A SNAPSHOT OF CALIFORNIA’S CONGRESSIONAL RACES

An unprecedented number of California’s congressional seats are up for grabs in dozens of competitive primary races in 1992. Sixteen of the state’s 52 congressional seats have no incumbent. This vacuum has drawn a record 373 candidates from all parties into the June 2 primaries. Amid such flux, Democrats may lose their majority of the state delegation.

The Key Factors:

1. California gained seven congressional seats from other states as a result of its 26% population growth in the 1980s. That brings the delegation to 52 of the 435 seats, a record 12% held by one state.

2. Seven incumbents are retiring or seeking U.S. Senate seats. Another five members are running in essentially new districts and another has withdrawn from campaigning.

3. Many incumbents are under fire from an unhappy electorate.

4. State reapportionment resulted in new lines being drawn for all congressional districts. Some incumbents lost their power bases.

Campaign Funds

The House members from California who received 55% or more of their 1991 campaign contributions from special interest Political Action Committees (PACs), with amount received and percentage of total war chest: CD8 Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) $74,425 / 84% CD17 Leon E. Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) $106,600 / 82% CD19 Richard H. Lehman (D-Sanger) $82,890 / 70% CD16 Don Edwards (D-San Jose) $82,850 / 70% CD40 Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) $98,550 / 69% CD29 Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) $348,950 / 63% CD42 George E. Brown Jr. (D-Colton) $140,236 / 63% CD48 Ron Packard (R-Oceanside) $74,546 / 61% CD3 Vic Fazio (D-West Sacramento) $241,535 / 60% CD15 Norman Y. Mineta (D-San Jose) $183,592 / 60% CD20 Calvin Dooley (D-Visalia) $106,000 / 55% CD31 Matthew G. Martinez (D-Monterey Park) $25,050 / 55% Source: Common Cause

A Key to the Symbols and Map

* Incumbents seeking reelection who face no competition in the primaries and where party registration favors reelection to the fall.

** Incumbents facing one or more opponents in their own party. These are also districts where registration favors their party. Some of these incumbents are heavily favored for reelection. But political experts warn that the term safe seat no longer applies this year in many cases.

+ Incumbents favored to win their party primaries but likely to face a challenge in the fall. Some were hurt by reapportionment. Registration in these districts does not necessarily favor the incumbent’s party.

++ Districts with no incumbent.

The Hottest Races

++ CD6 Barbara Boxer vacates seat to run for Senate. Nine candidates on Democratic side, including J. Bennett Johnston III, son of a Louisiana senator, and Denis Rice, a prominent lawyer. GOP side has Rep. William F. Filante, “the last moderate Republican,” which could make for a good race in November.

++ CD14 Tom Campbell vacates seat to run for Senate. Hot battles on both sides in the primary. Democrats include San Mateo Supervisors Anna Eshoo and Tom Nolan and state Assemblyman Ted Lempert. GOP field includes Dixon Arnett, Tom Huening, Michael Maibach, Stanford University whistle-blower Paul Biddle.

** CD22 Well-financed opposition by millionaire Michael Huffington, a major GOP contributor, is making life tough for longtime Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino.

+ CD23 Democratic primary pits Anita Perez Ferguson, vice president of National Women’s Political Caucus against Kevin Sweeney, environmentalist and ex-spokesman for former Colorado Sen. Gary Hart. Winner likely to meet incumbent Elton Gallegly in fall.

+ CD24 Spirited GOP primary includes state Rep. Tom McClintock, an archconservative, and Jim Salomon, who ran twice against Anthony C. Beilenson. Winner faces Beilenson, who lost key turf through redistricting.

++ CD25 New open seat. Only competition will be for the GOP nomination. A big field of candidates includes former Los Angeles Assessor John J. Lynch, state Assemblyman Phil Wyman, Councilman Howard P. (Buck) McKeon and former Rep. John H. Rousselot, attemping a comeback. Lone Democrat is James H. Gilmartin, an attorney.

