SAN FERNANDO VALLEY : 2 Area Lawmakers’ Treasuries Cited

Despite a lack of serious election opposition for many years, Reps. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) and Carlos J. Moorhead (R-Glendale) have stockpiled campaign treasuries that rate among the top 15 of all House members in the country.

The two San Fernando Valley area lawmakers rank 12th and 14th, respectively, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission. Waxman has $851,920 on hand and Moorhead has $734,432. Fellow Southern California Rep. David Dreier (R-La Verne) is third with $1.8 million.

Both Waxman and Moorhead have said previously that they needed substantial campaign funds to fend off possible challenges when their districts were redrawn under the once-a-decade reapportionment. But Moorhead has restricted his fund raising in recent years, and Waxman said this year that he’d also like to limit his future fund raising.

Waxman, who has his own political action committee in addition to his campaign committee, dispenses tens of thousands of dollars to fellow liberal candidates nationwide.

Neither veteran incumbent appears, for now, to face a well-funded challenge in November. Mark Robbins, a Los Angeles Republican running against Waxman, had $9,883 on hand three weeks before the June 2 primary. Meanwhile, Doug Kahn, an Altadena Democrat opposing Moorhead, had $4,683 at that time. Kahn also reported a debt of $4,000.