A GOP Senator Seeks Seat on Democratic Turf : Elections: The 27th District race is likely to be the most competitive of the three state Senate campaigns in this region.

In an ordinary campaign year, state Sen. Robert G. Beverly could win reelection without ruffling a single lock of his distinctive white hair.

A moderate Republican with a reputation for getting things done, Beverly (R-Manhattan Beach) has established himself as a Capitol insider able to work with Democrats and Republicans, labor and big business. Until the June primary, he had never won an election with less than 66% of the vote. And he has received so many contributions from business and political action committees that, until recently, he hadn’t had a political fund-raiser for himself in 15 years.

But reapportionment has shifted Beverly’s district from the Republican-dominated South Bay area toward the southeast and into new--mostly Democratic--territory. Add to that this summer’s state budget fiasco, the stagnating economy, anti-incumbent sentiment, and Beverly finds himself running a tougher campaign than he has in years.

“Sixty-five percent of the district is new territory and people don’t know anything about Bob Beverly, other than that he is an incumbent. And this is not the year of the incumbent,” said Allan Hoffenblum, Beverly’s campaign consultant. “So we have to get out there and get his name and record across.”

The 27th District race is likely to be the most competitive of the three state Senate campaigns in the Southeast/Long Beach area. To the north, in the 25th District, Democratic Assemblywoman Teresa Hughes has a virtual lock on the seat because nearly 80% of the district’s voters are Democrats. Farther east, in the 29th District, Republican Frank Hill holds an edge over his Democratic rival, whom he has outspent by $250,000 since the beginning of the year.

All three legislators have vastly outspent their opponents, who share a similarity: They are unknown and underfunded. But in a most unpredictable political season, none of the three are taking any chances.

In the 27th, Beverly has spent nearly $400,000 this year, outspending Brian Finander, his Democratic rival, 3 to 1.

None of this has escaped Finander’s attention. A small business consultant and political neophyte, Finander has gone on the offensive, labeling Beverly an “out-of-touch career politician.” Beverly has served in public office since 1958, when he was elected to the Manhattan Beach City Council. He later went on to the state Assembly and in 1976 was elected to the state Senate.

Beverly lacks vision and has done nothing to help the local economy, Finander charged.

“What has happened (to the local economy), has happened on Beverly’s watch,” Finander said. “I fault Beverly for doing nothing in the face of economic disaster.”

Finander favors more funding for school classrooms and says on abortion that he is “lifetime pro-choice and proud of it.”

Beverly pointed out that he has been endorsed by nearly 100 local elected officials, including 12 mayors and 50 city council members, “So I must be in touch somehow,” he said.

The state senator said that, contrary to Finander’s charges, he has worked to improve the state’s business climate. He said he voted to moderate regulation on business, sponsored a bill to give immediate “bridge” loans to damaged businesses after the April riots, and supported an Assembly bill that would secure tax credits for parts of Long Beach burned in the unrest. He also carried a bill to keep the Los Angeles Air Force Base in the South Bay by finding ways to provide low-cost housing, and he has supported the retraining of aerospace engineers in other engineering fields.

Beverly said one of his most effective measures was a “rob-a-home, go-to-jail” bill designed to ensure that residential burglars receive jail sentences. He was one of three Republicans who supported a legislative ban on arbitrary discrimination in the workplace based on sexual preference. He said that he favors a woman’s right to abortions but supports a 24-hour waiting period and mandatory parental consent for minors.

“I think I’ve been a responsible legislator,” Beverly said. “The first time I ran (for state Assembly) in 1966 . . . I promised I would be a working legislator. I have been.”

Also running for the seat are Libertarian David J. Rosen, a businessman; and Peace and Freedom candidate Patrick McCoy, a teacher and cable TV producer.

Rosen said the government should stop giving tax deductions and other financial support to big business. He supports a single flat-tax rate for everyone who earns more than $20,000 a year, and a 50% decrease in overall state spending over the next four years.

McCoy works with Long Beach Area Citizens Involved and the Long Beach Coalition for Peace in the Middle East. He criticized major party politicians for their “slavish bondage” to corporate interests and has accused them of ignoring the poor and people of color.

His platform calls for raising taxes on the wealthy and increasing funding for education. He also supports abortion rights.

Here is a look at the Southeast area’s two other state Senate races:

25th District

As the Democratic candidate in a district where only 17% of the voters have registered as Republicans, Assemblywoman Teresa P. Hughes (D-Los Angeles) has reason to be confident that she will be moving to the state Senate this winter.

“I know there’s a public sentiment against incumbency, but my constituents sent me back time and time again, and there’s a feeling out there that the new constituents want to hire me,” she said.

