Remap May Threaten the Futures of 7 Incumbents : Politics: Monday’s state Supreme Court decision may pit officeholders against each other or put them on alien turf.

Crowded races, new political faces and a season of electoral turbulence unseen in a dozen years are in store for San Fernando Valley area voters as a result of the state Supreme Court’s approval Monday of new maps for California congressional and legislative districts.

The maps could threaten the political lives of seven incumbents in the region and leave some voters with new representatives.

No incumbent member of Congress or state legislator has been defeated in the Valley since 1980, but the new maps could change that. They are required under federal law to reflect population changes detected by the 1990 U. S. Census.

At least seven Valley-area incumbents may be running against other incumbents or on unfamiliar turf. Among them is powerful state Senate President Pro Tem David Roberti, a Democrat whose old Hollywood-based district was collapsed in the remapping process.

In addition, the new maps created at least four districts with no incumbents, guaranteeing zestful battles among large fields of wanna-bes.

“Certainly all the lobbyists are going to have to update their phone directories because there’ll be a whole lot of new faces” in Congress and in the Legislature, said GOP political consultant Paul Clarke, who has managed campaigns in the Valley.

For some voters, the new districts will mean new representatives, including some whose political philosophies are drastically different from the old ones.

Calabasas voters, for example, will lose Rep. Elton Gallegly, a staunchly conservative Republican, as their person in Congress. In exchange, they may get Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson, a liberal Democrat whose old district was carved up by the high court.

Beilenson is running in the new 24th Congressional District, encompassing the southwest Valley and portions of southern Ventura County, because much of his old district, which included a large chunk of Los Angeles’ Westside, was merged with another district by the court.

While Beilenson is the only Democrat to announce his candidacy to date, at least five Republicans are either declared contenders or are considering the race.

The most prominent of the undeclared is GOP Assemblyman Tom McClintock of Thousand Oaks, a conservative who has already criticized Beilenson’s votes on taxes and in opposition to the U. S. use of military force against Iraq’s Saddam Hussein.

The declared Republicans include Calabasas businessman Sang Korman, Reseda mortuary owner Jon Lorenzen and Beverly Hills business consultant Jim Salomon. Both Korman and Salomon have twice lost races to incumbents. Mentioned as a possible contender is former Ventura County Supervisor Madge L. Schaefer.

Although voter registration is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, the district is thought to have a Republican lean, since many registered Democrats either don’t vote or cross party lines when they do. Beyond the expected battle among Republicans in the primary election, the November runoff between the GOP nominee and Beilenson, the probable Democratic nominee, will be a contest of sharply conflicting political views.

The Supreme Court also created a new congressional district--the 25th--in northern Los Angeles County, covering the fast-growing Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys.

The district’s voter registration is 53% Republican to 37% Democrat, and whoever wins the GOP nomination in June is almost certain to win the November general election.

So far, the announced candidates are Santa Clarita City Councilman Howard (Buck) McKeon, a Republican, and Assemblyman Phillip Wyman (R-Tehachapi). Another Republican, former Los Angeles County Assessor John Lynch of Northridge, is considering a bid. No Democrats have announced.

In the new 26th and 27th congressional districts, the incumbents--Democrat Howard L. Berman of Panorama City and Republican Carlos J. Moorhead of Glendale--are expected to have little opposition.

Berman’s East Valley district shrank somewhat in the redistricting, shedding portions of Sherman Oaks and Encino. Moorhead gained all of Burbank and Sunland-Tujunga and a bigger chunk of Pasadena while losing portions of the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys.

The new 29th Congressional District, which covers southernmost parts of the Valley, is expected to be won easily by Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles).

The new maps could also spark lively fights in the Valley’s Senate districts.

In the 19th District, several GOP incumbents are nervously awaiting an announcement by Sen. Ed Davis (R-Santa Clarita) about whether he will retire or seek reelection and, if he runs again, in which district.

The 75-year-old Davis’ plans could either touch off a dogfight among GOP incumbents or clear the way for two of them to hold onto their current offices and a third to move up the political food chain.

The dilemma for Davis is that the new maps took his Valencia home out of the 19th District and put it in the 17th, a geographically huge area that includes the Antelope Valley and extends north and east to the Nevada border. Unless he retires, Davis must decide whether to run there or move to the 19th, where he would be considered the incumbent.

If Davis moves to the 19th, that would force veteran Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) to defer her long-held dream of running for the state Senate. In that case, Wright said, she would seek reelection in the new 38th Assembly District, which stretches from Northridge to the Santa Clarita Valley and east to Fillmore in Ventura County.

