Incumbents Appear to Be Shoo-Ins : Congress: Beilenson, Berman, Waxman, Lewis, Moorhead, Gallegly and William Thomas seem to be squelching opponents’ hopes.

Incumbents took early leads in northern Los Angeles County congressional races Tuesday night, despite predictions by analysts that an anti-incumbent mood was sweeping the country.

Veteran Democrat Anthony C. Beilenson of Tarzana was leading his heavy-spending Republican opponent and Republicans Carlos J. Moorhead of Glendale and Elton Gallegly of Simi Valley appeared to have defeated high-profile Democratic challengers.

Democrats Howard L. Berman and Henry A. Waxman and Republicans Jerry Lewis and William Thomas, all of whom faced little-known challengers with smaller campaign treasuries, also appeared headed for victories.

Beilenson, who sought an eighth term in the 23rd Congressional District, was in a rematch with Republican Jim Salomon, whom he beat by a 2-1 ratio in 1988. Salomon, 34, a Woodland Hills businessman, predicted that his campaign would cost $500,000 by Election Day, making him one of the few challengers nationwide to outspend an incumbent lawmaker.

In a campaign statement filed early last month, Salomon reported raising $259,835 up to that time, against Beilenson’s two-year total of only $186,799. But Salomon’s fund-raising ability and high-profile campaign failed to help him unseat the well-entrenched Beilenson.

Even former President Ronald Reagan, who lives in the district, couldn’t sway the traditionally liberal voters to Salomon. Reagan endorsed Salomon and appeared at a Century City reception on his behalf.

Craig Miller, Beilenson’s campaign consultant, predicted a strong reelection victory for the incumbent. “We see no evidence of significant community support for his candidacy,” Miller said of Salomon.

Salomon said that even though Beilenson appeared to have won, the incumbent is “just postponing the inevitable.” He told supporters at an election-night party in his Beverly Hills apartment that he will run again in two years.

Gallegly’s challenger in the Republican-dominated 21st Congressional District, Richard D. Freiman, an Agoura Hills attorney and television writer, had depended on a large number of voters to cross party lines to help him unseat the four-year incumbent.

“This is a year for challengers,” said Freiman, who wrote and produced his own last-minute television commercial. “People out there are fed up with the status quo.”

“No matter what happens, I’ve really made a difference,” Freiman said as he gathered with about 40 supporters at an election-night party. “Gallegly has been held accountable on the question of abortion rights and on offshore oil drilling.”

He said he spent about $16,000 and will write a book about the campaign. “I want to tell the story to the American public about how they’re being cheated out of democracy.”

Gallegly said his primary battle against Sang Korman was more difficult than the campaign against Freiman.

“This has been the shortest campaign of my life,” he said. “I was here in the district for only the last five or six days. . . . I don’t know that it hurt us, certainly not more than a couple, three points.”

In the 22nd Congressional District, challenger David Bayer, former adult education director of the Burbank Unified School District, said early in the race that he had no illusions of beating Moorhead, an 18-year incumbent. Rather, he said, he saw his candidacy as a chance to advance his ideas about alternative energy, abortion rights and a national health program.

As he and 70 supporters gathered at a house in Monrovia to await returns, Bayer said his campaign succeeded in exposing what he called Moorhead’s lackluster legislative record.

Bayer said his campaign set the stage for a victory two years from now by a candidate who would be responsive to the growing Latino, Armenian and Asian communities in the district.

Berman, of Panorama City, was seeking a fifth term in the 26th Congressional District. He was opposed by Republican Roy Dahlson of Van Nuys. Dahlson, a wholesale florist, said his candidacy was based on a conservative Republican philosophy of “peace through strength.”

For the second time, Waxman faced Republican John N. Cowles, a Los Angeles businessman, in the 24th Congressional District. In 1988, the liberal Waxman defeated Cowles by more than a 3-to-1 margin. Cowles had contended that voters were tired of Waxman, a 16-year incumbent he described as “a career politician.”

Incumbents also won in two districts--the 20th and 35th--that include portions of the Antelope Valley.

In the 20th District, William Thomas, a Bakersfield Republican, easily won reelection to a seventh term. He was challenged by Michael Thomas, a businessman from Grover City. Less than two weeks before the election, Lita Reid, a Democrat who lost to William Thomas in 1988, launched an unsuccessful write-in campaign for his seat.

Republican Jerry Lewis of Redlands easily defeated Democrat Barry Norton, a Montclair businessman, in the 35th Congressional District. Lewis, chairman of the House Republican Conference, also won a seventh term.

Staff writers Amy Louise Kazmin, Doug Smith, Tracey Kaplan and Mack Reed contributed to this story.