Troubled Economy Alters Political Scene on Coast : L.A. County: Three Democratic newcomers capture south county seats. Former Cal State Long Beach President Stephen Horn wins House race in the 38th District.

The winds of political change swept across a broad southern crescent of Los Angeles County Tuesday, propelling newcomers to the Legislature and Congress from economically troubled districts reeling from deep cuts in the aerospace and defense industries.

By substantial margins, three political newcomers, all Democrats and all women, won election from recession-racked districts along the county’s southern coastline that are suffering from high unemployment. Two incumbent legislators narrowly escaped with their jobs, while one Sacramento veteran was beaten by a political unknown.

In most other legislative and congressional districts across the vast county, incumbent lawmakers were reelected. A record number of minorities were elected to Congress and the Legislature.

The most stunning upset was in the new 54th Assembly District that hugs the coast from the Palos Verdes Peninsula across Long Beach, where Betty Karnette, a little-known Long Beach math teacher, unseated veteran Assemblyman Gerald N. Felando (R-San Pedro).

“People wanted change,” Karnette said. “No incumbent can rest easy.”

To the north, Marina del Rey attorney Jane Harman won an expensive battle against Republican Joan Milke Flores, a Los Angeles city councilwoman, for an open seat in the new 36th Congressional District that runs up the coast from the Palos Verdes Peninsula to Venice. Harman’s campaign theme, hammered home in costly television commercials, emphasized that she is “pro-choice, pro-change.”

As she waited for election returns Tuesday night, Harman said the district was ready for new leadership. “The Reagan-Bush economic policies failed in this area,” she said. Although the district has voted Republican in state and national elections for a decade, Harman noted that the area is hurting economically because of aerospace and defense cuts.

In much the same area, Democrat Debra Bowen scored a landslide victory over Republican Brad Parton in the 53rd Assembly District that runs from the edge of the Palos Verdes Peninsula to Venice. Although both candidates said the economy and jobs were the major issues, the race became a vicious clash over everything from abortion and religion to taxes and Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.

In the Long Beach area, veteran state Sen. Robert G. Beverly (R-Manhattan Beach) narrowly escaped unemployment in the new 27th Senate District that runs from Palos Verdes to Downey. Beverly beat Democrat Brian Finander, another political newcomer, by a margin of less than 1% of the vote.

The voters’ wrath was not reserved for Republicans. Assemblyman Bob Epple (D-Norwalk) squeaked out a reelection victory by little more than 1% over Republican Phillip D. Hawkins in the 56th Assembly District that runs from Long Beach to Downey, Bellflower and Cerritos.

Voters in the new 38th Congressional District that includes much of the same area ended a political dynasty by refusing to send Evan Anderson Braude, the stepson of longtime Rep. Glenn Anderson (D-Long Beach) to Washington. Instead, former Cal State Long Beach President Stephen Horn, a political scientist whose specialty is Congress, will be joining the House of Representatives.

Tuesday’s results were the latest indication of political upheaval in the southern part of the county, where two incumbents, Assemblymen Richard E. Floyd (D-Carson) and Dave Elder (D-San Pedro) both lost a Democratic primary fight to Carson City Councilwoman Juanita McDonald. Voters in the 55th Assembly District sent McDonald to Sacramento with 82.9% of the vote. The district includes the Harbor area, Carson, and parts of Compton and Long Beach.

After hard-fought and expensive reelection battles, two other lawmakers won reelection by large margins.

Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman (D-Encino) beat back a well-financed challenge from Republican Christine Reed in the 41st Assembly District that runs from Santa Monica to Malibu and Encino to Agoura Hills. The race became a test of wills between liberal Friedman, who had never faced a stiff challenge in his political career, and moderate Reed, a former Santa Monica city councilwoman who had the financial backing of Gov. Pete Wilson and Republican leaders in Sacramento.

And after being forced by redistricting to run far from his traditional Westside base, liberal Rep. Anthony Beilenson (D-Los Angeles) easily defeated conservative Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) in the new 24th Congressional District that includes the western San Fernando Valley and part of Ventura County.

After the defeat, McClintock announced he is dropping out of politics.

The election also saw Latino Democrats win Assembly offices in unprecedented numbers in Los Angeles County by capturing anywhere from 57% to 73% of the vote. They included Richard G. Polanco, District 45; Louis Caldera, District 46; Diane Martinez, District 49; Martha M. Escutia, District 50; Hilda L. Solis, District 57, and Grace M. Napolitano, District 58.

Latino Democrats in the county also gained one seat in the congressional delegation with victories by Xavier Becerra in the 30th District and Lucille Roybal-Allard in the 33rd District. Incumbents Matthew G. Martinez and Esteban E. Torres won reelection.

In District 41 on the eastern edge of the county, Republican Diamond Bar Mayor Jay C. Kim became the first Korean-born American citizen to be elected to Congress.

Two African-American Democrats retained their congressional seats in Los Angeles districts: Julian C. Dixon in District 32 and Maxine Waters in District 35. Compton Mayor Walter R. Tucker will represent District 37 for the first time. Each of the three won by margins ranging from 83% to 87% of the vote.

And five African-American Democratic incumbents kept their Assembly seats. They include Gwen Moore, District 47; Marguerite Archie-Hudson, District 48; Curtis R. Tucker Jr., District 51; and Willard H. Murray Jr., District 52. Murray ran unopposed and Archie-Hudson won with 93% of the vote.