That, in turn, could set the stage for a primary election shootout between Wright and first-term Assemblywoman Paula L. Boland (R-Northridge), a close ally and friend who represented the old 38th District until it was carved up under redistricting.

Boland and Wright have said they will run against the other if necessary.

If Davis runs in the 17th, he will have to compete against Sen. Don Rogers (R-Bakersfield), a fellow conservative who is already campaigning there.

On Monday, rumors continued to swirl that Davis--who was elected in 1980--will announce this week that he will retire, clearing the way for Rogers, Wright and Boland. An aide said Davis will reveal his plans either today or Wednesday.

Perhaps the highest-profile Senate race in the Valley this year will be the one to fill the 20th District seat vacated by former Sen. Alan Robbins, a Democrat, who resigned after pleading guilty to federal corruption charges last year.

The potential candidates include three Democratic heavyweights: Roberti and Assemblymen Terry B. Friedman of Los Angeles and Richard Katz of Sylmar. Given Roberti’s fund-raising prowess, a race between him and another well-known Democratic incumbent would be a costly affair.

Also running are Democrats Fred Gaines, a Sherman Oaks land-use attorney, and Glenn Bailey, a local environmental activist.

The new 21st Senate District is likely to be won by Sen. Newton R. Russell (R-Glendale), who plans to seek reelection there. The district, which now includes Burbank, has a voter registration of 47% Republican to 43% Democratic. Roberti has expressed interest in the seat too, but its GOP voter plurality makes it inhospitable territory for him.

The 23rd Senate District was moved west and south and now covers much of Los Angeles’ Westside plus parts of Encino, Hidden Hills and Canoga Park. Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles) has said he will run there, and the race will be competitive only if another Democratic kingpin opposes him.

Many political observers believe that Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), whose district was collapsed in the reapportionment, may take on Rosenthal. Roberti has expressed interest in this district too, but is expected to run in the 20th.

In the Valley’s eight-seat Assembly delegation, there are two seats that have no incumbents, and large candidate fields are gathering for a shot at both.

One of them, the 36th District, is a geographically vast area covering the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys. It is heavily Republican; four local GOP figures are running there and at least one more is considering a bid.

The declared candidates are Hunt Braly, top aide to Davis; John Drew, a Santa Clarita slow-growth activist; Palmdale School District Supt. Forrest McElroy, and Palmdale Mayor William J. (Pete) Knight. Tom Smith, an aide to Wyman, is also a possibility.

In the east-central San Fernando Valley, Katz and another longtime Democratic incumbent--40th District Assemblyman Tom Bane of Van Nuys--are likely to hold their seats. However, if Katz runs for the 20th Senate District, his 39th District seat would be up for grabs.

The new 41st Assembly District, stretching from Santa Monica to the southwest Valley and north to Thousand Oaks, may produce the Valley’s hottest Assembly race. Voter registration there is 49% Democratic and 40% Republican, but observers consider it winnable by either party.

To date, most people mentioned as potential candidates live in the Santa Monica portion of the district. The most prominent are Hayden and former Santa Monica City Councilwoman Christine Reed, a Republican.

Hayden is considering a run for the seat but is weighing bids for the 23rd Senate District and Congress as well. Reed, who served 16 years on the City Council before being defeated last year, is already raising money for the Assembly race.

Other Republicans who are running include Paul Foote, a business professor at Cal State Fullerton who lives in Agoura Hills, and Santa Monica attorney Scott A. Meehan. Former Santa Monica City College board member Fred Beteta, another Republican, is a possibility too.

The 42nd District seat is likely to be captured by Assemblyman Burt Margolin (D-Los Angeles), although he still entertains hope that lawsuits challenging the redrawn districts will produce an open congressional seat for him to campaign for.

The district contains the homes of both Margolin and Friedman, but they have pledged not to run against each other. Both are prominent in the powerful Waxman-Berman political organization.

In the 43rd District, GOP Assemblyman Pat Nolan of Glendale is seeking reelection. The district, which covers Burbank, Glendale and the Los Feliz area, leans toward being Republican. First-term Assemblywoman Barbara Friedman (D-Los Angeles), whose district was chopped up in the reapportionment, is weighing a bid there and in other Assembly districts.

The 44th District, which runs from Pasadena northwest to Sunland and into the lower Santa Clarita Valley, also features a race with no incumbent. A large field of Republicans is assembling in that district, which is likely to wind up in GOP hands.

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