Race of the Year Hits the Ground; In Run for California, Wilson and Brown Start in a Dead Heat
Gov. Pete Wilson (R) and Kathleen Brown (D) kicked off the battle for California yesterday, with each claiming they could best lift the state out of its economic and psychological recession in what is being called the most significant political contest of 1994.</br></br>After the worst recession since the Great Depression and natural disasters that have shaken public faith in the once-eternal promise of the Golden State, voters will choose between the dogged and colorless Wilson and the telegenic but less experienced state treasurer, the daughter and sister of former governors.</br></br>Polls suggest the race begins as a dead heat and party leaders predict it will stay that way until November.</br></br>"This is not going to be a race where people care very much about personalities," Wilson said at a rally yesterday morning after he was nominated to a second term. "They shouldn't. They ought to be concerned about issues and about performance."</br></br>Brown, beginning a two-day trip around the state after her primary victory on Tuesday, told supporters, "What this race is going to be about is effectiveness, effectiveness in getting the job done for the people of California." She warned that the state could not afford another four years of a "Rip Van Wilson administration" that wakes up "just in time for the election."