++ CD30 Incumbent Edward R. Roybal retires. Leticia Quezada, Los Angeles school board member, and state Assemblyman Xavier Becerra are among a field of 10 Democrats. This is expected to be a tough fight.

++ CD36 Mel Levine vacates seat to run for Senate. Republican tilt in voter rolls is attracting strong GOP candidates. Among 11 Republicans: Maureen Reagan (with her father’s endorsement this time), Joan Milke Flores, Bill Beverly and John Barbieri. On Democratic side is Jane Harman, lawyer and abortion rights activist.

++ CD37 Incumbent Mervyn M. Dymally retires. Democrats include Lynn Dymally, daughter of incumbent; Compton Mayor Walter R. Tucker III, Carson Councilwoman Vera Robles Dewitt.

++ CD38 Incumbent Glenn M. Anderson retires. Eight Republicans running. Democratic field includes Long Beach Councilman Evan Anderson Braude, stepson of departing incumbent.

++ CD49 New open district brings out 10 GOP hopefuls, including abortion rights activist Judy Jarvis. On the Democratic side, San Diego Port Commissioner Lynn Schenk squares off against activist Byron Georgiou and attorney Troy X. Kelley.

++ CD50 GOP incumbent Randy Cunningham decamps for a safer congressional district. This opens field for a number of Democratic candidates, including state Sen. Wadie Deddeh, San Diego Councilman Bob Filner and former Rep. Jim Bates.

Exiting Incumbents

Eight members of the congressional delegation will not be returning: Glenn M. Anderson (D-San Pedro): Retiring Barbara Boxer (D-Greenbrae): Running for Senate Tom Campbell (R-Palo Alto): Running for Senate William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton): Running for Senate Mervyn M. Dymally (D-Compton): Retiring Mel Levine (D-Santa Monica): Running for Senate Bill Lowery (R-San Diego): Withdraws from race Edward R. Roybal (D-Los Angeles): Retiring

Checks & Balances

Polls show voters are angered by overdrafts recorded at the House bank. Here are the incumbents seeking reelection listed as having had overdrafts from September, 1988, to October, 1991:

Democrats Ronald V. Dellums (D-Berkeley): 841 Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles): 434 George Miller (D-Martinez): 99 Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City): 67 Pete Stark (D-Oakland): 64 Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco): 28 George E. Brown Jr. (D-Colton): 26 + Robert T. Matsui (D-Sacramento): 25 Matthew G. Martinez (D-Monterey Park): 19 + Leon E. Panetta (D-Carmel Valley): 12 Richard H. Lehman (D-Sanger): 10 Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles): 5 + Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles): 5 Gary A. Condit (D-Ceres): 4 Norman Y. Mineta (D-San Jose): 3 Randy Cunningham (R-San Diego): 1 Republicans Duncan Hunter (R-Coronado): 399 Bill Thomas (R-Bakersfield): 119 Dana Rohrabacher (R-Long Beach): 8 Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley): 5 + Ron Packard (R-Oceanside): 4 Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura): 3 + Frank Riggs (R-Windsor): 3 + Considered politically vulnerable. Overdrafts could be a problem.

How the Contests Stack Up

The Incumbents

A. Incumbents seeking reelection who face no competition in the primaries and where party registration favors reelection in the fall.

DEMOCRATS CD5 Robert T. Matsui (D-Sacramento) 59% D -- 31% R CD7 George Miller (D-Martinez) 61% D -- 26% R CD8 Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) 62% D -- 17% R CD9 Ronald V. Dellums (D-Berkeley) 67% D -- 15% R CD13 Pete Stark (D-Oakland) 58% D -- 29% R CD15 Norman Y. Mineta (D-San Jose) 46% D -- 40% R CD18 Gary A. Condit (D-Ceres) 53% D -- 37% R CD20 Calvin Dooley (D-Visalia) 62% D -- 29% R CD26 Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) 58% D -- 38% R CD32 Julian C. Dixon (D-Los Angeles) 76% D -- 15% R CD34 Esteban E. Torres (D-Pico Rivera) 61% D -- 30% R REPUBLICANS CD28 David Dreier (R-La Verne) 41% D -- 49% R CD40 Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) 39% D -- 49% R

B. Incumbents facing one or more opponents in their own party. These are also districts where registration favors their party. Some of these incumbents are heavily favored for reelection. But political experts warn that the term safe seat no longer applies this year in many cases.

