14th District Contest Attracts Field of 15 Seeking to Replace Campbell : Congress: Redistricting has made the seat more available to Democrats. Area includes Silicon Valley and Stanford University.

Home to Stanford University and the Silicon Valley, the congressional district halfway down the San Francisco Peninsula is a magnet for politicians with uncommon ambition.

In the past 10 years, three Republican congressmen have used the seat as a springboard to run for the U.S. Senate: maverick Pete McCloskey, computer entrepreneur Ed Zschau and, this year, Stanford law professor Tom Campbell.

Naturally, Campbell’s decision to give up the 14th Congressional District has touched off a scramble among a large field of other ambitious politicians who would like to capture the high-profile seat.

In all, 15 candidates are running, including a majority of the members of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, the local assemblyman, a former assemblyman and a widely known whistle-blower--as well as assorted computer consultants, engineers and businessmen.

Once a stronghold for moderate Republicans, the district was pushed northward in the reapportionment plan adopted by the California Supreme Court. As a result, the seat held by Republicans for at least 40 years has become more Democratic in registration and turned into one of the few districts in California that either major party could win.

“It’s been a long time since a Democrat represented the Silicon Valley seat,” said Assemblyman Ted Lempert of Redwood City, one of eight Democrats vying for their party’s nomination.

On the Democratic side, those who are running include:

- San Mateo County Supervisor Anna Eshoo, who came within 12,000 votes of defeating Campbell four years ago when the seat was last open. A former state legislative aide, she is serving her third term on the Board of Supervisors. She casts herself as a political outsider in the race because, as a woman, she is one of a group that has been underrepresented in politics.

- San Mateo County Supervisor Tom Nolan. He is one of the state’s most prominent openly gay politicians and is relying heavily on campaign contributions from gay supporters across the nation. Serving his second term on the board, Nolan championed a law requiring the spaying and neutering of pets in San Mateo County unless owners get a breeding license.

- Assemblyman Lempert. He won election to the Assembly in 1988 at age 26 and is the youngest member of the Legislature, but his district was dismembered in reapportionment. He has established a strong record on the environment and pushed for tougher state ethics legislation. He also has shown an ability to win in heavily Republican areas. His supporters include his first-grade teacher.

All three major Democratic candidates come from San Mateo and will have to scramble for votes in Santa Clara County to the south, where about 60% of the district’s voters live. The district stretches roughly from Belmont to Sunnyvale between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay.

On the Republican side, candidates include:

- San Mateo County Supervisor Tom Huening, who is backed by much of the Republican Establishment. A commercial airline pilot for two decades and now a real estate developer, Huening is in his second term on the board. He gained statewide attention two years ago when he sponsored Proposition 119, an unsuccessful initiative that would have turned redistricting over to a commission.

- Former Assemblyman Dixon Arnett. He served four terms in Sacramento in the 1970s representing much of the area now included in the congressional district. A former president of the Stanford Alumni Assn., he has spent much of the past decade in Washington, working for then-Sen. Pete Wilson, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and as a lobbyist.

- Michael C. Maibach. A lobbyist for Intel Corp., a semiconductor company in the Silicon Valley, Maibach is running on a platform that calls for “user-friendly” government. He boasts the support of more than 25 chief executive officers of computer and electronics firms.

- Whistle-blower Paul Biddle. He played a leading role in uncovering an overbilling scandal at Stanford University that could cost the school as much as $230 million. Biddle, an eccentric accountant, once described himself as “the pebble in the shoe” at Stanford. Although the billing scandal brought down Stanford President Donald Kennedy, Biddle appears to have little organized support for his candidacy.

Candidates of both parties place strong emphasis on protecting the environment, in part because of San Mateo County’s long coastline. As always, another key issue in the district is fostering the high-tech electronics industry of the Silicon Valley.

“Entrepreneurial success in ‘The Valley’ means not only new jobs and higher incomes here at home, but advancements which improve the position of U.S. businesses,” Huening said.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

CONGRESS/14th District DEMOCRATS CANDIDATE: Gerry Andeen OCCUPATION: Research engineer CANDIDATE: Gary Bond OCCUPATION: Business owner CANDIDATE: Anna Eshoo OCCUPATION: San Mateo County supervisor CANDIDATE: Thomas Roy Harney OCCUPATION: Retired California teacher CANDIDATE: Ted Lempert OCCUPATION: California state assemblyman CANDIDATE: Tom Nolan OCCUPATION: San Mateo County supervisor CANDIDATE: Robert Palmer OCCUPATION: Professional engineer CANDIDATE: John Yusken OCCUPATION: Newspaper salesman

REPUBLICANS CANDIDATE: Dixon Arnett OCCUPATION: Businessman, former assemblyman CANDIDATE: Paul Biddle OCCUPATION: Certified public accountant CANDIDATE: Tom Huening OCCUPATION: San Mateo County supervisor CANDIDATE: Michael C. Maibach OCCUPATION: Electronics industry executive CANDIDATE: Bill Quraishi OCCUPATION: Consulting engineer