in 1988, then-vice president george h. w. bush considered governor deukmejian as a possible running mate for the presidential election that year. during a trade mission to south korea in august, deukmejian sent a letter saying he could not be considered for nomination, refusing to leave the governorship to democratic lieutenant governor leo t. mccarthy. deukmejian did not seek reelection to a third term as governor in the 1990 gubernatorial elections. the republicans instead nominated sitting united states senator pete wilson, who defeated dianne feinstein in the general election. he was the last governor not affected by the two-term limit that was passed by voters in 1990.