Hughes, who was a social worker and teacher before she was elected to the Assembly 17 years ago, counts among her accomplishments the authorship of a bill dedicating $800 million in bond money to construct school classrooms and creation of a State School of the Arts. She sponsored legislation creating the California Museum of Afro-American History and Culture, and said she was responsible for laws to provide $100 million to construct or rehabilitate low- and moderate-income housing.

Republican Cliff McClain--who says he’s raised “far less than $1,000” for his campaign--advocates reinstating the job-creating federal Work Projects Administration, which was established by Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1930s.

Roosevelt, McClain says, was a Republican at heart.

A consultant for the Compton Unified School District, McClain, 52, advocates education reforms at the administrative level. He also supports a redirection of money and assets seized by local agencies in drug stings to neighborhood organizations.

Hughes agrees that economic development and jobs are the key issues confronting voters. She says job training and improving the state’s business climate are her most important goals.

“Businesses will have to invest in their communities and go into partnership with public education,” Hughes, 60, said. “If we can set up training programs for workers, companies will want to stay in California. . . . We can save this state, in spite of itself.”

Peace and Freedom candidate Hattie Marie Benn could not be reached for comment.

29th District

The theme of Democrat Sandy Hester’s campaign against Sen. Frank Hill (R-Whittier) is “Integrity . . . for a Change,” and she never misses a chance to point out that the FBI has been investigating Hill for alleged corruption for four years.

But candidates have tried that tack against Hill before without success. “That’s old news,” Hill said, pointing out that he has won a term in the Assembly and his current Senate seat since the FBI disclosed it was investigating him and others in Sacramento.

Still, Hester, who owns an environmental consulting business and is a public policy planner, is pinning her hopes for an upset on that cloud over Hill’s reputation. It helps that reapportionment has pushed his district farther north into the San Gabriel Valley, that voters are dissatisfied with incumbents and that she has promised to improve education, create jobs and protect the environment, she said.

Hester faces a formidable task because Republicans outnumber Democrats in the district 48% to 41%. In addition, Hill has raised $247,714 for his campaign, while Hester has collected only $20,235. At the end of September, Hill had $116,273 in cash for a campaign that will include seven mailers to voters. Hester had $448 in the bank to finance her efforts.

Despite all this, Hester said the assumption that the 29th is a safe Republican district is wrong. “Nothing is safe anymore,” she said. “Look at the variables we’re facing: incumbency, the Year of the Woman, a brand-new district, the economy.”

Hill, 38, is a former legislative aide who served eight years in the state Assembly before moving up to the Senate in 1990.

In 1988, his office and those of three other legislators were searched by the FBI as part of a federal sting operation that targeted political corruption in Sacramento. During the sting, Hill accepted a $2,500 campaign contribution from undercover FBI agents posing as businessmen seeking special-interest legislation. No charges have ever been filed.

Meanwhile, since moving to the Senate, Hill--who was allied with the most conservative wing of the Republican Party in the Assembly--has gained a reputation as a pragmatist with an independent streak. He teamed with a Democratic assemblyman to try to break the deadlock over the state budget in August, gaining praise for his efforts.

Hester has proposed a number of initiatives, including a plan to develop a high-tech center for new businesses at an idle defense plant in Pomona.

Hester said that Hill has done nothing to promote jobs in the district, and his stand against abortion rights is at odds with the views of most voters.

Hill said he is working on a $500-million bond issue to promote the design and construction of rail cars in California, which will create jobs. And he said that, even though he personally opposes abortion except in cases of incest, rape and endangerment of the life of the mother, a woman’s right to abortion is protected by the state Constitution and is not going to be repealed.

Times staff writer Mike Ward and community correspondent Emily Adams contributed to this report.

State Senate Districts

Candidates:

25th District (Lynwood, Paramount, Inglewood, Hawthorne, Gardena, part of Compton)

Teresa P. Hughes, Democrat, assemblywoman

Cliff McClain, Republican, community resource consultant

Hattie Marie Benn, Peace and Freedom, medical assistant

27th District (Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Downey, Lakewood, Long Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes, San Pedro)

Brian Finander, Democrat, small business consultant

Robert G. Beverly*, Republican, state senator

David J. Rosen, Libertarian, businessman

Patrick McCoy, Peace and Freedom, video producer and teacher

29th District (Covina, West Covina, Walnut, San Dimas, La Verne, Claremont, Glendora, Diamond Bar, La Habra Heights, La Mirada, Industry)

Sandy Hester, Democrat, public policy planner

Frank Hill*, Republican, state senator

*Demographics

District Anglo Latino Black Asian 25th 16% 42% 36% 7% 27th 61% 21% 6% 12% 29th 56% 26% 6% 13%

Party Registration

District Democrat GOP 25th 74% 16% 27th 46% 42% 29th 41% 47%

* incumbent

Voter registration figures are as of Sept. 4. Registered Libertarian, and Peace and Freedom voters make up 1% or less of the total in all three districts.

Sources: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder and Los Angeles County Office of Regional Planning.