CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 32 : Republicans Hope to Beat the Odds

Sanford Kahn admits that 11-term Congressman Glenn M. Anderson would be a hard man to beat. But he says that doesn’t mean other candidates have to knuckle under.

“I don’t care if he talks to the Lord every day,” Kahn said. “No one should be in Congress 22 years. . . . I am against the professional politician.”

Kahn is one of the two Republicans competing for the right to run against U.S. Rep. Anderson (D-San Pedro)--one of the most entrenched of the Southland’s congressional incumbents.

In Tuesday’s primaries, Kahn, a gas company salesman from Long Beach, and Jerry Bakke, an insurance agent and former labor leader from Wilmington, will square off to decide who takes on Anderson. Though both men say they could play the role of giant-killer in the Nov. 6 general election, the odds are that the best they can hope for is serving as a sacrificial lamb.

Incumbent congressmen running for reelection these days lose less than 5% of the time. Anderson faces no opposition in the primary, and is running in a solidly Democratic district.

The Republicans vying for Anderson’s seat are little-known, sparsely financed candidates hoping to overcome the power of incumbency. In the case of Anderson, that power is immense.

Anderson, chairman of the powerful Public Works and Transportation Committee, holds extensive political IOUs after years of steering major federal projects to his district.

In their contest to face Anderson in the 32nd Congressional District, Kahn and Bakke are campaigning in terrain that includes San Pedro, Lomita, Lakewood, Hawaiian Gardens and parts of Long Beach, Bellflower and Downey.

Kahn, 46, was the Republican standard-bearer in 1988, but he lost to Anderson by more than a 2-1 margin. This year he is facing tough competition from Bakke, 49, a former truckers union organizer who owns a Wilmington insurance business.

Bakke says his main reason for running is his concern that not enough containers shipped to the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor are examined for drugs and excessive weight before being loaded on trucks. He charges that Anderson is overly concerned with financing large construction projects in the district and not concerned enough with local problems such as drugs and crime.

“He basically doesn’t represent anybody here except developers,” Bakke said. “There’s drugs, there’s gangs, there’s crime going on all over the cities, but he’s totally removed himself.”

Kahn says his top priorities are to push legislation limiting the number of terms that congressmen can serve to five and to support changes in the tax system--such as a cut in the capital gains tax--to promote saving and investment.

Kahn, who reports raising $2,000 so far, admits that he is being outspent by Bakke, who says he has collected $7,000. Such sums represent a fraction of the cost of an effective districtwide campaign, but both men say they could give Anderson a fight in the general election by questioning the support he receives from political action committees.

“I’m a citizen politician,” Kahn said. “I’ll ask, ‘Who is (Anderson) going to be answering to?’ ”