CALIFORNIA DATELINE / PAUL FELDMAN. <i> Snapshots of life in the Golden State.</i> : In the Senate, It’s Also the Year of the Democrat

California voters made national history last week by choosing two women to serve in the U.S. Senate at the same time.

But the election of the Democratic duo of Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer was also momentous on the home front.

Only once before during the 20th Century--when John V. Tunney and Alan Cranston served together during the early 1970s--have both U.S. senators from California been Democrats.

As well, the vote marked a return to northern domination of the state’s Senate delegation.

For much of the post-World War II period, California has had one senator from the north and one from the south. That shifts with the election of the ex-mayor of San Francisco and the congresswoman from Marin County.

Reasons Behind the Vote

A Times exit survey of 3,873 California voters indicates that more than two in five supported both Democratic senatorial candidates Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. One in three backed both GOP hopefuls John Seymour and Bruce Herschensohn. A total of 7% voted for Feinstein and Herschensohn, while only 3% voted for both Boxer and Seymour. This chart shows how those groups differed in their motivations:

Which of these things had a major influence on your vote?

% of % of % of % of Feinstein, Herschensohn, Boxer, Herschensohn, Boxer Feinstein Seymour Seymour voters voters voters voters *Candidates’ stands on taxes, spending 22 43 39 49 *Candidates’ stands on abortion 54 22 48 31 *Candidates’ stands on environment 30 13 21 9 *Need more women in Senate 40 13 16 2 *Candidate has honesty, integrity 13 27 21 34 *Need to bring change to Washington 31 28 23 20 *Candidates’ stands on the economy, jobs 22 31 28 26 *Candidates’ previous experience in office 5 14 10 12 *Candidate thinks like me on the issues 12 9 6 19 *Too much emphasis on electing women 1 2 3 8 *Personalities of the candidates 5 8 12 6 *None of the above 5 8 13 7

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times exit poll taken Nov. 3, 1992

WINNERS AND LOSERS

All ears: Bill Clinton may have swept California, but independent Ross Perot actually beat both major party candidates in iconoclastic Trinity County. The slow-dancing Texan earned 35% of the vote in the remote, lightly populated county, compared to 33% for Clinton and 31% for President Bush. Trinity was also the only one of the state’s 58 counties to vote in favor of Sonny Bono in the Republican U.S. Senate primary last June. “We’re different folks up here,” said county elections supervisor Gwen Smith.

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The need for change: One of the few blocs of citizens seeking change who did not come away happy last week were the panhandlers of San Francisco. City voters easily approved a ballot measure calling for a crackdown on panhandlers who act too aggressively when asking for handouts.

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Best line in a losing cause: “Politicians are like diapers,” contended Libertarian congressional candidate John Wallner. “Both should be changed often--and for the same reason.” But even if Wallner’s message was taken to heart by San Diego County voters, it apparently didn’t help him. He received a mere 4% of the vote, compared to 52% for the victor, Democrat Lynn Schenk, who also had not held elective office.

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Brown out: For years, Assembly candidates have sought, with mixed results, to tar their incumbent opponents by linking them to controversial Democratic Assembly Speaker Willie Brown. Last week, the strategy worked, ironically, against a Republican incumbent, Gerald N. Felando, who was defeated by a little-known Democrat, Betty Karnette, after she sent mailers to Republicans accusing Felando of having a cozy relationship with the speaker.

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Junk food jurors: Californians appeared to care more about their Twinkies, Sno Balls and Cheez-its than virtually anything else on Election Day. The vote to kill the state’s tax on snack foods won by a larger plurality than any of the four other state ballot measures that were approved--including congressional term limits.

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Fathers and sons: In the Jonathan Leonard election derby, Jonathan Leonard III easily outpolled his father, Jonathan Leonard II, in adjacent state Assembly districts. The Republican duo faced tough battles against Democratic incumbents in heavily Democratic South Los Angeles. And neither came close to beating the odds. Leonard III received 14% of the vote against Gwen Moore, and Leonard II received 7% against Marguerite Archie-Hudson. Still, the elder Leonard remained unbowed. With fewer than 5% registered Republicans in the district, “7% of the vote is pretty good,” he contended.

EXIT LINE

“Let’s face it: We took a bath.”

Dan Schnur, GOP Gov. Pete Wilson’s communications director, assessing last week’s election results.