Governors

ALASKA, CONNECTICUT

OLD SOAP IN NEW PACKAGES

These races showed that, given a chance, disgusted voters would readily spurn both parties. But they were not eager to gamble on political unknowns: the winners were familiar former officeholders who had cast off their Republican labels to repackage themselves as independents. Same soap, new box. Connecticut's Lowell Weicker Jr., a three-term G.O.P. Senator who lost his seat in 1988, made a name for himself as a party maverick who battered Richard Nixon during Watergate and stood up to Ronald Reagan on contra aid, Star Wars and tax policy. With their state in a recession, Connecticut voters were calling for change but looking for experienced leadership. Weicker took 40% of the vote.

The same combination worked for Alaska's Walter Hickel, who served from 1966 to 1969 as the state's Republican Governor and later as Nixon's Secretary of the Interior. Though he did not enter the race until mid-September, Hickel led in the polls by spending at least $800,000. Hickel ran under the banner of the Alaskan Independence Party -- a secessionist fringe group -- but used it merely as a flag of convenience: he signaled to voters that he was basically in accord with G.O.P. positions and promised to fight for further oil development in Alaska.

MASSACHUSETTS, TEXAS

BIG MOUTHS, BIG LOSERS

In both contests the lesson was the same: it's fun to be a bomb thrower until the bomb blows up in your face. Texas Republican Clayton Williams squandered his lead over state treasurer Ann Richards with an unending stream of bloopers. He called Richards a liar and refused to shake her hand. His doom was sealed in the closing days of the campaign when he not only revealed that he was ignorant of the only constitutional amendment on the ballot but also admitted that he had paid no income taxes in 1986, even though he is a multimillionaire. Williams' gaffes, along with his opposition to abortion, caused a defection of women from the G.O.P. Her victory, said Richards, represented "sociological change, not just governmental change."

In Massachusetts the tart tongue of Boston University President John Silber had swept him to the Democratic nomination over a party stalwart. But he tripped on it in the battle with Republican William Weld, an aristocratic former federal prosecutor. Silber offended blacks and women and frightened voters of all types with his anger. (In typical style, he branded Weld a "backstabbing son of a bitch.") Weld's 4% victory was largely a rejection of Silber's intemperateness. Says pollster Gerry Chervinsky: "Voters bought his message, but they couldn't buy him."

FLORIDA

A BLAST FROM THE PAST

If Republican Bob Martinez wanted to be re-elected Governor, he had an odd way of going about it. He infuriated taxpayers by reneging on his promise not to raise taxes. He alienated many women by trying to impose strict limits on abortion. That played into the hands of Lawton Chiles, a former three-term U.S. Senator, who surfaced after a 15-month hiatus from politics to mount a corny but believable populist bid for the state capitol.

The centerpiece of Chiles' offensive was an assault on big money in politics. While Martinez staged $1,500-a-plate fund-raising dinners, Chiles set a $100 limit on contributions and threw $1.50-a-guest hot-dog feasts. Chiles, who dropped out of the Senate citing "burnout," held on despite revelations that he takes the antidepressant drug Prozac. In the end, voters trusted Chiles more than they did Martinez. Exulted the victor: "People have not been as excited since the '60s, when Jack Kennedy was running."

CALIFORNIA

NO HEART FOR SAN FRANCISCO

This race proved that these days, even against a bland, lackluster opponent, any gubernatorial candidate who hints at new taxes is asking for trouble. Dianne Feinstein had a lot going for her: a strong record as San Francisco's mayor from 1978 to 1988, a dynamic campaign style and a feistiness that Republican Senator Pete Wilson lacked. Yet Wilson, who enjoyed strong White House backing, beat her by a comfortable 2.6% margin. His victory ensured that California's Democratic-controlled state legislature will not have complete say over redistricting in 1992, when the state will gain seven congressional seats.

Though Feinstein entered the campaign as a solidly middle-of-the-road Democrat, supporting abortion rights and the death penalty, she spoke about the possible need for a state income tax increase, and her last-minute "pocketbook" appeal to the party's traditional labor and minority constituencies came too late. While she attracted 58% of the women's vote, she was hurt by low minority turnout. But few believe the Governor's race will be her last hurrah. Democratic Senator Alan Cranston, caught in the tangles of the S&L scandal, announced last week that he is suffering from prostate cancer and will not seek re-election in 1992. A Feinstein-for-Senate campaign is widely expected.

MINNESOTA

LAST ONE IN, FIRST ONE OUT

In a state that prides itself on squeaky-clean government, a succession of ; scandals turned voters against just about everybody -- except Arne Carlson, whose last-minute entry into the race didn't leave Minnesotans enough time to get sick of him. Just nine days before the election, G.O.P. gubernatorial candidate Jon Grunseth abandoned the race amid allegations that he had gone skinny-dipping with teenage girls nine years ago. At that point, state auditor Carlson, who had lost to Grunseth in the primary, took over as the new G.O.P. candidate.

Carlson's jump-started campaign was boosted by the fact that incumbent Rudy Perpich, Minnesota's longest-serving Governor, had outlasted his welcome after 10 years in the statehouse. Carlson, a defender of abortion rights, also attracted pro-choice voters who would have had nowhere to turn in a contest between Grunseth and Perpich, both of whom oppose abortion. Observes Kris Sanda, a Carlson adviser: "When they were faced with Rudy Perpich and Jon Grunseth, people started saying, 'Good Lord, is this all there is to choose from in Minnesota?' "