Few Surprises Likely in Legislative, Congressional Races

On Tuesday the plug will be pulled on political rhetoric, and voters in the San Fernando Valley will have to choose among dozens of candidates vying for 12 congressional and state legislative seats.

The election results are expected to bear few if any surprises. The most intrepid challengers have had to struggle against voter apathy, insufficient resources and incredible odds in their bids to knock off incumbents, who probably have a better chance of winning big in the state lottery than of losing their jobs.

Even the contests lacking incumbents have been anticlimactic. In the race for the only open congressional seat in Southern California, Republican Elton Gallegly, the mayor of Simi Valley, is expected to fulfill his wish of replacing retiring Rep. Bobbi Fiedler (R-Northridge). And Democrat Terry Friedman, former director of a Jewish legal aid office, seems likely to inherit the seat in the affluent 43rd Assembly District, which includes Calabasas, Encino, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Tarzana, Topanga Canyon, Woodland Hills and parts of the West Side. It was vacated by Gray Davis (D-Los Angeles), who is locked in a tight race for state controller.

Two races, however, have not been yawners.

Republican Robert F. Thoreson has rankled Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sepulveda) by running an aggressive campaign against him for the second time in a row. Thoreson, 42, an auto-theft detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, has portrayed himself as a law-and-order candidate and a vigorous opponent of tax increases. In accusing Katz of not being conservative enough, Thoreson has hammered away at him in a series of negative mailers.

Katz, who has accused Thoreson of distorting his voting record in Sacramento, has primarily stuck to running on his record. Katz, 36, the chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, has focused on issues of toxic pollution, small business and crime.

GOP strategists have said they believe Katz is vulnerable because there are enough Republicans in the district, which stretches from Northridge to San Fernando, to make it winnable for a Republican. In the district, Democrats outnumber Republicans 56.8% to 34.9%, but GOP voters are more loyal and tend to show up at the polls with more consistency, party strategists say. In 1984, Katz beat Thoreson, a political novice, 54% to 46%.

The other race in which the incumbent has received more than token opposition is in the 23rd Congressional District. Republican George Woolverton, 36, a workers’ compensation attorney from Tarzana, has been running against Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson, 54, (D-Los Angeles) for more than two years.

Woolverton, a moderate, has accused the five-term incumbent of being aloof and out of touch with the district. The GOP candidate has sent up to 375,000 pieces of mail to voters in the district, which stretches from affluent parts of the Valley to parts of the Westside. Many of the mailers are critical of some of Beilenson’s votes on aid to Israel and his proposal to increase the federal gasoline tax.

Beilenson, a senior member of the powerful House Rules Committee, has never considered Woolverton a serious threat. Beilenson, who regards himself a strong supporter of Israel, noted that other Republicans have tried to belittle his congressional voting record in previous elections, but that his constituents never buy it.

The Libertarian candidate in the race is Taylor Rhodes, 58, a marketing consultant from Beverly Hills. Tom Hopke, 35, a Los Angeles musician and astrology counselor, is the Peace and Freedom candidate.

Here is a rundown of other races:

36th Assembly District: Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks), 30, a right-hand man of Minority Leader Pat Nolan (R-Glendale), is expected to be easily reelected to his third term. A victory would be bittersweet for him because this spring he pulled out of the 21st District congressional primary even though he was the front-runner. He thought that Tony Hope, son of entertainer Bob Hope and a late entry in the primary, would be a sure winner. But Simi Valley Mayor Elton Gallegly won the nomination instead.

McClintock’s challengers are Democrat Frank Nekimken, 72, a retired youth counselor and commissioner with the Ventura County Area Housing Authority, and Libertarian H. Bruce Driscoll, 44, a Thousand Oaks dentist who ran unsuccessfully for the state Senate in 1982. Both have waged minimal campaigns.

37th Assembly District: Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) is expected to breeze to victory over her opponents, Democrat William P. Hesse, 59, a Northridge businessman, and Libertarian Gregory P. Dull, 31, a salesman from Oak View.

Wright, 57, who is seeking a fourth term, has announced that she intends to run for the state Senate seat now held by Ed Davis (R-Valencia) in 1988 or 1992.

