By William Claiborne
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 21, 1998; Page A12

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the front-runner among California gubernatorial hopefuls this year, today ruled out a race for the Democratic nomination, saying she did not want to run in a "very debilitating campaign environment."

Feinstein said campaigns in California have deteriorated to the point "that there is very little uplifting or constructive about the process." She said she would rather spend the next year working on issues that "contribute something positive" to the state and the nation.

Gov. Pete Wilson (R) cannot run again because of term limits.

Feinstein, the only one of six potential Democratic contenders to lead Republican Attorney General Dan Lungren in statewide polls, made her decision less than two weeks after President Clinton urged her to enter the race.

Feinstein said that it was during her telephone conversation with Clinton that she realized how ambivalent she felt about running and that she made her decision last week. She said it was "like a huge weight that came off my shoulders."

Announcing her decision in a telephone news conference, Feinstein said, "There probably has been no decision in my life . . . that I have put more thought and energy into. There also has been none that has caused me more angst."

Of Clinton's appeal to her to enter the race, Feinstein said, "I thought if any call were to push me over the brink, it would be a call from the president of the United States." Instead, she said, "the decision moment came, in a way," as she talked to Clinton.

Feinstein had often said she would like to be governor but was concerned about undertaking another demanding, year-long campaign. In 1990, she lost a hotly contested race for governor to Wilson and two years later was elected to the remaining two years of Wilson's Senate term. She ran again in 1994, winning a full six-year term in the Senate.

Feinstein's withdrawal leaves Lt. Gov. Gray Davis and millionaire businessman Alfred Checchi the leading announced contenders for the Democratic nomination.

Davis, in a statement, appeared relieved by Feinstein's decision.

"More than most, I have every reason to know how formidable a candidate she can be, and how powerful a campaigner she can be," Davis said. He said Californians "should feel extremely fortunate" that Feinstein will continue to represent the state in Washington.

Checchi, who has said he is willing to spend up to $30 million of his estimated fortune of $550 million on a campaign, said tonight that his decision to run was made irrespective of who his opponents might be and that his campaign will not change because a candidate dropped out.

Checchi, 49, is a former co-chairman of Northwest Airlines who is making his first bid for elective office.

A December statewide survey conducted by the independent Field Poll and using trial matchups in the general election this November showed Feinstein leading Lungren 46 percent to 42 percent but also showed Lungren had cut her lead in half since August. Lungren has no major Republican opposition.

In other potential matchups against Democrats, Lungren led Davis by 4 percentage points, former White House chief of staff Leon E. Panetta by 5 points, state Controller Kathleen Connell by 10 points, state Sen. John Vasconcellos by 17 points and Checchi by 19 points.

Wilson called Feinstein's decision "very good news for the Republican Party and Dan Lungren."