The Milkman Cometh

Actor Ronald Reagan, leading contender for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in California, got a tough competitor last week. He is big, bluff George Christopher, a persuasive campaigner who served with distinction as San Francisco's Mayor from 1956 to 1964.

Greek-born Christopher, 57, came to the U.S. as a two-year-old, rose from the tenements to amass a modest fortune as one of northern California's biggest independent dairy distributors. A city supervisor for ten years before becoming mayor, Christopher made his political personality as familiar to northern Californians as his milk bottles. He was a leading Rockefeller supporter in the 1964 presidential primary, whereas Southern California's Reagan made a name as a Goldwater speechmaker--a difference that Christopher emphasized, along with Reagan's lack of administrative experience, on a ten-city, hat-tossing tour last week.

Though he has not yet announced his candidacy, Reagan, 54, has spent the last year drumming up support. Thus a current opinion poll shows Reagan 10% ahead of Christopher among Republican voters. Yet a poll of Republican and Democratic voters showed that Christopher--if nominated--would run 13.4% ahead of incumbent Democratic Governor Pat Brown, while Reagan's margin would be only 8.5%.

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