GOP Places 5 Democratic Districts on California Hit List : Politics: The congressional seats of Jane Harman of Rolling Hills and Anthony C. Beilenson of Woodland Hills are two targets of Republicans.

Sharpening its knives for the upcoming electoral season, the Republican Party this week issued a hit list of five California Democratic districts regarded as the most likely to fall into GOP hands next November.

The National Republican Congressional Committee identified seats held by Reps. Vic Fazio of West Sacramento, Gary Condit of Ceres, Jane Harman of Rolling Hills, George Brown of San Bernardino and Anthony C. Beilenson of Woodland Hills as their key targets.

Beilenson, now in his 10th term, had announced his retirement. The other Democratic House members are running for reelection next year.

The selections are not particularly surprising. All the districts have been tough battlegrounds before, largely because of the closeness of party registration.

The 1990 reapportionment of the state’s congressional districts also hurled some veteran Democratic members--such as Fazio and Beilenson--into less safe territory and made their recent reelection battles more arduous.

The five Californians are part of 86 seats the GOP committee sees as potential pickups nationwide in the election.

Buoyed by the victory of GOP Rep. Tom Campbell in last week’s special election in Northern California’s 15th District to fill the vacancy left by former Democratic Rep. Norman Mineta’s retirement, the Republican committee hopes that a trend will develop.

“In Campbell’s district, the Democrats ran a desperate campaign of fear and fiction for a seat they had held for 21 years,” said Rep. Bill Paxon (R-N.Y.), chairman of the GOP committee. “But Campbell’s positive message of fiscal responsibility carried the day in a district that gave Bill Clinton a 16% margin of victory over George Bush in 1992.”

But the targeted Democrats seem sanguine about being painted with a bull’s-eye by the GOP.

“I’ve been saying for a year and a half that my understanding has been all along that I’m the No. 1 target because of the performance characteristics of my district,” Harman said.

Harman, a two-term legislator, has won both her general elections with just 48% of the vote.

“But the NRCC misreads the politics of Southern California. Lots of Republicans don’t want to elect extreme ideologues. They want moderates who support moderate policies. That’s why they vote for me.”

Condit was equally unfazed by his appearance on the hit list.

“I’ve been on a lot of them . . . and not sure what it means. But I don’t feel at all vulnerable at home. It’s the beginning of the political season and everybody does what they have to do, and we accept that.

“I don’t take anything for granted. We’ll have a very active campaign and do all the things we usually do. This doesn’t cause me to do anything I haven’t already done.”

Paxon predicted that the GOP will pick up 20 to 30 House seats nationwide.

But the Democrats have their own targets too.

A spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said California appears to contain fertile territory for Democratic victories in GOP-held seats.

“If you look closely, some of the best pickup opportunities are in California because of Republican budget cuts in Medicaid and student loans,” said Jim Whitney of the Democratic committee.

The Democrats list GOP Reps. Frank Riggs of Windsor, Andrea Seastrand of Shell Beach, Brian Bilbray of San Diego, Richard Pombo of Tracy, Sonny Bono of Palm Springs, Steve Horn of Long Beach and the seat vacated by Carlos Moorhead in Glendale as their best chances.

As for the list of Democratic targets, Whitney said: “If they didn’t get these guys in ‘94, they’re not going to get them in ’96.”