Congressional Races. Key contests : Recommendations in House Races : Times backs reelection of Reps. Beilenson, Harman, Horn and Brown and supports challenger Mark Takano

The Times does not endorse in every race for the U.S. Congress but instead chooses to recommend candidates selectively on a case-by-case basis, as well as to acknowledge the achievements of some local incumbents who are expected to win reelection with relative ease.

24th District. Substantive, smart and honest, Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills) deserves to be reelected. Beilenson has been enormously thoughtful on the deficit and other spending issues, independent on immigration and supportive of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. After the Northridge earthquake he helped gain an immediate infusion of federal funds for his hard-hit district, which includes parts of the San Fernando Valley and eastern Ventura County. He also deserves credit for his successful amendment to the crime bill, a provision requiring the federal government to reimburse states for part of the cost of incarcerating illegal immigrants who have been convicted of felonies. With bipartisan support, his amendment got $33.4 million for the state.

His Republican challenger, Richard Sybert, an articulate lawyer and a former Wilson Administration official, favors welfare reform, like most candidates regardless of party affiliation, but, alas, offers only vague ideas on the topic. He dismisses as “industrial welfare” the defense conversion money the bipartisan California delegation worked so hard to deliver to a state devastated by defense/aerospace cutbacks. And he pans the crime bill as an ineffective piece of legislation, even though it will put more police officers on our streets. The Times endorses Beilenson.

36th District. This coastal district, which runs from Venice to the Palos Verdes Peninsula and San Pedro, was reliably Republican until 1992. That year Jane Harman, a corporate lawyer with extensive Capitol Hill experience, won the seat on President Clinton’s California coattails and with a promise to help the district’s reeling aerospace and defense industries. Harman has been notably effective as a freshman, winning seats on key committees and helping rescue McDonnell Douglas’ C-17 cargo plane from the congressional ax by forging a bipartisan alliance with Rep. Steve Horn (R-Long Beach). She differed with President Clinton on certain major issues, such as health care reform and NAFTA, but she supported the crime bill and its ban on assault weapons, thereby earning the fearsome enmity of the National Rifle Assn.

Her Republican challenger, Susan Brooks, a Rancho Palos Verdes City Council member, attacks Harman as a carpetbagger who has lived in Washington for most of the last 20 years, but Brooks has not offered a consistent program of her own. Harman is far better equipped to represent this key district as it struggles to convert from a defense to a civilian economy. She has earned another term.

38th District. As noted above, Steve Horn, who represents Long Beach, is another impressive freshman. He capitalized on the considerable Capitol Hill experience he gained in his days as a Senate aide in the 1960s. That was before he taught political science, and later became president, at Cal State Long Beach. His alliance with Harman to save jobs in the Long Beach area is a prime example of how Congress should work. He constantly advocates bipartisan governance. The scholarly Horn supported the crime bill, the Brady handgun control bill, the assault weapons ban and abortion rights.

His Democratic opponent, Peter Mathews, a professor at Cypress College, strongly supports all sorts of government intervention. He is refreshingly idealistic, but he is unclear on how he would pay for Washington’s new largess without inflating the federal deficit.

42nd District. Every year political professionals speculate that the venerable George E. Brown Jr., a Democrat, is in trouble as his Inland Empire district becomes more Republican in registration. Yet this political Lazarus perseveres every time, and we urge voters to return him to Washington again.

If reelected, Brown will become the dean of the Democrats in the 52-member California delegation in the House. He is chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee and as such has long had an interest in boosting federal support for basic science and emerging technologies, even though most other members of the delegation have paid scant attention to this matter, a key one for California.

Brown has been targeted again by the national GOP, and is being challenged by Rob Guzman, a Rancho Cucamonga businessman who runs a job-training company. He faults Brown for his long-time incumbency and says the congressman is out of touch. But Guzman has no real vision for the district, instead supporting dubious panaceas like the balanced-budget amendment.

43rd District. Congressional freshman Ken Calvert (R-Riverside) does not merit reelection. The real estate developer is less known for accomplishment in Washington than the scandal that erupted when police found him in his car with a known prostitute. The episode prompts questions about his judgment, as does his record. He voted against family leave, the motor voter bill, budget deficit reduction, the desert protection bill and the crime bill. His rhetoric is particularly unhelpful on immigration. The Inland Empire, one of the state’s fastest-growing regions, desperately needs jobs to compensate for defense cutbacks. So far, Calvert hasn’t delivered.

He faces Mark Takano, a Harvard graduate who is a public school teacher, in a rematch of the close contest that sent Calvert to Congress two years ago. The energetic and intelligent Takano promises to fight for more federal defense conversion money to support job-generating projects. He also advocates increased federal support for education, tougher crime prevention, increased border patrols and welfare reform that would put more recipients to work. Takano has proven effective on the Riverside Community College board of trustees. We endorse Takano.

Noteworthy Incumbents. Southern California is represented in Congress by many influential veterans who are likely to be easily reelected on Nov. 8. There are several whose accomplishments over the last two years merit special notice.

One is Jerry Lewis, a moderate Republican who represents the 40th Congressional District, which covers nearly all of San Bernardino County. We have endorsed him in the past because of his admirable and welcome efforts to avoid the rigid bipartisanship that too often gridlocks Congress. He was absolutely indispensable on the earthquake relief bill. Though we disagreed strongly with his opposition to the desert protection act, we applaud his many other strengths.

Other incumbents who deserve another term include Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City), one of the best political strategists in Congress; David Dreier (R-San Dimas), a hard-working member who tirelessly pushes for congressional reform and bipartisan cooperation; Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), an intelligent spokesman for fiscal responsibility and an expert on foreign affairs; Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), who is indispensable on AIDS and other health issues; Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles), who has offered constructive rather than reactive leadership on immigration and strong advocacy for more federal education funds; Julian C. Dixon (D-Los Angeles), a powerful subcommittee chairman of the coveted House Appropriations Committee who regularly delivers federal projects and much more to the region; Esteban E. Torres (D-La Puente), a former labor union leader who took a genuinely courageous stand in voting for NAFTA, and Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), who fights feistily on behalf of South-Central Los Angeles.

Southern California has several huge and expensive challenges that can be addressed only with Washington’s help--defense downsizing and immigration foremost among them. And nine months after the Northridge earthquake, the state needs still more federal disaster relief to renovate “ghost towns,” help business owners rebuild and aid homeowners still hurting from the temblor. These challenges can be better faced if these local members of Congress return to Capitol Hill.