During the 1982 and 1986 California gubernatorial campaigns, Khachigian was senior adviser and principal strategist for Governor George Deukmejian. He also served as campaign chairman, campaign manager and senior consultant to Dan Lungren for his two victories as Attorney General and to U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Herschensohn — engineering come-from-behind wins for Lungren's first campaign and for Herschensohn's primary victory in 1992. For Herschensohn's dramatic upset victory, "The San Francisco Chronicle"'s leading political reporter, Jerry Roberts, described Khachigian as "the wily veteran GOP message-maker" and dubbed him "best manager" for his efforts.