Just one day after Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) announced he would not seek reelection in 1992, Rep. Barbara Boxer, a Democrat from Greenbrae in Marin County, declared her candidacy for the seat.
In a telephone interview from San Francisco, Boxer told The Times: "I will be running based on issues of the environment, a world of peace, economic prosperity, individual freedom of choice (for abortion) and freedom of the arts. . . . I want to get to the Senate and be a fighter for the people."
Boxer thus joins Rep. Robert T. Matsui (D-Sacramento) as declared candidates in the race for a six-year term. Also at stake in 1992 will be Republican Gov.-elect Pete Wilson's Senate seat. Wilson will fill the vacancy with an appointee who will serve until the next general election.
Boxer, who will be 50 Sunday, has been a prominent member of the congressional military reform caucus and a leading advocate of abortion rights. She served as a Marin County supervisor before winning election to California's 6th Congressional District seat in 1982.
