Rep. Moorhead Will Not Seek Reelection in ’96

Rep. Carlos J. Moorhead (R-Glendale), the senior Republican in the state’s congressional delegation, intends to announce next week that he will not run for reelection, according to sources close to the congressman.

Moorhead’s anticipated resignation is prompting a flurry of jockeying among local elected officials, made even more intense by the game of musical chairs created by term limits for state officeholders.

Among the politicians named as possible contenders for Moorhead’s seat are Assemblyman James Rogan (R-Glendale) and Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar).

The 73-year-old Moorhead has been wrestling with the decision since the start of the year, and those who know him said it was a combination of factors--advancing age, a Republican majority that has pushed him off to the side and a desire to return home to spend time with his grandchildren--that led him not to launch a campaign for his 13th term.

“He has been torn,” said one longtime associate. “He wanted to get back to Glendale when he was young enough to enjoy it, but he also wanted to stay in Congress when he was still young enough to get things done.”

Retiring after the Republicans finally seized control of the House makes the decision especially difficult. But Moorhead, despite his senior status, has been shunted by House leadership. He was bypassed by House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) for the chairmanship of two powerful House committees--Judiciary and Commerce--and instead received a lower-profile subcommittee post.

Moorhead has made the most of the situation, pushing through the subcommittee on courts and intellectual property a series of bills favored by the entertainment and biotechnology industries and other traditional backers.

Moorhead is vacationing through the end of the week and was not available for comment. In a recent interview, he hinted that he was actively considering retirement when his term ends in 1996 but at the same time wanted to make the decision on his own terms.

“I’ve got a busy schedule, but the years wear on . . . and you can’t plan to stay on in Congress until you’re 110,” he said. “There’s a possibility [of retirement], but whatever I decide, I’ll let people know in plenty of time.”

His decision creates a void that is expected to lead to intense political maneuvering in the coming months.

The 27th Congressional District includes Pasadena, Glendale and such communities as La Canada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Sunland and Tujunga. Once strongly Republican, the district has become more evenly matched in recent years and even supported Bill Clinton for President in 1992.

“Glendale and Pasadena are not the Republican strongholds they used to be,” said one GOP political analyst. “It’s still a Republican safe district, but it certainly can’t be taken for granted.”

Already, two Democrats--Doug Kahn, who challenged Moorhead in 1992 and 1994, and Screen Actors Guild President Barry Gordon--have announced that they will vie for the seat next year. If Katz and others enter the race, there will likely be a spirited primary fight.

Most political observers consider Rogan--a relative newcomer to politics who has quickly earned the respect of his GOP colleagues--as the leading GOP contender for Moorhead’s seat. Rogan aides say he is seriously considering the race but will not make an announcement until the end of the legislative session next month. Political insiders say Rogan’s wife is not thrilled with the idea of moving to Washington, complicating the 38-year-old former judge’s plans.

Moorhead timed the announcement to give Rogan, or whichever other Republicans emerge, plenty of time to raise the funds and set up an organization in advance of next spring’s primary.

In early June, Moorhead huddled with Rogan and county Supervisor Mike Antonovich in Rogan’s Glendale office to discuss his next step. Since then, Antonovich has announced that he is running again for the Board of Supervisors and Rogan has privately floated his name as Moorhead’s successor.

Moorhead, criticized as being too docile but praised for his congeniality and hometown loyalty, will leave a mixed legacy as he heads into retirement. He spent most of his long career as a member of the minority party, unable to push much legislation through the Democrat-controlled institution. One opponent chided him during a recent campaign for accomplishing next to nothing, saying that the only significant matter he has been able to navigate through the House is the declaration of “Snow White Day.”

But Moorhead brushed off such remarks, noting that he has worked behind the scenes on a variety of issues. For instance, he backed Hollywood interests in opposing cable reregulation, developed new safety standards for oil and natural gas interests and has fought for a beefed-up Border Patrol.

A former attorney and member of the California Assembly, Moorhead entered the national spotlight early in his career as the House Judiciary Committee weighed the impeachment of President Nixon. Moorhead stuck by Nixon long after other Republicans had backed way, until the infamous “smoking gun” tapes emerged.

Moorhead’s voting record put him among the House’s most conservative members, but he would freely stray from the GOP leadership. He signed the “Contract With America” only grudgingly and cast a vote in favor of term limits because many of his constituents supported the concept, not because he did.

“He leaves with his head up,” consultant Paul Clark said. “After a while, you have to figure that you’ve done what you came to Washington to do.”

One of the House’s oldest members, Moorhead represents a different political era than the young GOP freshmen who are driving much of the debate on Capitol Hill. Considered not aggressive enough by Gingrich, Moorhead was willing to make deals with Democrats and work out problems out of the public eye.

“Moorhead’s problem was not so much his age as the perception that he had failed to fight actively against the Democratic leadership of his committees,” says the 1996 edition of Politics in America, a guidebook on Congress. “In more than two decades of service, he had been too often laid back and largely unnoticed.”