LOCAL ELECTIONS : Winners in Primary Already Resume Campaigns

Challengers and incumbents who emerged victorious in Valley area primary elections aren’t waiting until this fall’s main electoral event to come out swinging.

Soon after the tide turned decisively in his favor in the five-man, hotly contested GOP primary, a buoyant Richard Sybert challenged Democratic U.S. Rep. Anthony Beilenson--who easily won the right to try for a 10th term in Congress in his own party’s primary--to a series of debates and accused the incumbent of a being too liberal to represent the 24th Congressional District.

Sybert, a former aide to Gov. Pete Wilson who scored 47% of the vote to win the GOP primary, branded Beilenson as a “classic career politician.”

After his district was shoved off its Westside foundations and into the San Fernando Valley, Beilenson began “trying to sound very moderate,” Sybert said. “But look at his record and you find a classic, off-the-shelf liberal. He’s soft on crime, weak on defense and tough on taxpayers.”

But Beilenson’s top political adviser quickly rose to the challenge, predicting the incumbent would welcome a number of debates and attacking Sybert as a rank newcomer to the 24th Congressional District--thus repeating a charge Sybert’s fellow Republicans continuously had made.

“Sybert has only recently moved into the district and the only reason he won (the GOP primary) is that he invested a tremendous amount of his personal wealth into the election,” said consultant Craig Miller. “He is a manufactured candidate.”

It is expected that the Beilenson-Sybert struggle for supremacy in a district that includes the western San Fernando Valley and the Conejo Valley will spread into a larger test of strength as the GOP national party tries to oust the veteran Beilenson while the Democratic congressional leadership rushes to protect him.

Another potentially hot contest that began to take shape Tuesday is between Assemblyman James Rogan (R-Glendale), who easily won his party’s primary, and former federal prosecutor Adam Schiff, who handily won the Democratic primary.

The battle between these two will be joined over the 43rd Assembly District that includes Glendale, Burbank, Los Feliz, Silver Lake and parts of Hollywood.

Rogan joined the state Assembly only last May 3 after winning a special election to fill the shoes of Pat Nolan, the local GOP lawmaker who was ousted from office in February after pleading guilty to one count of political racketeering.

Schiff on Wednesday called Rogan a “right-wing fundamentalist” who is out of step with his district.

“It’s a frightening development,” Schiff said. “But I see a backlash coming against these (right-wing) groups that are trying to buy a place for themselves in the state Legislature with their contributions.”

Schiff said he was referring to contributions Rogan has received from the National Rifle Assn. and from Allied Business PAC, a group controlled by wealthy Christian conservative businessmen and their wives that has pumped tens of thousands of dollars into elections in recent years.

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“I’m tough on crime, moderate on social issues and fiscally conservative,” Schiff claimed.

But Rogan’s own political handlers offered up a different view. “The people will be able to look at Jim Rogan and decide for themselves if Schiff is right or wrong,” said Sheila McNichols, Rogan’s campaign manager. “Jim is very strong on personal responsibility and the values upon which this country was founded--if that means he’s a fundamentalist then that’s what he is.”

But Rogan is also trying to carve a special niche for himself as a conciliatory figure in the state Legislature. “Jim wants to act as a bridge between the Wilson Administration and the Republican conservatives critical of Wilson’s budget,” Natalie Blanning, Rogan’s administrative assistant, said on Wednesday.

“Jim is not satisfied altogether with Wilson’s budget either but he’s not alienated himself from Wilson’s office with the kind of loudmouth tactics of some conservatives,” Blanning said as she painted a picture for a reporter of the role Rogan was trying to play in heading off an intra-party clash.

In two other hard-fought primaries involving the San Fernando Valley, the Democratic nominees who won Tuesday may be virtually invincible in November.

In both the 41st and 42nd Assembly districts, where Democrats hold a strong lead in voter registration, Tuesday’s primary was seen as the decisive event in picking a successor to replace two departing incumbents.

Feminist activist and 53-year-old former TV actress Sheila Kuehl picked up 40.6% of the vote to win the Democratic primary as the only woman in a race to fill a seat being left by Assemblyman Terry Friedman (D-Brentwood).

Instead of seeking reelection, Friedman decided to run for a Superior Court judge, a post he narrowly won Tuesday. The 41st District includes the western San Fernando Valley, the Conejo Valley, Malibu and the Westside.

Kuehl, who was endorsed by many women’s groups, gays and lesbians and by renters rights organizations, called the success of her progressive agenda a sign that voters are rejecting the “harsh solutions” being offered by some candidates. During the campaign, one foe called for the breakup of the Los Angeles Unified School District while another called for a tough crackdown on illegal immigration.

Winning the GOP primary in the 41st District was Michael T. Meehan, a reserve deputy sheriff and law school student. He scored 62.3% of the vote in his party’s primary.

In the 42nd Assembly District, which includes Sherman Oaks and Studio City but is basically located south of Mulholland Drive, Wally Knox, a Los Angeles Community College District trustee, won the Democratic primary with 21.9% of the vote.

The 42nd District race arose after the incumbent, Assemblyman Burt Margolin (D-Los Angeles), chose to run for state insurance commissioner rather than seek reelection. On Tuesday, Margolin lost his bid for the insurance post to state Sen. Art Torres.

Knox’s victory also was a setback for Mark Slavkin, who represents a large share of the San Fernando Valley as a Los Angeles school board member. Slavkin came in fifth in Tuesday’s seven-person Democratic primary.

In November, Knox will face Republican Robert Davis, who ran unopposed Tuesday.

Both the 41st and 42nd Districts are heavily Democratic, and the winner of the Democratic primary is expected to win in November.

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Three incumbent congressmen--U.S. Reps. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Lancaster), Howard Berman (D-Panorama City) and Carlos Moorhead (R-Glendale) rolled over token opposition to win easy victories in their party primaries. The three are expected to have little difficulty securing reelection in November.

Five local Assembly members also ran unopposed in Tuesday’s primary and are expected to face nominal opposition in November. They were Paula Boland (R-Granada Hills), Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), Barbara Friedman (D-Van Nuys), Bill Hoge (R-Pasadena) and William (Pete) Knight (R-Palmdale).

In the 20th Senate District seat, state Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles) won his party’s primary while realtor Dolores White was victorious in the GOP primary. The seat is being vacated by state Sen. David Roberti (D-Van Nuys), who could not seek reelection because of term limits. Roberti was also defeated Tuesday in his bid to win the Democratic nomination in the state treasurer’s race.

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