ELECTIONS / STATE SENATE : Upstart Puts a Scare Into Veteran in 27th District : Finander: Once viewed as a long shot, the Democratic neophyte has closed the gap on the incumbent.

A political neophyte with a New York accent that belies his 18 years in California, Democrat Brian Finander is the kind of challenger Republican powerhouse Bob Beverly once ate for breakfast.

But Finander, 46, a first-time candidate with no political experience outside the Jewish community, has turned Beverly’s traditional cakewalk in the 27th Senate District into a photo finish.

Even Finander’s own Democratic Party has been startled by the turnabout.

“That district was out of our reach at the beginning of the year,” state Party Chairman Phil Angelides said. “Now, it is a real possibility for us in no small part because Brian, of his own accord, has gone out and worked hard to make it happen.”

Party polls completed earlier this month showed Finander with a three-point lead over Beverly, but more than half the voters surveyed had not yet made up their minds.

The poll results prompted Finander to redouble his already-intense efforts in the district that stretches from Downey south to Long Beach and over to the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Attacking Beverly as an out-of-touch career politician and glad-handing with voters from dawn to midnight, Finander has overcome early predictions that his political future was doomed and has won eager volunteer converts to his cause.

“He’s a regular guy who has a lot of intelligence and common sense about what’s important for California,” said Jenny Oropeza, a Long Beach Unified School District board member and chair of Long Beach’s United Democratic Campaign.

“I was one of the individuals who encouraged him to run at the outset, and, yes, his success has been quite a surprise,” she said. “It’s a real grass-roots, shoestring kind of campaign, and that’s another reason why this is so exciting. That fact that democracy really does work is kind of a thrill.”

Some observers say Finander is simply a lucky guy who came from nowhere to tilt the right windmill at the right time. That belief irritates him.

“Oh, sure, some of it is being in the right place at the right time. I accept that,” he said. “But it’s easy now to say, ‘Gee, you’re lucky,’ when back in February and March I was the one who decided to do this.

“I didn’t just fall out of the sky.”

Born in New York City, Finander was raised by parents who kept an eye on current events but rarely got involved in them. A self-described “political junkie,” Finander slowly worked his way through a political science degree at the State University of New York at Buffalo before he decided he wanted to become a lawyer.

He enrolled at Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles, completed some graduate work at a Canadian college, and graduated from Southwestern in 1974.

He took and passed the Arizona bar, he said, because he intended to practice law there. Instead, a law firm persuaded him to work in California to help research an antitrust case.

While conducting the research, Finander said, he realized that he was more interested in the operation of businesses than the practice of law. In 1982, he opened a small business consulting firm in Long Beach and began doing volunteer work for local Jewish groups.

“He became a resource for the (Jewish) community, but never in the forefront,” Long Beach City Councilman Alan Lowenthal said. “I always thought of him as being in the background as one of the hard workers.”

Finander volunteered to work as a legislative advocate for Jewish groups, making several trips to Sacramento.

For years, Finander had quietly considered a run for office. Reapportionment earlier this year offered an opportunity to do it, he said, and his frustration with Sacramento provided the will.

“I’m worried about our society. I think we’re in one hell of a mess,” he said. “A lot of government . . . has lost touch and seems completely unresponsive. . . . I became very angry and frustrated and I decided not to sit on the sidelines and grumble about it. I believe that if you feel strongly about it, as I do, that you’ve got to get in there and offer an alternative, offer a new voice.”

Even he did not think much of his chances when he entered the primary.

In April, however, Lowenthal ousted a 17-year Long Beach City Council incumbent in a local election.

The long-shot win fascinated Finander, Lowenthal said.

“When I won, it showed him how vulnerable incumbents really were,” Lowenthal said. “I could see how hard he was working and that he really believed he could do it.”

Loaning his campaign nearly $38,000, Finander converted his rented Long Beach home into a grass-roots campaign headquarters.

Placards, bumper stickers and brochures--for himself and other Democratic candidates--overflow from boxes stacked in the living room, kitchen, dining room and bedrooms. Command central is a cramped front room decorated with memos and certificates and a huge map of the district on one wall.

