California Governor

As governor of California, Pete Wilson will be, by tradition, the titular head of the state Republican Party for another two years. But Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren reigned through the weekend's GOP state convention as the true leader of the grass-roots activists who will shape the party's future. For several years, Lungren has positioned himself as the natural successor to Wilson as the GOP's next gubernatorial standard-bearer.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is fed up with the partisanship of Washington and is critical of Gov. Pete Wilson's polarizing in Sacramento. California needs a centrist governor who can work with legislators to help a troubled state, she says. A doer, not a divider. "This is not the greatest place in the world," she says of Washington, speaking from her Senate office by telephone. "It's much more partisan than any place I've ever been.

Gripped by the early symptoms of presidential fever, California Republican leaders began gathering in Sacramento on Thursday for an organizational convention dominated by the question: "Will Pete run?" Gov. Pete Wilson, his political capital restored after a strong reelection victory in November, will speak Saturday to a convention that is far from united on the question of whether he should seek the Republican presidential nomination next year.

If there's one lesson we've all learned--and relearned--it is to never, ever count out Willie Brown. Save the political obit. He's a Lazarus. Practically nothing seems impossible anymore for this Houdini after having finessed his way back into the Speaker's office with just 39 Democratic votes in an 80-member house. But Willie Brown, governor? "I'm going to clearly have (running for) governor as an option (in 1998)," he says. "Absolutely."

Gov. Pete Wilson has quietly turned down a $6,000-a-year pay raise that would have gone into effect this month. The California Citizens Compensation Commission, a seven-member panel appointed by Wilson, raised the official salaries of the governor and most other state elected officials by 5%, effective Dec. 1. That action raised the official governor's salary from $120,000 to $126,000 a year. But Wilson, like several other constitutional officers, turned down the increase.

In Gov. Pete Wilson's suite of offices, some brash young staffers, their heads swollen by presidential campaign fever, deride the Democratic tenant in the small office down the hall as Lite Governor. The insult is directed at Gray Davis. As lieutenant governor, Davis would become \o7 the \f7 governor if Wilson wins. But that if is big.

Major league baseball this spring has its replacement players and California has its replacement governor--a veteran pol who has kicked around the minors for years and now has his sights on the show. The replacement governor is not trying to hit home runs. He just wants to avoid striking out. There'll be nothing daring; just don't get caught off base. Forget spectacular plays; don't make errors. "I'm not an off-the-wall wacko," says Lt. Gov. Gray Davis. "I'm a solid citizen.

In an event steeped in tradition and symbolism, the executive-elect stands before California's gleaming Capitol, places one hand on a Bible and holds the other aloft to take the oath of office. The crowd applauds and settles back in hushed anticipation. Then comes the centerpiece as the governor rises to deliver the inaugural address. It is the best opportunity he or she may ever have to move people with the sheer weight of words, to nudge the ship of state with rhetoric. Republican Gov.

To chart Gov. Pete Wilson's rightward trek across the political spectrum, a starting point might be in Anaheim at the state Republican Party convention nearly four years ago. By that time, barely a year after his election to the Statehouse, Wilson had already set off an intraparty war with conservatives who dominated the GOP machinery. The new governor had backed the largest tax increase in state history, chose a moderate successor to his former U.S.

On a desk already piled high with major decisions about floods, bankruptcy, tax cuts and partisan squabbles, Gov. Pete Wilson found himself facing another seemingly delicate question this week: Whom does he favor in the Super Bowl? It's just a game, right? Well . . . Wilson's staff this week pondered the political implications of choosing sides in football's first intrastate championship between the San Diego Chargers and the San Francisco 49ers.