DEMOCRATS CD12 Tom Lantos (D-Burlingame) 55% D -- 30% R *** CD16 Don Edwards (D-San Jose) 57% D -- 30% R *** CD17 Leon E. Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) 46% D -- 40% R *** CD29 Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) 56% D -- 30% R *** CD31 Matthew G. Martinez (D-Monterey Park) 58% D -- 30% R CD35 Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) 79% D -- 13% R *** REPUBLICANS CD2 Wally Herger (R-Rio Oso) 44% D -- 43% R * *** CD4 John T. Doolittle (R-Rockland) 44% D -- 46% R CD21 Bill Thomas (R-Bakersfield) 42% D -- 47% R *** CD22 Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura) 40% D -- 45% R * CD27 Carlos J. Moorhead (R-Glendale) 42% D -- 47% R *** CD44 Al McCandless (R-La Quinta) 43% D -- 47% R *** CD45 Dana Rohrabacher (R-Long Beach) 35% D -- 55% R CD46 Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) 45% D -- 45% R * CD47 Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) 29% D -- 60% R *** CD48 Ron Packard (R-Oceanside) 29% D -- 58% R CD51 Randy Cunningham 30% D -- 54% R * CD52 Duncan Hunter (R-Coronado) 38% D -- 48% R

C. Incumbents favored to win their party primaries but face a possible challenge in the fall. Some were hurt by reapportionment. Registration in these districts does not necessarily favor the incumbent’s party.

DEMOCRATS CD3 Vic Fazio (D-West Sacramento) 48% D -- 40% R CD19 Richard H. Lehman (D-Sanger) 48% D -- 43% R ** CD24 Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles) 45% D -- 44% R ** CD42 George E. Brown Jr. (D-Colton) 52% D -- 39% R REPUBLICANS CD1 Frank Riggs (R-Windsor) 51% D -- 36% R CD23 Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) 42% D -- 45% R * A district is considered to be leaning to the GOP if the registration is more than 37% GOP and less than 52% Democratic. Republicans tend to vote and are loyal to their party. ** Running for essentially new seats because of reapportionment. *** Heavily favored to be reelected.

The Open Seats

Many districts with no incumbent have drawn flocks of candidates. Because of registration patterns, as many as nine of these 16 open seats are likely to be settled on June 2.

Open districts considered leaning to Democrats: CD6 No incumbent: 9 Dem., 3 GOP 53% D -- 33% R CD30 No incumbent: 10 Dem., 1 GOP 60% D -- 26% R CD33 No incumbent: 3 Dem., 1 GOP 66% D -- 22% R CD37 No incumbent: 5 Dem., 0 GOP 77% D -- 15% R CD50 No incumbent: 6 Dem., 3 GOP 51% D -- 36% R Open districts considered leaning to Republicans: CD25 No incumbent: 1 Dem., 6 GOP 37% D -- 52% R CD39 No incumbent: 2 Dem., 1 GOP 39% D -- 51% R CD41 No incumbent: 1 Dem., 6 GOP 39% D -- 50% R Open districts considered to be tossups: CD10 No incumbent: 3 Dem., 2 GOP 42% D -- 45% R CD11 No incumbent: 4 Dem., 6 GOP 51% D -- 39% R CD14 No incumbent: 8 Dem., 5 GOP 46% D -- 38% R CD36 No incumbent: 7 Dem., 11 GOP 41% D -- 46% R CD38 No incumbent: 5 Dem., 8 GOP 48% D -- 41% R CD43 No incumbent: 7 Dem., 7 GOP 44% D -- 46% R CD49 No incumbent: 5 Dem., 10 GOP 39% D -- 45% R