The three-term congressman apparently had hoped to run for re-election, but changed his plans after facing all-but-certain defeat at the hands of Mike Thompson, a Democratic state senator from St. Helena who challenged the incumbent. In the state Capitol, politicians of both parties said Riggs ran for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer in order to avoid an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Thompson.

Riggs' district is one of the most politically volatile and diverse in California, a truly unusual mix of environmental activism, conservatism, academia and backwoods culturalism that makes the district unique in California and probably the nation. The district has seesawed between Democrats and Republicans for years, with incumbents and challengers alike struggling to put together durable bases of support.

Perhaps the single biggest political issue in the district is the environment, with a variety of forestry preservation activists arrayed against the region's powerful timber owners in a wide-ranging dispute that has spanned a generation. The latest manifestation of this political fight is the struggle between environmental activists and Scotia-based Pacific Lumber Co. over the future of the Headwaters Forest, which contains majestic groves of old-growth redwoods.

Lawmakers representing the district are forced to walk a tightrope between highly vocal activists, who have relatively little direct financial stake in campaigns, and the well-heeled business interests who are the key political contributors. While Riggs' re-election chances may have been marginal, his chances of capturing Boxer's seat were even more problematic, and his campaign struck Capitol observers as odd, to say the least. For example, his formal announcement tour generated little excitement, in part because he focused his energy on his own district, rather than statewide as is customary with candidates for statewide office. With scant financing, he was unable put together a credible media campaign to match such well-financed Republican candidates as businessman Darrell Issa and state Treasurer Matt Fong. Issa, in particular, has been spending heavily for months.

Finally, Riggs is virtually unknown outside his congressional district, while all of his major rivals in the U.S. Senate race have some degree of statewide recognition. And while Boxer is vulnerable this year -- the latest polls show her getting less than 50 percent of the vote in a potential November matchup against either Fong or Issa -- she cannot be toppled by someone like Riggs, who was not able to put together a grass-roots statewide campaign organization.

It's too early to assess how Riggs' departure affects Issa or Fong. Presumably, the conservative Riggs' support will now flow to Issa, the more conservative of the two GOP contenders. But funny things happen in political campaigns.

Well, you were mostly right in your article [April 6], but the decision by the special master was endorsed by the California Supreme Court, and it will (or would, as the case may be) again. A Court, one should note, appointed mostly by Pete Wilson, a little by George Deukmejian, and one seat by Pat Brown.

-Shelly Sloan

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