LOCAL ELECTIONS : Santa Monica Voters Will Need Stamina : Balloting: 89 contests will be decided. West Hollywood has a single proposition--whether a card casino should be allowed.

A multi-candidate, multi-issue election that has the potential to redefine the political agenda of the ‘90s in Santa Monica, and a high-stakes referendum over legalized gambling in West Hollywood are the big local concerns as Westside voters prepare to go to the polls on Tuesday.

Throughout the Westside, voters also will be selecting repre sentatives in Congress and the state Legislature, but veteran Democrats are well entrenched in every seat, and the defeat of any incumbent would be a big surprise.

In Santa Monica, nine candidates are competing for three seats on the City Council, and there also are contests for the Rent Control Board, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education, the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees and a municipal judgeship.

Much of the attention in the city, however, has been focused on the ballot measures. Among the nine propositions on the city ballot (there is also a school district bond issue) are questions dealing with development, crime and the homeless, and rent control.

One thing the election will require of Santa Monica voters is stamina. The city ballot was so long that it could not be consolidated with the even longer state ballot. Voters will thus have to sign in twice and cast separate state and city ballots.

All told, a Santa Monica voter wishing to cast a vote on every office and issue on Tuesday will be making 89 decisions.

If this voter averages 10 seconds per decision, he or she will spend 14 minutes and 50 seconds in the voting booth. Small wonder that 6,000 of the city’s 54,000 registered voters have already requested absentee ballots.

In West Hollywood, by contrast, the election could hardly be simpler. There is a single issue going before city voters, Proposition AA, which asks whether card-club gambling should be legalized in the city.

The initiative is sponsored by a group of investors seeking to open a poker casino similar to the large clubs found in Commerce and Bell Gardens.

The argument in favor is purely financial: Backers of the proposed casino say it would generate $10 million a year for the city, a sum equal to one-third of the current year’s budget.

Although West Hollywood faces a financial pinch, and projects a budget gap for next year that will have to be covered by cuts in services or a new source of revenue, the gambling measure is opposed by every elected city official and all major community groups. Most of the opposition is based on the traffic and congestion a card casino would generate and the crime the critics say it would attract.

Sponsors of the initiative have attempted to circumvent the official opposition by appealing directly to West Hollywood by mail and phone. They sent 10,000 copies of a videotape extolling the virtues of the proposed casino to residents targeted as likely voters. As of late last week, they had spent nearly $300,000 to try to make their case.

Elections also are taking place Tuesday in five Westside congressional districts, five Assembly districts and three state Senate districts.

Registered Democrats substantially outnumber Republicans in each district, and few Republican candidates have been able to raise the money it would take to seriously challenge well-heeled Democratic incumbents.

In two of the congressional districts, however, the challengers are making a particularly determined effort of it.

In the 23rd Congressional District, which includes such communities as Beverly Hills, Westwood, Brentwood, Malibu and parts of the San Fernando Valley, GOP candidate Jim Salomon of Beverly Hills has campaigned almost nonstop since losing to Democratic Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson two years ago. He has attracted financial backing from many local Republican business people and has been warmly endorsed by the district’s most famous Republican, Ronald Reagan. Even so, an upset of seven-term incumbent Beilenson would be a shocker.

In the 27th Congressional District, which hugs the coast from Santa Monica to the South Bay, West Los Angeles attorney David Barrett Cohen has stumped vigorously against Democratic incumbent Mel Levine. Even the most optimistic Republicans would be astonished by a Cohen victory on Tuesday, but a good showing by the GOP candidate would position him well for 1992, when Levine is widely expected to leave the seat open and run for the U.S. Senate.

CONGRESSIONAL AND LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS Democratic incumbents are strongly favored for reelection in every Westside legislative and congressional district. Here is a brief overview of the choices before the voters on Tuesday.

Congress

23rd District: Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Westwood, Bel-Air, Century City, Beverly Hills, Rancho Park, Palms, northwestern San Fernando Valley.

