Plan Would Carve Up Democratic Stronghold : Politics: Redistricting blueprint would force Reps. Henry Waxman and Howard Berman and their proteges to compete with each other for fewer safe seats.

The redistricting plan proposed this week by California courts would rip apart the political heartland of the Waxman-Berman Democratic organization in Los Angeles.

If implemented in January, the proposal would not necessarily reduce the power or scope of the alliance assembled by Reps. Henry Waxman of Los Angeles and Howard Berman of Panorama City. But it does set up potential intra-party battles, in particular between Waxman and Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson of Los Angeles, a like-minded liberal lawmaker who has cultivated considerable power in the House as a member of the Rules Committee.

And it thwarted efforts by Waxman and Berman to create an additional east San Fernando Valley district that would have been sought by one of their close allies and proteges, Assemblyman Burt Margolin of Los Angeles. Berman would be left with no real choice but to run in the sole East Valley seat, the 26th District.

The effect of the court’s plan was to take four safe Democratic congressional districts rooted in the Westside and rearrange them as two Democratic districts and two others in which Republicans would have a good opportunity of winning.

Waxman, 52, a veteran of more than 30 years of Westside politics, commented, “I think it’s a real mess because it dislocates a lot of districts and it’s going to lead to a lot of confusion in the election.”

A Waxman-Berman associate who asked not to be identified was more harsh: “It looks like a disaster. . . . In both Congress and the Legislature, all kinds of people are dislocated in ways that create impossible choices. It looks like a partisan Republican plan drawn by a partisan Republican court.”

The plan lumps portions of four generally liberal Democratic districts into one: the new 29th District that would be home to both Beilenson and Waxman. Ranging from near downtown Los Angeles out through Beverly Hills and Santa Monica, the 29th would have a Democratic voter registration of 57%. It would include portions of existing districts now held by Waxman, Berman, Beilenson and Rep. Mel Levine, another Waxman-Berman associate.

Levine’s existing 27th District, which has ranged along the coast from Pacific Palisades nearly to the Palo Verdes Peninsula since the 1960s, effectively would be abolished. But Levine already has announced plans to run for the U.S. Senate in 1992 rather than seek election to a sixth term in the House.

The major political dilemma faces Beilenson, 59, who won election to the House in 1976 after 14 years in the California Legislature, where he was best known as the author of California’s existing abortion law.

Beilenson could run in the 29th, but face a tough Democratic primary battle with Waxman, who long has enjoyed immense popularity in the heavily liberal, largely Jewish Westside.

Or Beilenson could seek election to the new 24th District in the western portions of the Valley, which overlaps some of his existing district. But Republicans and Democrats would be almost at par in voter registration in the new district with about 45% each. Because so many Californians register as Democrats but tend to vote Republican or don’t vote, a district usually has to be 55% Democratic or more to be considered a safe Democratic district.

Beilenson said Tuesday: “I don’t want to retire. I intend to run for Congress. My current thinking is to run in the Westside district. Obviously, we’ll keep talking about it.”

He hoped a clash between himself and Waxman could be avoided--presumably through a court challenge or legislative solution to redistricting--but added that did not seem likely.

“I feel very comfortable and very close to a lot of people in that new Westside district,” Beilenson added.

Beilenson said he and Waxman talked on the telephone Tuesday, but not about who might run for which seat. “Clearly neither of us relishes the idea of running against the other,” he said.

Waxman seemed to make it clear he plans to run in the new 29th, saying, “I have only one district I can run in which encompasses the area I’ve been representing for the last 17 years in Congress. . . . I have no desire to run against Tony Beilenson and I would hope we would not be running against each other.”

A close Waxman-Berman associate who spoke on condition he not be identified said “it is very clear” that Waxman would run for the new Westside seat and suggested that Beilenson was left with three options: run a losing race against Waxman, run a tough race in the West Valley district or retire.

Another Waxman-Berman associate, City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, said he would consider a race for the West Valley seat if Beilenson did not run there.

While the demographics are not particularly attractive to a Democrat, part of Yaroslavsky’s council district is in the new 24th and he said, “It’s certainly worth looking at. We need more information. We’re analyzing it.”

Yaroslavsky said he would not seek the 24th District seat, however, if Beilenson decided to run.

The plan also creates problems for the Waxman-Berman organization in the Assembly. In effect, three seats--those of Margolin, Terry Friedman and Barbara Friedman--were consolidated into one solid Waxman-Berman seat and another potential Latino seat.

That could leave Margolin with no congressional seat to run for and no Assembly seat to return to. However, if Terry Friedman runs for the state Senate, Margolin might run for his Assembly seat, Sacramento sources said.

Over the years, Waxman and Berman have helped finance the election of political soul mates such as Margolin and the Friedmans to national, state and local office. The organization, utilizing the political consulting firm of Michael Berman--Howard’s brother--has become adept at fund raising, targeted mail sent to voters’ homes, voter registration and getting out the vote.

A Waxman-Berman associate said Tuesday that in spite of the proposed redistricting plan, that “as an alliance it’s still a very powerful coalition. But it (the plan) will hurt Democrats in general. . . . But I think the alliance still will be the strongest coalition in California.”

A Different Set of Districts

The proposed court redistricting plan would dismantle the heartland of the liberal Democratic political organization of Reps. Henry Waxman and Howard Berman. In effect the plan takes what had been four Democratic seats and carves them into two Democratic congressional seats and two competitive seats.

Source: California Supreme Court