ELECTIONS : 2 Democrats Expected to Win Easy Victories : Politics: Despite slightly reconfigured districts, Rep. Julian Dixon and state Assemblywoman Gwen Moore face little opposition in bids for their eighth terms.

The 32nd Congressional District and the 47th state Assembly District have a lot in common. Territory, for one: The two newly drawn districts overlap in Baldwin Hills, the Crenshaw district, Culver City, Palms and part of South-Central Los Angeles.

This year, they share something else: veteran Democratic incumbents counting on a cakewalk.

Rep. Julian Dixon and Assemblywoman Gwen Moore, both in their seventh terms, face little serious opposition in these two overwhelmingly Democratic enclaves.

Dixon, 58, lacks even a token Republican challenger. His only opponents are candidates from the Peace and Freedom and the Libertarian parties.

Redistricting left Dixon with somewhat reconfigured turf. Come January, he will drop Westchester and Marina del Rey and pick up Pico-Robertson and Cheviot Hills. Instead of representing the 28th District, he’ll represent the 32nd. But the basic components of his constituency won’t change--76% will be registered Democrats. And the heart of the district, as in the 1980s, will be the predominantly black, upper- and middle-income neighborhoods of the Crenshaw district, Baldwin Hills and Ladera Heights.

Dixon’s prospects for reelection Nov. 3 are mirrored by Moore’s. Although she has a Republican opponent, businessman Jonathan Leonard, he is not expected to pose a major threat.

Nevertheless, Leonard, 37, is pressing on, stressing jobs as the key to reversing the despair in the African-American and Latino communities that make up much of the district.

He asserts that Republicans--with their disdain for government regulation and taxes--are better positioned than Democrats to lure jobs to California and protect existing ones.

He also said that the Republicans’ traditional emphasis on self-reliance and self-empowerment speaks to the black community. Many blacks, Leonard said, tend to harbor conservative views but often vote Democratic due to peer pressure or family tradition.

Consequently, he said, the Democratic Party takes black votes for granted--leaving Democratic politicians free from the scrutiny that, for example, President Bush is subjected to. Leonard said, “We have local reps who ought to be called on the carpet and asked, ‘What have you done for the community?’ ”

Moore, for her part, eagerly ticks off a list of her legislative accomplishments. She is working to combat fraud in the workers’ compensation system, she said, and has become one of the Legislature’s leading authorities on utility regulation. Recently, she wrote a bill that became law setting minimum service standards for cable television operators.

She also strongly supports the development of electric cars as benefiting the environment and the local economy.

Of the 52 bills she sponsored that were signed into law in 1991-1992, Moore said she is particularly proud of AB77, the Family Rights Act of 1991, which permits workers to take up to four months of unpaid leave in a two-year period without fear of job loss to care for a new child or a close family member who is seriously ill.

Moreover, her troubles with a U.S. Justice Department corruption investigation appear to be behind her. One of her aides, Tyrone Netters, was convicted in October, 1991, of extorting payments from undercover FBI agents in 1986 and 1988. Moore was never accused of any wrongdoing in the influence-peddling scandal, however, and considers herself exonerated.

Weak competition aside, this election is not without some suspense for Moore. She is keeping a close eye on state Sen. Diane Watson’s race for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. If Watson wins, Moore will probably try to fill Watson’s Senate vacancy.

“Obviously, I would take a look at it,” she said.

Libertarian Chuck Hammill and Peace and Freedom candidate Yassin A. Saededdin round out the race for the 47th Assembly District.

Hammill, 43, is a mathematician and computer programmer who has been laid off from Hughes Aircraft. He complains that Republicans try to spur the economy by spending money on war and defense while Democrats try to do the same through “welfare and handouts.”

Other than that, he said, there’s not a “dime’s worth of difference between Republicans and Democrats on many crucial issues.” Hammill, consistent with the views of most Libertarians, supports the decriminalization of drugs for adults, mainly to end what he considers a waste of government resources. “For every drug dealer the government puts in prison, it puts another 1,000 in mansions and Maseratis,” he said.

Saededdin, 48, a hotel manager who immigrated to the United States from Syria 25 years ago, wants to “give back to this country some of what it has given me.” He said he supports the establishment of community centers--not necessarily funded by the government--where people could go for food, guidance and career counseling and “a sense of community.”

In the 32nd Congressional District, Dixon’s minor party opponents are William R. Williams of the Peace and Freedom Party, a retired truck driver, and Libertarian Bob Weber, a motion picture technician. Neither has held elected office.

“Obviously I’m not going to get elected this time around,” Weber, 41, acknowledged, “but we’re building for the future.”

Weber is also calling for an end to the government’s war on drugs, the withdrawal of American troops stationed overseas and other proposals espoused by the Libertarian Party. He characterized Dixon as “an invisible man” more in tune with the Washington political Establishment than the needs of the district.

Williams, 60, also contends that Dixon is playing party politics at the district’s expense. “There’s a lot of despair in the district, and something has to be done,” he said, adding that if elected, he would work to bring small manufacturing in the district.

Despite being all but assured of reelection, Dixon says he is spending much of the campaign season in the district, getting to know new neighborhoods and groups.

He’s also been campaigning for the Clinton-Gore ticket and working against the state ballot question that would impose term limits on lawmakers.

Dixon serves on the House Appropriations Committee and on its defense subcommittee. While acknowledging the need to trim defense spending, he noted, “I have to recognize that it has been a solid base of the California economy, and we (need to) maintain our share.”

Like Moore, Dixon is interested in seeing that California captures new industries, including the electric car.

“We need to rebuild what is being torn down here,” he said.

Congressional District 32 Where: Culver City, Palms, Mar Vista, Baldwin Hills, Crenshaw, part of South-Central Los Angeles.

Democrat

Julian C. Dixon, member of Congress

Libertarian

Bob Weber, motion picture technician

Peace and Freedom

William R. Williams, retired truck driver

Party Demographics Registration* Anglo Latino Black Asian Demo GOP 24% 30% 40% 7% 76% 14%

*Demographic percentages sometimes add up to more than 100% because census counts some Latinos in racial categories.

Assembly District 47 Where: Crenshaw, Baldwin Hills, Culver City, Palms, part of South-Central Los Angeles.

Democrat

Gwen Moore, assemblywoman

Republican

Jonathan Leonard, businessman

Libertarian

Chuck Hammill, mathematician

Peace and Freedom

Yassin A. Saededdin, hotel manager

Party Demographics Registration* Anglo Latino Black Asian Demo GOP 24% 30% 40% 7% 76% 14%

*Demographic percentages sometimes add up to more than 100% because census counts some Latinos in racial categories.

CREDIT FOR 47th district map