Beilenson Makes GOP’s Hit List : Republicans Again Covet Liberal Congressman’s 23rd District

From Bel-Air’s gated estates to Malibu’s beaches to the San Fernando Valley’s exclusive homes south of Ventura Boulevard, the 23rd Congressional District has tantalized Republicans for many years.

When GOP leaders look at the district’s demographics, its voting patterns and its congressman--liberal Democratic Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson--they always reach the same conclusion:

The 23rd District could be theirs.

For the second time in three election seasons, Republicans plan to raise generous sums of money to try to wrest the seat from Beilenson, the somewhat maverick intellectual who has represented the area for 10 years.

This year, their investment will be riding on George Woolverton, an affable workers’ compensation attorney from Tarzana who is making his first run for public office.

By all accounts, Woolverton, 36, a moderate who used to be a Democrat, has put together a serious high-tech campaign for the Nov. 4 election.

He is getting help from a network of computers and from the fund-raising abilities of GOP bigwigs like former Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr. and California’s Republican U.S. senator, Pete Wilson.

1 of 2 Targeted Races

The race is one of only two in California in which the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm of the House Republicans, has agreed to assist with advice and pay for mailings.

Whether the investment is likely to pay off is a long shot, political observers on both sides agree.

Since he first won the seat in 1976, Beilenson has won reelection every two years with comfortable margins ranging between 20% and 32%.

In the past two elections, his margins have been nearly identical to those of Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City), another liberal Democrat. Berman, part of an influential, Westside-based political organization, enjoys a seat so “safe” that Republicans have never considered making a serious run at him. In 1982, each won 60% of the vote in his district. In 1984, Beilenson got 62% of the vote, and Berman won his race with 63%.

Berman, along with other Democratic insiders, scoffs at the GOP’s contention that Beilenson is vulnerable this year.

“They aren’t going to come close,” Berman said, citing Beilenson’s “tremendous base” of people who know and like him within the 23rd District. “That is a very sophisticated district. They know Tony Beilenson.”

So why do Republicans salivate every two years?

There are several reasons, including changes in the district, increased GOP registration and the fact that Beilenson does not raise a lot of money or campaign aggressively.

The affluent district is not as liberal as it used to be. When the state’s political district boundaries were redrawn after the 1980 census, Beilenson lost many of his loyal Westside supporters. The majority of his old district used to be on the Westside, but now 60% lies in the Valley, which nearly always votes more conservatively.

For example, the state legislators who represent parts of Beilenson’s Valley turf include Republican Assemblywomen Cathie Wright of Simi Valley and Marian W. La Follette of Northridge and Republican state Sen. Ed Davis of Valencia. Democrat state Sen. Alan Robbins shares part of the district, but he is a conservative who enjoys wide Republican support. The district also includes part of the base of the Valley’s anti-busing movement in the 1970s.

And parts of the district, such as Reseda and Canoga Park, are full of decidedly non-liberal, blue-collar neighborhoods.

Still, the 23rd District cannot be called conservative.

Although President Reagan carried the district in 1980 and 1984, he did so with a somewhat narrower margin than he rolled up nationwide. Reagan got 53% of the vote in the 23rd District; he got 58.8% nationwide. And if the rest of the state had followed the 23rd District’s lead in 1982, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley would be governor today and former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. would be a U.S. senator.

Woolverton claims that the district’s votes on several statewide ballot measures, including the tax-cutting Proposition 13 of 1978, and a recent polling of the district on such topics as California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird, taxes and the death penalty indicate that his views more closely match constituents’ than do Beilenson’s.

Woolverton said his poll showed respondents, like the GOP candidate himself, oppose retention of Bird on the state’s high court, would not support a tax increase and favor the death penalty.

Beilenson, on the other hand, has called for certain tax increases, supports Bird and opposes capital punishment.

Most of the time, Beilenson’s votes please liberals. In 1984, the American Civil Liberties Union gave Beilenson an 88% approval rating. This year the Consumer Federation of America named him one of its congressional “heroes.” In contrast, the more conservative, business-oriented Chamber of Commerce of the United States disagreed with him 62% of the time.

Heard It Before

“I fit the district; he doesn’t,” Woolverton said in describing himself as moderate to liberal on social issues and more conservative on foreign affairs, defense and spending.

But Beilenson, who has been in public office for most of his adult life, has heard all this before. His previous opponents also claimed that he was philosophically out of sync with the district, but it never washed, he said.

“I won’t argue with the polls,” Beilenson said. “All I know is that I win. I may not win the Republican-sponsored polls, but I win the elections every November.”

