27 Challengers Will Run for the Valley’s 5 Congressional Seats : Politics: Friday was the deadline for candidates to submit nomination papers. The posts held by Beilenson and Berman are the most coveted.

Twenty-seven challengers--including a former aide to Gov. Pete Wilson, a librarian and an investigative reporter--had filed papers as of Friday to run for the seats held by five congressmen who represent the San Fernando Valley, with those of Reps. Anthony Beilenson and Howard Berman the most coveted by the political wanna-bes.

Friday was the deadline for candidates to submit their nomination papers to run for these federal offices.

Seven challengers filed for the 24th District seat held by Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills), but the nine-term incumbent will face only one challenger in the Democratic primary--Scott Gaulkey, whose occupation was not reported to county clerk’s officials.

The district covers the southwestern Valley--including Encino, Tarzana, Woodland Hills, Reseda, Winnetka, Canoga Park and West Hills--and Calabasas, Agoura, Malibu and the Conejo Valley in Ventura County.

It is the 24th District Republican primary that is crowded with aspirants who believe Beilenson, second-highest ranking Democrat on the powerful House Rules Committee, is vulnerable because the 1990 reapportionment thrust the Westside-based liberal into a Valley-based Republican-leaning district.

Still, Beilenson was able to win in 1992 with 55% of the vote against a well-funded conservative Republican challenger, former Assemblyman Tom McClintock.

The 24th District GOP primary will feature Richard Sybert, a former cabinet-level officer in the Wilson Administration who has loaned his campaign more than $400,000; Robert Hammer, a self-employed banking consultant; Mark Boos Benhard, the owner of a media relations firm who was an aide to former Congressman William Dannemeyer; Sang Korman, a businessman who has spent more than three-quarters of a million dollars of his own money on three previous unsuccessful congressional races, and Emery Shane, a commercial real estate broker.

Running as a Libertarian in the 24th District is John Koehler.

Also attracting a large field of candidates is the ethnically diverse 26th District seat held since 1982 by Berman (D-Panorama City). Berman’s working class district includes most of the eastern Valley.

Two other Democrats--Jose Galvan, a librarian, community activist and frequent political candidate, and G.C. (Brodie) Broderson, a businessman--will be vying with the incumbent for their party’s nomination in the June primary.

Three Republicans are running in the 26th District GOP primary. They are: Gary Forsch, a hardware store manager who scored 30% of the vote against Berman as the Republican standard-bearer in the 1992 general election; Bill Glass, a CPA from Sherman Oaks, and John Furutani, a lawyer.

Filing as minor party candidates were Libertarian Erich D. Miller, a Reseda businessman, and Peace and Freedom Party member Mark Farr, a student from Toluca Lake.

In the 25th District, Rep. Howard (Buck) McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) will face Sandra Tulley of Lancaster, who did not report her occupation to election officials, in the GOP primary. McKeon, the owner of a chain of western clothing stores who has become a leader of freshman House Republicans, will be seeking his second term.

The 25th District includes the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys as well as the Los Angeles city communities of Northridge, Chatsworth, Porter Ranch, North Hills and Granada Hills.

James H. Gilmartin of Saugus, who got 30% of the vote running against McKeon in 1992, and William Horning of Lancaster, a custody records clerk, will compete in the 25th District Democratic primary. Running as a Libertarian in the 25th District is Devin Cutler, a financial director from Canoga Park.

Rep. Carlos Moorhead (R-Glendale), the dean of California’s GOP congressional delegation who is seeking his 12th term, will be opposed in the 27th District Republican primary by Elizabeth Michael, a businesswoman. The Democratic primary will pit Doug Kahn, an Altadena businessman, against Roger Kulpa, owner of an accounting firm. American Independent Party member Bill Gibbs of Glendale and Libertarian Dennis Decherd, a computer systems analyst from Pasadena, also have their hats in the ring.

The 27th District includes Glendale, Burbank and the Sunland-Tujunga communities in the city of Los Angeles.

In the 29th Congressional District, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles), the House’s most influential member on health-care issues, will be opposed in the Democratic primary by investigative reporter Jon Rappaport. Running unopposed in the GOP primary is Paul Stepanek, a businessman.

Running as a Libertarian is Michael J. Binkley, a software engineer, and Peace and Freedom Party representative Nancy Lawrence.

The 29th District includes Studio City and parts of Sherman Oaks but is mostly located south of Mulholland Drive.

The primary election is June 7, the general election Nov. 8.