The
1988 United States Senate race in California would, like most elections that year, have been overshadowed by the presidential election between incumbent President Bob Dole and his Democratic challenger Walter D. Huddleston if not for one very notable candidate and the attention he brought to it. Incumbent Senator Robert Finch was viewed as vulnerable, especially as the state had begun to lose its status as a solidly Republican state (having gone Democratic three times in the last five elections). Despite hints that Finch would face a serious primary challenger from the right, none emerged after actor and pro-life activist Bob Dornan instead decided to run for (and eventually win) and open House seat.
The Democratic side was another story. Famous
Star Trek actor George Takei, who had spent several short stints in local government between the series' cancellation in 1969 and the first
Star Trek film's release in 1978, had thrown his hat into the ring shortly after the 1986 midterms finished. Takei's high name recognition, and charisma naturally lent him vaulting into the front of prospective Democratic candidates, deterring all but state Attorney General John Van de Kamp from dropping out as the primary date began. However, Takei’s candidacy had resulted in television stories in California not being able to air episodes of
Star Trek that featured Takei's character, Hikaru Sulu under the "equal time" rule after protests from Van de Kamp (and Finch), leaving only 27 of the 79 episodes for Trekkies in the largest state in the country. It also resulted in the fifth film in the series,
The King of Infinite Space, being the first not to feature the entire crew from the original series, as filming would take place primarily during the 1988 election season.
However, Takei's sexuality, while an open secret among Trek fans and in Hollywood, was not public knowledge before the campaign. Both Van de Kamp and Finch learned of Takei's homosexuality, but both refused to use it—at least until national Republican strategist Lee Atwater learned of it. Atwater quickly leaked the information to the press, who soon found corroboration from members of the Los Angeles gay community. Despite Takei having made no effort to either publicize or hide his sexuality, the actor soon found himself the target of a national firestorm, drawing homophobic protests at all his campaign events and eventually, having to be granted Secret Service protection after several death threats were lodged against him. His poll numbers against Finch declining and unwilling to keep living under constant armed guard, Takei withdrew and threw his support to Van de Kamp.
Atwater's plan worked by pitting Finch against a weaker candidate. But it failed to count the backlash to the treatment Takei endured after his outing. Even Californians who had little love of gay people were disgusted by the personable actor receiving death threats and Democratic campaign used video of angry crowds screaming homophobic slurs while interspersed with archive clips of Finch's speeches opposing gay rights to associate Finch with hateful bigots. Van de Kamp's mediocre campaigning abilities and Finch’s long-standing reputation in the state allowed the race to be close until election day.
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Van de Kamp ended up winning by 180,000 votes in a race where 9.5 million were cast, a relatively slim margin that was undoubtedly helped out by Senator Huddleston's solid victory in the state and overwhelming support for the Democratic ticket from the gay community. Van de Kamp's term would be his only one, with him becoming one of the victims of the Republican wave of 1994. Takei, following the election, would return to acting and occasionally interject himself into Los Angeles politics. He would later return for the final
Star Trek film featuring the crew of the original series (
The Peace Conspiracy), and become one of the leading spokesmen for the gay rights movement in the United States. After California's legalization of same-sex marriage in 2010, Takei and his boyfriend would be among the first to get married, attended by family, admirers and his surviving crew members from the
Enterprise.