Beilenson Won’t Seek Reelection Next Year : Congress: Democrat says he’s frustrated by ‘mindless’ political process.

After 20 years in Congress championing such liberal causes as land conservation, abortion rights and gun control, veteran Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills) announced Wednesday that he does not plan to run for reelection when his current term expires in 1996.

Joining the tide of Democratic lawmakers who have decided to end their careers in the U.S. Capitol, Beilenson echoed many of their sentiments in declaring that the political process had become “ideological and often mindless,” a partisan war that has limited his opportunities to effect change.

Because of the changed political climate in Washington, Beilenson said, “I can no longer make the kind of meaningful and useful contribution that is required of a responsible legislator.”

Beilenson, 63, made his announcement in a prepared statement issued Wednesday afternoon that surprised many fellow representatives and Democratic Party officials.

His retirement will open up a seat that Beilenson barely retained in a hard-fought election last year and that Democrats regard as crucial to maintaining control of the California congressional delegation. Beilenson’s challenger in last year’s race, Rich Sybert, has already declared his intention to run again and laid claim to the mantle of leading candidate.

“This seat will be a national priority to hold onto,” said Bill Press, chairman of the California Democratic Party. “This seat could certainly determine the leadership of the California congressional delegation,” which, if turned over to the GOP, would give Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich enormous backing.

A lanky, bespectacled, Harvard-educated attorney who first entered politics as a state assemblyman in 1962, Beilenson is a senior member of the powerful House Rules Committee and a former chairman of the Intelligence Committee. His gentlemanly political style, coupled with a willingness to take unconventional stands on some partisan issues, has won him praise from both sides.

“On his side of the aisle, there’s probably no one I have more personal respect for,” said Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley), who received a surprise ally in Beilenson in his effort to deny American citizenship to U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants. “On most major issues we disagree . . . [but] Tony is not the kind of guy who marches lock-step with his party. He’s a free thinker.”

As a state senator in 1967, Beilenson wrote landmark legislation liberalizing the state’s abortion laws. And in Congress in 1978, he made what he said Wednesday is his proudest achievement: creating the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, stretching from Griffith Park to Point Mugu, which he has ardently supported ever since.

In recent years, Beilenson has continued advocating environmental concerns, voting for the Clean Air Act of 1990 and opposing expanded oil drilling off the California coast. Political journals have characterized Beilenson as one of Congress’ “smartest members” and “straightest arrows,” a politician who has steadfastly refused to take money from special-interest groups.

But his unswerving loyalty to President Clinton drew attacks from critics, who sensed that Beilenson’s seat was a high-priority target for the GOP in the Republican revolution that swept the nation last November.

An aggressive campaign by Sybert forced Beilenson to abandon some of the very civility the congressman believes is now missing in Washington in order to fight back and hold onto his job. Sybert, who financed much of his own campaign, painted Beilenson as a tax-and-spend technocrat whose more moderate stances were disingenuous positions taken only to mollify voters in the more conservative district Beilenson moved to in 1992 after reapportionment in 1990.

“Only his rhetoric” has changed, Sybert said Wednesday. “His voting record has continued to be in lock-step with partisan politics and has continued to be resolutely liberal.”

Other critics accused Beilenson of deciding to leave Congress because his party no longer controlled Capitol Hill.

“He’s just quitting like the rest of the Democrats because they’re no longer running the show,” said Karen Kurta, head of the Republican Party in Ventura County. “It’s like he’s saying, ‘Gee, if I can’t be in charge, then I’m leaving and I’m taking my marbles with me.’ ”

Beilenson acknowledged that life in the minority for the first time has been difficult. But he said his decision stemmed more from wanting time to pursue other interests, although he has no specific agenda.

“I’ll be 64 years old prior to the next election. I’d like to have at least several years to do something else,” he said.

His announcement stunned Democratic colleagues who had no inkling Beilenson was considering stepping down so soon.

“It’s tough for all of us to watch things we’ve worked for dismantled by the new majority in the House,” said longtime Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City). “Tony’s decision not to run saddens me because the quality of the House moves down a notch without him.”

Political observers immediately began speculating as to a Democratic heir to take over Beilenson’s district, which straddles Ventura and Los Angeles counties, including Thousand Oaks, Malibu and the western San Fernando Valley.

Suggested candidates include Los Angeles County health czar Burt Margolin, freshman Assemblywoman Sheila James Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) and City Councilwoman Laura Chick, who sources say has been exploring the idea of running for Beilenson’s seat were it to open up.

Brad Sherman of Sherman Oaks, a member of the State Board of Equalization, said he would consider running for the seat if Beilenson does not reconsider. Saying he is unconvinced that Beilenson’s decision is final, he predicted that “a number of Democrats in the Valley and a number of Democrats across the country [will be] urging him to change his mind.”

Others believed to be interested are former Westside-area Rep. Mel Levine and state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), a die-hard liberal whom political watchers say has softened his leftist image recently with such moves as supporting a breakup of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

“The silver lining here,” Press said, “is that there is a wealth of strong Democrats who represent the Valley, any one of whom would make an outstanding new member of Congress.”

With so much at stake in Beilenson’s seat, Press said, it will be imperative for the Democratic Party to consolidate support and maximize resources for an agreed nominee who could run uncontested in the primary.

“We have to carry the Valley, and we have to carry this seat,” Press said.

Times staff writer Carlos V. Lozano contributed to this story.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson

* Party: Democrat

* Born: New Rochelle, N.Y.

* Age: 63

* Education: Harvard College ’54 (bachelor’s degree in American government), Harvard Law School ’57.

* Political Career: Elected to the California Assembly in 1962, the state Senate in 1966 and the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976.

* Significant Achievements: Beilenson wrote legislation liberalizing abortion while a state senator in 1967; created the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area as a congressman in 1978; and restricted U.S. imports of elephant ivory.

* Personal: He and his wife, Dolores, have three children and three grandchildren.