ELECTIONS / STATE SENATE : Beverly and Finander Clash Over Value of Incumbency : Finander says the country is in ‘one hell of a mess’ and suggests that career politicians are to blame. Beverly, a moderate Republican, says he’s proud of his record in office.

Veteran Republican state Sen. Robert G. Beverly and his underdog Democratic challenger clashed Wednesday in their first joint appearance as they battled for a new Senate seat that stretches from the Palos Verdes Peninsula to Downey.

The flash point during a candidates forum in Downey was Beverly’s length of service--34 years as an elected official, including 25 years in Sacramento and nine years on the Manhattan Beach City Council.

Democrat Brian Finander, a lawyer who operates a Long Beach business consulting firm, complained that the country is “in one hell of a mess,” suggesting that part of the problem might be career politicians like Beverly.

He complained that Beverly “has been on the public payroll for 34 years” and urged voters to reject his rival when they go to the polls Nov. 3. Finander also accused Beverly of ducking half a dozen debates and of moving into the newly drawn District 27 merely to meet the legal requirements that a candidate reside in the district.

In the forum at the Downey Board of Realtors, Beverly defended his public service, saying: “I stand as an incumbent. I’m proud of it. I’m proud of my record.” He later added that “in most professions . . . experience is a plus.”

Beverly, also a lawyer, took his own shots at Finander, saying that if voters want to make a change “it’s not time for a change to another Democratic lawyer in Sacramento.”

Beverly said he was not aware of missing six joint appearances with Finander but acknowledged being unable to attend a forum earlier this week. He said that the legislative session took up much of his time and that he then had to be back in Sacramento earlier this month for a brief special session.

In response to Finander’s charge that he’s a carpetbagger, Beverly said in an interview that when the Supreme Court redrew the district lines earlier this year in the once-a-decade reapportionment, he needed to establish residency in the new district, which no longer includes his Manhattan Beach home. So he is temporarily sharing a condominium in Long Beach with a friend he declined to identify.

If he wins reelection, Beverly said, he will find a more permanent arrangement in the district, which includes Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills Estates, Rolling Hills, Rancho Palos Verdes, Lomita, San Pedro, Catalina, Long Beach, Signal Hill, Lakewood, Hawaiian Gardens, Cerritos, Artesia, Bellflower and Downey. Democrats have a narrow edge in voter registration, 46% to 42%.

Also on the ballot are Libertarian David J. Rosen, a Long Beach businessman, and Peace and Freedom Party candidate Patrick McCoy, a Long Beach video producer and teacher.

Beverly has represented about half the district for the past decade and would typically be expected to coast to reelection. He is considered a pragmatic moderate who has friends on both sides of the aisle in Sacramento.

But with the district especially hard hit by aerospace and other job layoffs, he is considered vulnerable, even though he has the ability to attract far more campaign contributions than Finander.

Whatever the outcome, Beverly said, the race will be his last hurrah in the Senate because voter-approved term limits restrict him to running for only one more four-year term.