unless they agree to voluntary spending limits. Then the individual contributions limit would rise to $1,000.

Individuals are free to donate whatever they wish to their own campaigns. But, according to the limitations’ fine print, mass spending by a self-financed candidate can trigger a rise in the spending limits for any other candidates.

Checchi described his interest in elective office as the natural evolution of someone who has long been interested in public policy and political affairs, and who now has some time on his hands.

He started in business with the Marriott Corp., where he rose in only a few years to the post of treasurer. He then moved to an executive role with the Texas-based Bass brothers, whose stake in Walt Disney Productions drew him to California.

In 1989, he and partner Gary Wilson led a $3.65-billion leveraged buyout of Northwest Airlines. After several rocky years and a near-bankruptcy, the company has emerged strongly, and Checchi said it requires little attention from him.

While he resists characterizing his political views, Checchi comes across as a progressive Democrat, willing to use business techniques to improve government but unwilling to cede all of its responsibilities to the private sector.

According to political analysts, the trick for Checchi, if he decides to run, will be to impress voters as a leader, without offending them if his views differ from theirs.

He readily acknowledged some differences with California’s voters. For starters, he opposed both the anti-illegal immigration Proposition 187 and the anti-affirmative action Proposition 209. Both passed handily.

He also expressed strong doubts about welfare reform, which was a popular issue among voters in the recent elections.

“Everybody rushed forward and waked to take people off the welfare rolls, if they don’t have a job in two years they cut off their benefits,” he said in the interview. “Let’s see how they feel two or three years from now when you look out and you see a sea of people and children, unsupported, and Beverly Hills looks like Calcutta.

“I don’t think that’s what they want, and it’s the job of a leader to explain the implications of things.”