Moorhead to Lead Key House Panel : Congress: Glendale legislator fights off a challenge by a Virginia lawmaker to become minority leader of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee.

Rep. Carlos J. Moorhead was elected the Republican minority leader on the House Energy and Commerce Committee by his GOP colleagues, staving off a challenge this week by a veteran colleague.

This could make the Glendale conservative, who also represents the western San Gabriel Valley, a significant player on a broad range of business, health, environment and technology issues.

The Energy and Commerce Committee handles as much as 40% of the measures to reach the House floor, according to some estimates.

“I’m very pleased,” Moorhead said Wednesday. “It will mean a lot of work, a lot of responsiblity.” The 176-member House Republican Conference voted Wednesday to ratify Moorhead’s selection over Rep. Thomas J. Bliley Jr. (R-Va.) as ranking minority member. Touting himself as a stronger leader, Bliley had decided to oppose Moorhead, who was next in line to succeed retiring Rep. Norman F. Lent (R-N. Y.).

Moorhead had won a critical test on Tuesday when the 22-member Republican Committee on Committees voted secretly to endorse Moorhead for the position. The full conference generally follows the committee’s recommendations.

Bliley partisans said the six-term Virginian had been urged to run by colleagues who feared that the easygoing Moorhead would be no match for hard-nosed Energy and Commerce Chairman John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) and the Clinton Administration. Some expressed particular concern about health-care reform, which promises to be among the most important and contentious issues that the 103rd Congress tackles.

“I’m not going to be one of those people who is just going to shout to hear myself shout,” Moorhead said, responding to the criticism. “I’d rather work to win. I think we come out much better using the style I have than we would using some of the others’.”

Moorhead, 70, has one of the most conservative voting records in Congress. He is a proponent of lower taxes and less government spending, and is critical of much government regulation.

He recently won reelection in a newly drawn and less overwhelmingly Republican 22nd District that encompasses Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena and Altadena.

Times Staff Writer Sara Fritz contributed to this story.