ELECTIONS CONGRESS : Candidates Tap Donors From Outside Districts : Politics: Reagan and Harman, the two top fund-raisers in the hotly contested 36th District race, are drawing fire from opponents.

Outside money.

That nefarious-sounding term has begun resonating in two of the area’s hardest-fought congressional races after the release last week of congressional campaign finance figures, accompanied by accusations of carpetbagging and undue influence of special interests outside the district.

In the coastal 36th Congressional District, Republican Maureen Reagan and Democrat Jane Harman are drawing fire for tapping donors outside the district running from Venice to San Pedro.

Reagan and Harman were the top money-gatherers in that race, raising $166,764 and $86,975 respectively in the first three months of the year.

Money from outside the district is also a factor in the 24th Congressional District, where nine Republicans are competing for the right to take on Democratic Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles). The redrawn district includes Malibu, the southwestern San Fernando Valley and a portion of Ventura County. On the Republican side, Beverly Hills trade adviser Jim Salomon, who unsuccessfully challenged Beilenson in his old district in 1988 and 1990, brought in $37,190, much of it from wealthy Westside supporters who backed his earlier campaigns. Calabasas businessman Sang R. Korman raised $23,605, about half of it from Korean-Americans who live outside the district.

But the top GOP money-getter in the 24th was Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks), who collected $54,857 during the period.

Beilenson, unopposed in the primary, raised $35,443.

Under federal law, candidates were required to file reports April 15 if they raised more than $5,000 during the first three months of the year. Candidates must list names of individuals who contributed $200 or more, as well as contributions from political action committees, loans and campaign-related expenditures.

Here is a closer look at the finance reports by congressional district:

36th District--Among the Democratic contenders, Harman is dramatically outpacing her six rivals in the Westside-South Bay district, all of whom reported receiving less than $5,000 from January through March.

Out-of-state donors provided more than three-fourths of the donations reported by Harman. Opponents say such figures demonstrate that Harman, who moved to Marina del Rey this year from Washington, is unfamiliar with the 36th District’s South Bay and Westside turf.

“She doesn’t know the people in the district, let alone the names of the streets in the district, so how can she represent us?” said rival Ada Unruh. “She is a bona fide Washington insider.”

Harman, a lawyer and former congressional staffer and White House aide in the Carter Administration, said she has focused her fund-raising efforts on East Coast colleagues and acquaintances because competition for funds is so intense this year in Los Angeles County.

One source of Harman’s funds is the group EMILY’s List, a national group that endorses pro-choice Democratic women candidates and raises money for them from its members all over the country. The name of the influential group is an acronym that stands for Early Money Is Like Yeast (“it makes the dough rise”).

Harman says she has always had close ties to California. She lived in the state until 1970, served as chief legislative assistant to former Democratic Sen. John Tunney in the 1970s, and said she kept up with matters relating to the state and visited regularly in the 1980s.

“There is not an issue at all about carpetbagging,” Harman said, dismissing the criticism of her outside support as “clear evidence that I’m the front-runner.”

Her Democratic primary opponents, in addition to Unruh, are: Colin Kilpatrick O’Brien, Charlene A. Richards, Bryan W. Stevens, Gregory Stock and Paul P. Kamm.

Unlike Harman, Republican Maureen Reagan, daughter of former President Ronald Reagan, has some stiff fund-raising competition from rivals for her party’s nomination in the 36th District.

Joining her above the $100,000 mark was Los Angeles Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, who raised $118,149. Flores’ total included more than a dozen $500 and $1,000 contributions from some of City Hall’s most powerful lobbyists and representatives of two controversial harbor-area scrap yards, Hugo Neu-Proler Co. and Hiuka America Corp.

Although most of Reagan’s donations are from California, the bulk are from communities outside the 36th District.

Reagan’s husband and campaign spokesman, Dennis Revell, acknowledges that her donor list reflects fund-raising help from her father. The former President has appeared at small fund-raisers and on April 10 mailed a letter on her behalf to 20,000 donors.

Opponents say voters in the district are getting a different message about Reagan, a former talk show host and Republican activist who recently moved to Westchester from West Los Angeles, which is outside the 36th District.

“There’s a certain resentment by people who live here,” said Torrance attorney Bill Beverly, one of 11 GOP candidates in the district and the son of state Sen. Robert G. Beverly (R-Manhattan Beach). “It’s based on seeing someone come in with money from out of the area to buy a congressional seat that looks comfortable.”

Said former Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Fahey of Manhattan Beach, another Republican in the race: “Most people perceive Maureen as a carpetbagger. I was precinct-walking in Westchester and a number of people said, ‘Oh, she’s the candidate who moved into our community to run.’ ”

The other Republican candidates who raised more than $5,000 were: Beverly, at $98,444; Fahey, with $43,606, and John Barbieri, $12,056. Also seeking the GOP nomination are Parker Richard Herriott, Don Karg, Wayne T. McDonald, Bart Swanson, Wayne Westling and John (Scott) Stevenson.

24th District--The GOP race in the Republican-leaning district is fiercely competitive.

Besides top money-raisers McClintock, Salomon and Korman, the other Republican candidates are Robert Colaco, Stephen M. Weiss, Nicholas T. Hariton, Rob Meyer, Harry Wachtel and Robert Spillare.

Based on past spending records of Korman and Salomon, early financial returns could prove misleading.

Korman, a Korean-born businessman, spent nearly $500,000 of his own money in two failed races for his party’s congressional nomination.

In 1988 and 1990, Korman tried to wrest the nomination from Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley), who this year is running for the GOP nomination in the new 23rd Congressional District in Ventura County.

In a recent interview, Korman said that he is determined to spend as much as his campaign consultant asks for. “I have to win this time.”

Salomon, in his 1988 and 1990 campaigns against Beilenson, had the distinction of being one of the few challengers in the nation to outspend an incumbent.

Salomon said last week that his April 15 report paints a misleading picture of his money-raising capabilities, “because we really couldn’t get started until the district boundaries were set in December.” He said he hopes to raise $250,000 for the primary.

On April 1, Salomon said, he raised $70,000 at a dinner in Century City that does not show on his first-quarter report.

Greg Maw, McClintock’s campaign manager, declined to say how much the 10-year Assembly veteran hoped to raise during the primary, but he said McClintock “would not be surprised if he is outspent” by Korman and Salomon.

Other races--Contests in the other two Westside congressional districts are quiet. Both are heavily Democratic districts in which veteran Democratic Reps. Henry Waxman and Julian Dixon are heavily favored to win reelection.

Waxman brought in $30,110 for the three-month period despite the lack of big-name opposition. His only opponent in the primary is Scott M. Gaulke, a devotee of jailed political extremist Lyndon LaRouche. Attorney Mark A. Robbins, the lone Republican seeking to take on Waxman, reported raising $8,407.

Dixon reported raising $2,600. He has no primary challenger and there is no Republican candidate. He will run against a Libertarian and a Peace and Freedom candidate in November.

Times staff writers George Hatch, James Quinn, Alan C. Miller and Nancy Hill-Holtzman contributed to this report.