Nonetheless, more Republicans are encroaching upon his district. Since 1982, GOP registration has increased to almost 38% from 32%, thanks in part to the party’s registration drive this year. Strategists generally consider a district with a 35% GOP registration to be within a Republican’s reach.

But other factors do not bode as well for an unknown GOP candidate trying to make a name for himself, observed Arnold Steinberg, a Republican consultant who conducted Woolverton’s poll.

For example, Steinberg found many well-educated residents of the affluent district are probably too preoccupied juggling careers and families to pay attention to campaign literature. What’s more, the district lacks large numbers of senior citizens, who are more apt to read campaign mailers.

Costly Endeavor

Reaching all the voters is especially costly for a challenger in the 23rd District because the area boasts one of the highest percentages of registered voters in the state. The district has a registration of 307,267. In comparison, the nearby 24th District, which stretches from Koreatown to Hollywood to Burbank, has 200,000.

“It certainly is an uphill battle for George Woolverton,” Steinberg said. “To unseat any incumbent will require considerable resources.”

No one knows that more than Woolverton, who set his sights on the job long before he became a Republican in 1984. Woolverton, who worked in the presidential campaigns of Robert F. Kennedy and Hubert H. Humphrey, said he switched parties because he perceived the Democrats’ philosophy as one of “tax and spend and spend and tax.”

“I feel the Democratic Party left me,” he said. “They were trying to please so many splinter groups that they left the majority of Americans behind.”

A graduate of Southwestern University Law School, Woolverton received a bachelor’s degree in political science and behavioral science from California State University, Dominguez Hills. He is a partner at a 38-member law firm in Glendale with branches in Santa Ana and Ventura County.

Avid Outdoorsman

Woolverton, an avid outdoorsman who spent his youth surfing in Hermosa Beach, said he would give high priority to solving such environmental problems as ocean pollution in Southern California. He belongs to a Malibu surfing club and hits the beach at sunrise two to four times a week. He opposes Interior Secretary Donald P. Hodel’s proposal to open large portions of California’s coastline to oil exploration.

A participant in four triathlons, Woolverton runs 30 to 50 miles a week and skis several weeks a year.

His interest in the environment has not made him a fan of such groups as the Sierra Club, which he said should devote more time to protecting the mountains and less time getting involved in other environmental issues.

Woolverton said Beilenson has become too comfortable with his life in Washington and has lost touch with his constituents.

But Woolverton is up against an incumbent who has lost only one election since he decided 25 years ago to trade his Beverly Hills law practice for political office. Beilenson said he was first inspired to seek elected office after he heard the late California Rep. Helen Gahagan Douglas tell his sophomore class at Harvard University about her work for migrant farm workers. The year was 1951 and Richard M. Nixon had just defeated Douglas in a classic red-baiting smear campaign.

‘Position to Help’

“I was first inspired to run for office by her for the reasons she was describing,” Beilenson said. “You are in a position to help a lot of people when you are in public office. I continue to run for public office because I think I’m good at it and because it’s an immensely rewarding life to lead.”

After writing landmark environmental and consumer legislation as a state lawmaker in Sacramento for 14 years, Beilenson adopted a lower profile when he got to Washington. His low profile is partly explained by his assignment on the powerful Rules Committee, which does not allow its members to participate on other standing committees, where the bulk of legislation is written.

But the Rules Committee has life-and-death powers over any bill headed for a vote on the House floor and it influences the content of legislation.

His work on the committee and his intellect have been praised by prominent Democratic members, including House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill Jr. of Massachusetts and Rules Committee Chairman Claude Pepper of Florida.

“He’s . . . regarded as one of the leading members of the House,” Pepper said.

Finds Money for Park

One of Beilenson’s local accomplishments was co-authoring, with former Republican Rep. Barry M. Goldwater Jr., a bill creating the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. He has continued to find money for the park during tough economic times.

Last year, for example, the recreation area received close to $8 million, or one-sixth of all the money earmarked for federal park land acquisitions in the nation. Since the park’s inception, $73 million has been appropriated to buy mountain and canyon land.

“He has really been a battler for us,” said Dan Kuehn, superintendent of the recreation area. “He has marshalled virtually the entire California delegation in support of funds for this recreation area.”

Beilenson’s disdain for raising large sums of money is another reason his district tempts Republicans. Unlike many incumbents, Beilenson never bothers to raise much money and does not choose to run a high-powered campaign. He has never employed consultants or pollsters or hired a professional campaign manager.

