ELECTIONS / 29th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT : Reapportionment Kind to House Veteran Waxman

Color Rep. Henry A. Waxman’s new congressional district green.

As in money, lots of it.

From the Gold Coast of Santa Monica to the Hollywood Hills above Studio City, the newly drawn 29th Congressional District cuts a swath across some of the richest real estate--and the most generous political givers--in the United States. It’s every Santa Monica Mountains canyon from Santa Ynez to Laurel, plus the bounteous “B” neighborhoods: Bel-Air, Brentwood and Beverly Hills.

Studio City, West Hollywood, Pacific Palisades, Westwood, Toluca Lake and Los Feliz round out this gilded district, a fund-raising mecca for politicians from all over the country.

Ironically, Waxman (D-Los Angeles) said he doesn’t need campaign funds, so he will not need to till his new, fertile territory this year. Nor does he plan to open a campaign office. With $800,000 in the bank and a district that is 56% registered Democrats and 30% registered Republicans, Waxman is sitting tight.

“I don’t think I’m going to need to raise any money,” Waxman said. “I don’t have a major fight on my hands.”

Waxman has drawn a challenger in the June 2 primary, Studio City property manager Scott M. Gaulke, a supporter of Lyndon H. LaRouche, the political extremist who is serving a prison term for mail fraud and tax evasion.

On the Republican side, attorney Mark A. Robbins of Los Angeles, who has no primary opponent, said he hopes to use Waxman’s big bank account as a negative in a year when being a congressional insider is widely regarded as a liability.

Waxman, like many other incumbents, may also be vulnerable to charges based on the House check-writing scandal. According to the House Ethics Committee, he wrote 434 checks backed by insufficient funds on the House bank during the 39-month period reviewed by the committee.

If reapportionment has been kind to Waxman, it has been an overall blow to several nearby traditionally Democratic congressional districts.

The redistricting plan drawn by the Republican-dominated state Supreme Court collapsed four of five “safe” Democratic congressional districts that serve the San Fernando Valley and Westside into a single district. It’s as if the Democrats have traded in a four-strand pearl necklace for one very large diamond.

“They took the best parts of four districts and put them into one,” Waxman said.

As senior member of the so-called Waxman-Berman clique of officeholders, Waxman laid claim to the diamond, although he laments the problems facing political allies who have to compete in less-friendly territory.

“I would rather have had less of a wonderful time of it, so there would be an easier time for Tony Beilenson and Howard Berman,” he said.

Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) is seeking a seat in the northeast Valley. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles) chose not to engage in a bloody primary battle against Waxman. Instead, he is running in what appears to be tough territory for a Democrat, the 24th Congressional District, which is centered in the West Valley and also contains several Ventura County communities.

Waxman’s new district also includes a small portion of the 32nd Congressional District, which belongs to Rep. Julian C. Dixon (D-Los Angeles).

Congressional District 29

Overview: Powerful Democratic Rep. Henry A. Waxman has represented this district, which was largely unchanged by reapportionment, since 1974. The district, which includes every Santa Monica Mountains canyon from Laurel to Nichols, has some of the most valuable real estate in Los Angeles County. Waxman has drawn one challenger in the primary, Scott M. Gaulke, a Studio City property manager. The district is heavily Democratic.

Where: The district includes Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Los Feliz, Santa Monica, Universal City and West Hollywood, and portions of Sherman Oaks, Studio City and Toluca Lake. To find out if you live in the district, call the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder’s office at (213) 721-1100.

Demographics Anglo: 76% Latino: 13% Black: 3% Asian: 7%

Party Registration Demo: 56% GOP: 30% Others: 14%

Candidates: Democrat Scott M. Gaulke, property manager Henry A. Waxman, congressman Republican Mark A. Robbins, attorney Peace and Freedom Susan C. Davies Maggie Phair, retired school worker Libertarian Felix Tsvi Rogin, rabbi, accountant