ELECTIONS / 24TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT : Candidates Near Even in Fund Raising : Despite current parity, Democratic incumbent Beilenson has raised less than half of opponent Sybert’s total for past year.

As their hotly contested congressional race enters its final, three-week stretch, U. S. Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills) and his GOP challenger, Richard Sybert, are nearly matching each other dollar for dollar in campaign fund raising.

Campaign finance reports released Tuesday show that the Beilenson campaign had $207,593 on hand as of Sept. 30, while Sybert had $203,840.

Despite this parity, however, the reports show Sybert amassed a campaign war chest this year of $662,000, of which $421,000 consisted of personal loans made by the candidate to his campaign. With receipts this year of $275,000, Beilenson has raised less than half what Sybert raised during the past year.

Meanwhile, the two men met in a debate Tuesday night before a crowd of about 450 at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, clashing over their finances and other issues: proposals to limit the terms of elected officials, Proposition 187--the anti-illegal immigration initiative--and whether the federal government should pay for abortions for the poor.

Sybert praised term limits as the best way to get rid of “career politicians,” while Beilenson opposed them, saying such limits would increase the power of entrenched lobbyists.

Beilenson opposed Proposition 187 as a “naive attempt” to deal with immigration problems, while Sybert said he supports it as necessary to laying the legal groundwork to challenge existing federal laws and practices, including the Supreme Court ruling that requires states to educate the children of illegal immigrants.

Sybert said he believes the government has no role to play in abortion, including financing those of the poor, while Beilenson said it would be unfair to deny low-income women the right to an abortion.

Sybert attacked Beilenson as an ally of President Clinton. “If you like the Clinton Administration, don’t vote for me,” he said, insisting that Beilenson’s attempt to cultivate an image as an independent does not square with his record of voting 90% of the time with the Democratic leadership.

Beilenson replied that if anyone asked Republican members of the House of Representatives to identify the most independent, nonpartisan and fair member of Congress, “I’ll bet you $10,000 that 80% of them will name me.”

The 42-year-old Sybert, a former top aide to Gov. Pete Wilson, was virtually unknown in the 24th District until he began to wage his campaign to unseat Beilenson last year.

But with a steady stream of campaign literature issued during the GOP primary in June and with his financial boost from personal loans, Sybert--who says his personal financial firepower is self-made--has made his name known. He has begun to establish himself to such an extent that Beilenson is acknowledging that he has a tough fight on his hands.

Beilenson, 61, is shooting for his 10th term in Congress.

The finance reports filed this week provided the backdrop for some of the bitterest remarks in Tuesday’s debate.

Beilenson called Sybert’s acceptance of contributions from political action committees, or PACs, “the most profound difference” between the two men.

Sybert reported that he received nearly $40,000 from industry-related political action committees, which Beilenson contended shows that Sybert is already beholden to special interests “and he’s not even in Congress yet.”

Beilenson has for many years refused to take campaign contributions from political action committees, entities that usually represent special interests. Such contributions are ethically tainted and made only to influence congressional votes, Beilenson has charged. Thus, the congressman proudly claims to be part of a minuscule group of independent-minded members in Congress who refuse to take such contributions, and the campaign report he just filed for the period July 1 through Sept. 30 reflects that total abstinence.

The challenger, however, has said his receipt of such money is a good sign. The PACs represent significant business interests in the 24th District, which--through their contributions to him--are symbolically casting a vote of confidence in his ability to spur economic growth, Sybert has argued.

“Every major employer in this area is helping me and not him. Why? Because he doesn’t represent their interest,” Sybert said.

The Sybert report shows contributions from three oil company PACs (the UNOCAL Political Awareness Fund, the ARCO PAC, and the Chevron Employees PAC) and several food industry-related organizations (the National Cattlemen’s Assn. PAC, the Food Marketing Institute PAC, the American Meat Assn. PAC, and the National Restaurant Assn. PAC).

He also received money from PACs run by the Los Angeles city police union and by Mayor Richard Riordan’s former law firm.

In terms of individual contributions, Sybert got money from six attorneys from the law firm of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, where the challenger had practiced business law before becoming the director of Wilson’s office of planning and research. Galpin Ford owner Bert Boeckmann ($1,000) and his wife, Jane, the editor of Valley Magazine ($500), and attorney David Fleming, former Valley Industry and Commerce Assn. chairman ($500), also contributed.

Beilenson, in an interview with The Times, heatedly denied that his own contributors have ever lobbied him to help them with their financial or political needs. “Almost everybody who gives me money,” Beilenson said, “is a personal friend. . . . No, they don’t lobby me at all.”

Beilenson also acknowledged that he is still heavily dependent on campaign contributions from Westside residents. Beilenson represented an almost exclusively Westside district before he decided to run for the San Fernando Valley-based 24th District rather than fight with U. S. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles) over the only Westside-based congressional district left after the 1992 reapportionment.

Contributing to Beilenson were television producer Norman Lear ($1,000), former Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joy Picus ($300), and the politically active husband-wife legal team of Ben Reznik and Janice Kamenir-Reznik ($1,000 each).