By Thomas B. Edsall
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 3, 1998; Page A04

Former White House chief of staff Leon E. Panetta yesterday announced he will not run for governor of California, but two other candidates, both with the cash to finance a bid, are considering last-minute entry into the contest.

With the deadline for picking up filing papers today, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, a moderate Republican, and Rep. Jane Harman, a Democrat representing a Los Angeles-area district, are trying to decide whether they are willing to make the $15 million-plus investment to be competitive in the primary.

The huge fund-raising demands prompted Panetta to drop his bid: "I estimate that I'd have to raise something like a million dollars a week, starting now, to be competitive," he said in a statement.

Both Riordan and Harman are very wealthy. California political operatives expect the contest will break spending records and could cost in excess of $50 million for the winner of the primary and general elections.

While Harman and Riordan are members of different parties, both would be competing for some of the same voters in the state's open primary: moderate and abortion-rights Republicans reluctant to vote for Dan Lungren, the conservative GOP attorney general; independent voters; and Democrats disenchanted with candidates Alfred Checchi, a multimillionaire businessman, and Lt. Gov. Gray Davis. Both, in addition, would be competing for the services of prominent political operatives, including media consultant Bill Carrick.

California election law allows voters to choose between the Democratic and Republican primary contests at every level, so it is possible to cast a ballot in the Republican Senate primary, the Democratic gubernatorial contest and so on through the different races.

A spokesman for Harman said she is expected to announce her decision whether to run today. Harman polled voters over the weekend, and although her pollster Geoff Garin would not provide details, he said that if she were to make the choice whether to run solely on the basis of the results, "the answer would be yes."

Riordan's office declined to say when he will make an announcement.

"I'm concerned about education, and I think if the people running can convince me they can create a revolution in education, and I mean a real, substantive revolution, then I'd be inclined not to run," the popular Los Angeles mayor told local reporters yesterday. If no one proposes such a revolution, "Then I'd have to look at it."

In the complex politics of California, where partisanship can become blurred, one of the questions that a Riordan bid could raise is: Would Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein endorse the Los Angeles mayor, who had endorsed her in a tough 1994 Senate fight against Republican Michael Huffington?

The last-minute jockeying for the contest results in part from the late decision of Feinstein against running for governor – she made the announcement just two weeks before today's filing deadline. According to most polls, Feinstein would have been the front-runner, and while she was making up her mind, a number of others decided against making a bid.

It was Feinstein's decision not to run that prompted Panetta to reconsider the race, but he said yesterday that it was just too late in the process to enter: "My conclusion is that at this late date, it's just not realistic to expect that I could put together an effective campaign."