According to Common Cause, Beilenson is one of only nine representatives and two senators who refuse to accept money from political action committees. Acknowledging that he has represented safe districts over the years, he describes the lengths other politicians have to go to for cash as “distasteful and very unpleasant.”

Collects $8,789 in 6 Months

In the first six months of this year, Beilenson, who is holding a fund-raiser at actor Gregory Peck’s home this weekend, collected $8,789, according to federal campaign funding reports. Beilenson said he expects his expenses for this campaign to be less than $100,000.

During the same period, Woolverton raised $57,505, reports showed. Since last year, Woolverton has received about $121,000, but he has spent more than that. He said he hopes to be able to spend about $500,000 by the campaign’s end.

Some Republican insiders are privately complaining that Woolverton is spending too much money on research and consultants and not enough on gaining visibility. He has two campaign managers--Thomas V. Halatyn of Sacramento and Steve Frank of Sepulveda.

Much of the money has been invested in determining what issues Woolverton can capitalize on. To win, the consultants suggest, he will have to pelt undecided voters with lots of mail criticizing the incumbent.

But Woolverton said the research money has been well spent, showing areas of possible political vulnerability of Beilenson.

For example, some of Woolverton’s campaign mailers will target Jewish voters, who make up 24% of the district. Beilenson is Jewish and Woolverton is not, but the Republican believes he can capitalize on two Beilenson votes against aid to Israel. Beilenson, normally a strong supporter of Israel, voted against the bills because the measures also called for aid to the contras in Nicaragua.

Voted Money for Syria

Furthermore, during the Jimmy Carter Administration, Beilenson voted to provide money to Syria in hopes it would draw the renegade country into Middle East peace efforts.

One of Woolverton’s mailers, bearing a photograph of tanks, portrays Beilenson as a friend of Syria: “Our congressman supports Syria and finds excuses to vote against aid to Israel.”

But Beilenson calls his Israel votes a non-issue.

“Knowing that aid to Israel will pass and be signed into law . . . I vote my conscience and vote against giving aid to the contras . I know that will offend some people in the district who only care about aid to Israel,” he said.

Another target of a Woolverton mailer will be Beilenson’s proposals to increase the gasoline tax.

This year and last, Beilenson ignored Los Angeles’ distinction as the nation’s car capital and unsuccessfully introduced legislation that would increase the federal gasoline tax to shrink the national deficit. One of the bills, the congressman estimated, would have raised $45 billion a year and slashed the annual federal deficit by 25%.

“What it boils down to,” Woolverton said of his strategy, “is I’ve got a good campaign; now I just have to keep it funded.”

Other Candidates in Race

There are two other candidates in the race.

Taylor Rhodes, 58, a Beverly Hills marketing consultant, is the Libertarian Party candidate, and Tom Hopke, 35, a Los Angeles astrologer and musician, is running under the aegis of the Peace and Freedom Party.

Rhodes said he believes the deficit is the major federal problem today. He opposes raising taxes and favors the controversial Gramm-Rudman legislation requiring across-the-board budget cuts, if necessary, to bring federal spending under control. He would give the President the power to delete individual items in the budget presented by Congress. He also favors a constitutional amendment that would require a balanced federal budget.

“My main theme is that, since most Democrats agree with us on our social tolerance issues and most Republicans agree with us on our fiscal responsibility position, the majority of Democrats and Republicans are half Libertarians,” Rhodes said.

Hopke, a strong advocate of vegetarianism, favors a nuclear freeze, the same tax rate for all taxpayers and capital punishment. He opposes abortion.

“My basic philosophy is a philosophy of good karma to teach people in the public what is spiritually good for them,” he said.

THE RACE AT A GLANCE

Party Registration:

Total 307,267.

Democrats 162,398 (52.8%)

Republicans 116,412 (37.8%)

Other 5,210 (1.7%)

Decline to state 23,470 (7.7%)

Communities: Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Beverlywood, Canoga Park, Century City, Cheviot Hills, Malibu, Rancho Park, Reseda, Tarzana, Topanga Canyon, Westwood, and Woodland Hills. And parts of Brentwood, Calabasas, Encino, Northridge, Pacific Palisades, Palms, Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys and West Hollywood.

Incumbent: Anthony C. Beilenson, Democrat, 53, 10 years in Congress.

Challengers: George Woolverton, Republican, 36, workers’ compensation attorney, Tarzana.

Taylor Rhodes, Libertarian, 58, marketing consultant, Beverly Hills.

Tom Hopke, Peace and Freedom Party, 35, musician and astrology counselor, Los Angeles.