Political Scorecard

8 days to go before Californians go to the polls

THE GOVERNOR’S RACE

* What Happened Sunday: Democrat Kathleen Brown campaigned in African American churches and at a rally of Latino leaders and volunteers in the Los Angeles area, claiming that Gov. Pete Wilson’s promise of a tax cut in the next four years is an act of desperation. Wilson addressed party volunteers and supporters in Elk Grove, near Sacramento, and in Contra Costa County, saying that passage of Proposition 187 is a matter of fairness to legal residents “who cannot receive services because instead we are providing it under federal mandate to illegal immigrants.”

* What’s Ahead: Brown planned a breakfast and news conference in Sherman Oaks this morning, a plant gate appearance in Long Beach and trick-or-treating with two of her grandchildren in San Diego. Wilson was scheduled to visit a Vacaville biotech plant that is planning expansion, a fund-raising luncheon in San Francisco, and a crime victims’ meeting in Ontario.

THE SENATE RACE

* What Happened Sunday: Republican Mayor Richard Riordan of Los Angeles endorsed Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein for reelection over her Republican foe, Rep. Mike Huffington, and Feinstein accused her opponent of hiding behind his wife in the dispute over employment of an illegal immigrant in the Huffington household. Huffington, appearing on the ABC television program “This Week With David Brinkley,” suggested that illegal immigrants could send their children to private school to save the state tax dollars.

* What’s Ahead: Huffington addresses Rotary Club luncheon in Fresno today and attends a Tulare County Republican reception in Visalia. Feinstein was to hold news conference near Los Angeles International Airport this morning to receive endorsements of five big defense firms; planned celebration at Sierra Club offices in Los Angeles to mark President Clinton’s signing, in Washington D.C., of California Desert Protection Act sponsored by Feinstein.

NOTABLE QUOTE

“I mean, he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. And now he’s trying to say, ‘Well, somebody else told me to do it,’ or, ‘Somebody else put their hands in the cookie jar, too.’ ”

--Sen. Dianne Feinstein, referring to Rep. Mike Huffington’s comments about having employed an illegal immigrant as nanny for his children.