Contributions for his $96,000 campaign have trickled in from more than 300 individuals and couples, Finander said, as well as a number of local labor unions.

The Democratic Party has provided only $5,000 in direct contributions, but the party also staged an intense registration drive in southwest Los Angeles County.

“We’ve tried to do those things that have multiple-candidate benefit,” Angelides said. “We have probably invested more resources per candidate in the South Bay area than anywhere else in the state.”

The effort appears to have been successful. When the district was drawn up, 45.7% of its voters were Democrats, providing only a slim edge over the 43.8% Republican registration. By the time registration closed Oct. 5, however, 46.8% of the district’s voters were Democrats and the GOP had slipped to 40.7%.

“We never wrote off the district (race), but we did not consider it a key, winnable race, either,” Angelides said. “Now, having seen (Finander) and his intensity and his commitment to the race, this looks within reach.”

Even outspent five-to-one, Finander is confident that he can win the seat.

He talks in an intense staccato, one moment rapping his opponent as “the invisible state senator” and the next summarizing the ills of the state and the nation.

Although his ideas on solving the problems are short on detail, Finander notes that a state senator should play a leadership role to advance an agenda before negotiating the finer points with colleagues.

Beverly, he said, has failed to do either.

“He should be proposing new ideas, he should be out there speaking with the people, he should be seen as a rallying point for the community . . . bringing together partnerships of schools, businesses and nonprofit groups, as well as the government.”

Finander acknowledges that his stump speeches have, in large part, urged people to vote against Beverly rather than for Finander.

“If you’re not happy with the record of the incumbent, then you look at the alternative and you turn to the alternative,” he said. “That’s me.”

Times staff writer Tina Griego contributed to this story.

Candidates’ Stands on the Issues

These are the major party candidates’ positions on key issues in the 27th Senate District:

The Economy and Jobs

Beverly says a state lawmaker can do little to improve the economy because the recession affects the entire world, not just Southern California. However, he says the state can improve the business climate by making it more attractive for employers to stay in California. One way, he says, is to speed the process of granting environmental clearances for businesses.

Finander, noting that no single program will turn the state’s economy around, says he would work to make the state more friendly to business. He supports a “Buy California” plan that would give preference to California companies in bids for state projects. He also wants to streamline the regulatory bureaucracy by creating “one-stop” service for businesses seeking approval of new projects.

Welfare Reform

Finander opposes Proposition 165, Gov. Pete Wilson’s initiative to cut welfare grants, because he fears the budgetary powers included in the measure would allow the governor to become an “economic dictator.” But he supports other reform proposals, including those requiring recipients to complete remedial education and job training. He also favors limiting the length of time any one family or individual may receive welfare.

Beverly lists welfare as a serious problem because the number of cases is increasing dramatically. He favors Proposition 165, particularly the provisions designed to keep young women with children from dropping out of school and those penalizing a welfare mother for bearing another child.

Abortion

Beverly supports abortion rights and Roe vs. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision on abortion. However, he opposes unrestricted abortion rights for minors, saying he favors requiring parental consent for teen-agers seeking an abortion.

Finander, who describes himself as “lifelong pro-choice,” supports abortion rights and opposes any government restrictions of those rights. Although he would like to find a way to encourage girls to discuss abortion with their parents, he opposes parental consent laws requiring them to do so.

Workers’ Compensation Reform

Finander supports reforms of the current system, including requiring that stress disability claimants prove that at least 50% of their stress is work-related. Currently, only 10% of stress must be work-related.

Beverly favors reforms in the system to limit stress claims, enact stricter penalties for fraud and restrict physicians referring patients to laboratories they own.

School Vouchers

Both Beverly and Finander oppose providing a voucher or tax credits so parents can send their children to private rather than public schools. Both say they think vouchers would take money away from public schools and be a windfall for the parents of children who already attend private schools.

Death Penalty

Both Beverly and Finander support the death penalty.