* Incumbent Democrat Anthony C. Beilenson of Los Angeles is in a rematch with well-financed Republican rival Jim Salomon of Beverly Hills and Peace and Freedom candidate John Honigsfeld. Beilenson easily defeated both challengers two years ago.

* 24th District: Fairfax area, Hollywood, the edge of downtown Los Angeles, Griffith Park and North Hollywood.

* Incumbent Democrat Henry A. Waxman of Los Angeles again faces Republican John N. Cowles, whom he easily beat in 1988. Peace and Freedom candidate Maggie Phair also is on the ballot.

26th District: Hillside areas above Hollywood, Bel-Air, and Beverly Hills, plus the northeastern San Fernando Valley. * Incumbent Democrat Howard L. Berman of Panorama City meets Van Nuys Republican businessman Roy Dahlson and Libertarian Bernard Zimring.

27th District: Santa Monica, part of West Los Angeles, Mar Vista, Venice, Marina del Rey, Playa del Rey, part of Inglewood, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Lawndale, part of Torrance and Terminal Island.

* Incumbent Democrat Mel Levine of Santa Monica takes on Republican attorney David Barrett Cohen of West Los Angeles and Peace and Freedom candidate Edward Ferrer.

28th District: Culver City, Westchester, Lennox, Baldwin Hills, South-Central Los Angeles.

* Incumbent Democrat Julian C. Dixon of Los Angeles is in a rematch with Republican businessman George Z. Adams, whom he defeated two years ago. Libertarian Bob Weber and Peace and Freedom candidate William R. Williams also are on the ballot.

Assembly

* 43rd District: Bel-Air, Brentwood, Westwood, Beverly Hills, parts of the northwestern San Fernando Valley. * Incumbent Democrat Terry B. Friedman of Los Angeles meets Republican Gary Passi, Libertarian Andrew S. Rotter and Peace and Freedom candidate John Paul Lindblad.

44th District: Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, Venice, Mar Vista, West Los Angeles and Century City.

* Incumbent Democrat Tom Hayden of Santa Monica faces Republican Fred Beteta, a longtime Santa Monica College trustee. Libertarian Rebecca Donner and Peace and Freedom candidate Timothy A. Burdick are also running.

* 45th District: Hollywood, West Hollywood, Hancock Park, Universal City, North Hollywood and part of Burbank. * Incumbent Democrat Burt Margolin of Los Angeles is being challenged by Republican businesswoman Elizabeth Michael of Hollywood and Peace and Freedom candidate Owen Staley.

* 46th District: Mid-Wilshire area, downtown Los Angeles, Silver Lake, Griffith Park . * Incumbent Democrat Mike Roos of Los Angeles faces Republican stockbroker Geoffrey Church of Los Angeles, Peace and Freedom Party candidate Dan Robrish, and Libertarian Michael Everling.

* 49th District: Marina del Rey, Playa del Rey, Westchester, Culver City, Ladera Heights, Baldwin Hills, and the Crenshaw area. * Incumbent Democrat Gwen Moore of Los Angeles is in a rematch with Republican Eric Givens, whom she easily defeated two years ago. Peace and Freedom candidate Alice Mae Miles and Libertarian Carin Rogers are also on the ballot.

State Senate

18th District: Malibu, Ventura County and Santa Barbara County.

* Incumbent Democrat Gary K. Hart of Santa Barbara seeks reelection against Republican businesswoman Carey Rogers of Santa Barbara and Libertarian Jay C. Wood.

* 22nd District: Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, Brentwood, Bel-Air, Westwood, West Los Angeles, Century City, Beverly Hills, Mar Vista, the Palms area, and part of Culver City . * Incumbent Democrat Herschel Rosenthal of Los Angeles confronts Republican businessman Michael Schrager of Santa Monica and Peace and Freedom candidate Margery Hinds.

28th District: Marina del Rey, Playa del Rey, Westchester, part of Culver City, Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale and part of South-Central Los Angeles.

* Incumbent Democrat Diane E. Watson of Los Angeles has no Republican challenger. Her sole opponent is Peace and Freedom candidate Ivan Kasimoff.

* POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: J6