38th Assembly District: Assemblywoman Marian W. LaFollette (R-Northridge) seems a likely winner over Democrat Mark Lit, a professor emeritus at West Los Angeles College and former president of the Los Angeles College Teachers Assn. The three-term incumbent, 60, waged a full-scale campaign against Lit by amassing more than $200,000 in contributions.

Although his finances were limited, Lit, 66, backed by prominent Democrats, attacked LaFollette’s record on toxic waste disposal and clean water in speeches and radio spots. Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy assisted in taping the radio commercials for Lit.

40th Assembly District: This has been another David-and-Goliath contest, with Republican Brian Dennis, a 31-year-old accountant, challenging Assemblyman Tom Bane (D-Van Nuys).

Late in the campaign, Bane, 72, gave himself a boost when he announced that he was to be appointed chairman of the powerful Assembly Rules Committee. Not that he needed a boost: His district remains comfortably Democratic despite a recent upswing in Republican registration.

Bane said his early concern about the growing GOP registration has lessened. He said polls conducted by his office show that many of these new Republicans plan to vote for Bane.

Dennis said that his fight against one of the most successful fund-raisers in the state was frustrated by a lack of campaign contributions. Dennis’ initial war chest of $5,000 has dwindled to zero, he said.

43rd Assembly District: The Democrats who have represented this district have traditionally used the post as a political springboard to more important offices. Chances are good that this political plum will go to Friedman, 37, who is facing a minimal challenge from Marc Schuyler, a 21-year-old college student from Tarzana.

The Peace and Freedom candidate is John Honigsfeld, 44, an aerospace computer programmer from Los Angeles.

18th Senate District: Rhetoric in this race, pitting Sen. Gary Hart (D-Santa Barbara) against DeWayne Holmdahl, a Santa Barbara County supervisor from Lompoc, has focused on two divergent tests.

Holmdahl, 48, started it by challenging Hart, 43, to follow his lead and take a drug test. When laboratory technicians pronounced both candidates drug-free, Hart challenged Holmdahl to take an education test, a part of legislation Hart sponsored several years ago, that is given to all new teachers in California public schools. Holmdahl declined.

The Republicans announced that they were targeting the race, but Hart, the chairman of the Senate Education Committee, is expected to win. The Libertarian candidate is Jay C. Wood, 53, a junior college instructor from Oxnard.

20th Senate District: Sen. Alan Robbins’ greatest challenge in the campaign did not come from GOP challenger Lynn Robert Davis, 29, a Granada Hills businessman, but from the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley. The organization left Robbins, 43, off its slate mailer because members were incensed that he endorsed Republican Elton Gallegly over Democrat Gilbert R. Saldana in the 21st District congressional race.

21st Congressional District: Throughout the campaign, Gallegly has remained the heavy favorite over Saldana, a Democratic city councilman from Avalon on Santa Catalina Island.

Gallegly has raised about five times the amount Saldana has, a factor that has all but cinched his victory on Tuesday in the heavily Republican district. Both candidates were concentrating on direct-mail appeals to voters in the final days of the campaign and meeting with community groups and walking door-to-door in some precincts.

Gallegly, 42, has emphasized his record as a pro-growth mayor in Simi Valley and his support of President Reagan’s policies. Saldana, 27, has portrayed himself as a political moderate in the largely affluent, conservative area.

Saldana Handicapped

The Republican has stressed his ties to the district, whereas Saldana has been handicapped by low name recognition and the isolation of his island political base.

The Libertarian Party is running Daniel Wiener, 38, a Simi Valley engineer, for the seat.

24th Congressional District: Rep. Henry A. Waxman, 47, (D-Los Angeles) could probably win the award for the easiest reelection bid. No Republican bothered to run against the popular congressman, who is best known for his work on environmental and health issues. His opponents are Libertarian George Abrahams, 35, a stock market investor from Los Angeles, and Peace and Freedom candidate James Green, 34, a social services worker from Los Angeles.

26th Congressional District: Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) is so confident of winning reelection that he hasn’t bothered to open a campaign headquarters. The two-term incumbent, 45, who was instrumental this year in fashioning the sweeping revision of the nation’s immigration laws, is facing conservative Republican Robert M. Kerns, 31, a stockbroker from Northridge.

(Also contributing to this story were Tom Omestad, Mayerene Barker and Andrew C. Revkin.)