ELECTIONS 41st ASSEMBLY DISTRICT : Control of Area Rated a Tossup

Political redistricting makes for strange bedfellows.

Artsy, urban Santa Monica and bucolic Hidden Hills, communities seldom spoken of in the same breath, will share a legislator in the Assembly for the next decade.

It’s the newly drawn 41st Assembly District, which takes in much of Los Angeles’ Westside as well as huge chunks of the west San Fernando Valley.

It is Westlake Village and Pacific Palisades, Calabasas and Brentwood, Malibu and Tarzana. About half the voters are north of Mulholland Drive.

The 41st appears to be a swing district. Democrats outnumber Republicans 49% to 40% among registered voters, but Republicans tend to be more loyal to their party’s nominees and more likely to vote, so many observers rate the district as a tossup.

In 1988, the voters of the 41st area narrowly went for Democrat Michael S. Dukakis over George Bush. In 1990, they favored Democrat Dianne Feinstein over Republican Pete Wilson in the gubernatorial race.

Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) has taken himself out of the picture, opting instead to run for the state Senate. So Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman (D-Los Angeles), running in what is mostly a new district for him, is all alone on the Democratic side.

Sensing a chance to capture what has been Democratic territory, five Republicans are competing for the right to take on Friedman.

“It’s a winnable district,” said Republican candidate Christine Reed, a former mayor of Santa Monica. “It’s not a walkaway for either party.”

In the hotly contested Republican primary in the district, the candidates are:

* Reed, 48, a former four-term Santa Monica city councilwoman who calls herself a pro-choice, pro-environment fiscal conservative who is moderate on social issues. She calls Friedman a “tax-and-spend liberal” and, like all challengers, plans to make his incumbency an issue if she wins the primary. “Voters are asking for changes,” she said.

* Former Santa Monica College trustee Fred Beteta, 62, a retired engineer who challenged Tom Hayden two years ago and offers a conservative plank of “reforms, reforms, reforms,” stressing education and tightening up illegal immigration as a drain on resources. Beteta favors the voucher system, under which students attending private schools would receive public subsidies.

* Santa Monica attorney Scott Meehan, 31. A conservative who is active in Heal the Bay, Meehan says he will mount a grass-roots effort in his first bid for office. He already has 100 volunteers canvassing the district, and he says they have told him that the economy is the overriding issue in the race. “In Westlake Village,” he said, “people wake up on a daily basis and wonder, ‘Is my job secure?’ ” Meehan promises to ease regulations and red tape to make the state friendly to business.

* Accounting professor Paul Foote, 45, of Agoura Hills. He assisted Beteta in his bid to oust Hayden two years ago and was itching to take on Hayden this year. Foote, a conservative, is interested in giving a boost to business and clamping down on top-heavy school districts by requiring them to reduce overhead expenses. “These Assembly races boil down to two things,” he said. “How many slate mailers can you get on, and how much money can you raise?”

* Malibu businessman Stefan (Stu) Stitch, 23, said he is running as a “non-politician. Voters are getting tired with career politicians.” Stitch has pledged to run an all-volunteer campaign and not to accept money from political action committees because “I don’t want to be under their influence.” He said his campaign is running on “young, fresh energy.”

While the Republicans slug it out until the June 2 primary, Friedman, who already has $150,000 in the bank, can raise money, get acquainted in parts of the new district that he hasn’t represented and prepare for the general election in November.

The three-term legislator said he sees the unifying issues in the district as protection of the Santa Monica Mountains and the coastline from unbridled development and pollution.

Friedman, 42, said he will fend off anti-incumbency sentiments by showing what he called his “unblemished record on matters of public integrity.”

A close ally of Reps. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) and Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City), whose liberal Democratic political organization dominates Westside politics, Friedman picked the 41st to avoid clashing with Assemblyman Burt Margolin (D-Los Angeles), another member of the Waxman-Berman group.

Assembly District 41 Overview: For the next decade, upscale communities in western Los Angeles County from Westlake Village to Santa Monica will share a legislator in the newly drawn district. The 41st appears to be a swing district, with Democrats outnumbering Republicans. Democratic Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman is running in what is mostly a new district for him. Five Republicans are competing for the right to face him in November. Where: The district includes Agoura, Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Canoga Park, Chatsworth, Santa Monica, Tarzana and West Hills. To find out if you live in the district, call the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder’s office at (213) 721-1100.

Demographics Anglo Latino Black Asian 82% 10% 2% 6%

Party Registration Demo GOP Others 49% 40% 11%

Candidates: Democrat Terry B. Friedman, assemblyman Libertarian Roy A. Sykes Jr., business owner Republican Fred Beteta, retired engineer Paul Foote, professor, business consultant Scott Meehan, attorney, lecturer Christine Reed, board member, Metropolitan Water District Stefan (Stu) Stitch, businessman