Clean Sweep for Valley Incumbents

The day after winning rough, sometimes nasty reelection bids Tuesday, San Fernando Valley Reps. James Rogan and Brad Sherman predicted the new Congress will be less hostile--and more productive--next session, but they said they expect little change on the Clinton scandal and core partisan battles.

Change was a rare commodity in the Valley this election, as incumbents in Congress and the California Legislature swept all their races with room to spare.

Rogan spent Wednesday recovering from a slight cold and the closest race in the Valley. On election night, the freshman Republican watched his 15% lead over Democratic challenger Barry Gordon steadily dwindle as the night wore on. Rogan awoke Wednesday with a narrow victory, edging out Gordon by less than 4% of the vote.

Rogan downplayed the significance of the pending impeachment inquiry, which became a hot topic in the campaign when Gordon accused Rogan of being party to a GOP effort to oust Clinton from office. Rogan sits on the House Judiciary Committee.

“I don’t think impeachment is something that any of us should be licking our chops over,” said Rogan, whose 27th Congressional District includes Pasadena, Glendale and Burbank.

Instead, the Republican said the president and the GOP-led Congress have a “unique opportunity” to hammer out bipartisan solutions to the financial ailments facing Social Security and the need to reform and repair the nation’s public schools.

“I hope this will be the most bipartisan two years of the president’s term,” Rogan said.

Across the Valley, a tuckered-out Sherman predicted the GOP’s dismal showing in the national races for Congress will force Republicans to work with moderate Democrats like himself. Sherman stayed up later than Rogan on Tuesday night, even though his reelection was never in doubt.

Sherman nabbed 61% of the vote in the 24th Congressional District, which stretches from Sherman Oaks to Thousand Oaks. The Republican Party considered Sherman to be one of the most vulnerable Democrats in Congress, but he beat Republican businessman Randy Hoffman by 20%. Hoffman, former president of a high-tech firm in San Dimas, pumped nearly $900,000 of his own money into the campaign, and was backed by the GOP’s top heavyweights.

“Voters seem to take a dim view of self-financed candidates in California, and it transcends party,” said political scientist Larry Gerston of San Jose State University.

With a flush economy, most voters saw no reason to make wholesale changes this election, Gerston said.

“People seem to be saying, ‘Leave it the way it is,’ ” he said.

Some of the Valley’s most powerful lawmakers were among the beneficiaries of the trend, and their ascent in the Democratic leadership will be a big plus for the region, said Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan.

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Two of the Assembly’s highest ranking members represent the Valley: Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks), chairman of the Rules Committee, and Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), speaker pro tem.

“They’re part of the majority party, and the governor is part of the same party,” Riordan said. “I think it will help the Valley even more.”

Hertzberg’s political power base may expand even more in Sacramento because of his powerful new ally back at home: Lee Baca.

By acting as co-chairman of Baca’s successful campaign to become the next Los Angeles County sheriff, Hertzberg was the lone lawmaker from the county’s Westside-Valley power structure to cross the late Sheriff Sherman Block.

In doing so, Hertzberg openly acknowledges he has won an important ally in Baca. Hertzberg predicts he will be able to work closely with the future sheriff on matters of public safety.

“I’ll be able to have access if there’s any issue that affects my constituents,” Hertzberg said. “There’s no question it will be very powerful for the people of the San Fernando Valley.”

Hertzberg also said he is confident he and Baca will discuss which future candidates Baca might choose to endorse for office.

“I’m sure I’ll be working with him on issues of support,” Hertzberg said.

Hertzberg was reelected Tuesday with 68% of the vote, beating Republican challenger Eunice Deleuw, who finished with 25%.

Another win-win situation appears to be materializing for Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Northridge). On Wednesday, McClintock’s former top aide and campaign manager, Tony Strickland, was leading Democrat Roz McGrath by 346 votes in the race for the 37th Assembly District seat in Ventura County.

Consequently, the race’s outcome will be decided when 40,000 absentee ballots are counted. Should the ballots favor Strickland, then McClintock will have one of his most loyal supporters serving in the Legislature with him.

McClintock and Strickland share the same desire to reduce the burden that they believe government places on families.

Having such a colleague in the Legislature may help McClintock when he returns to Sacramento, where he has vowed to continue his fight to abolish auto registration fees and work on legislative and transportation reforms. But McClintock is quick to point out that Strickland is his own man.

Most winners in the Valley had a much easier night than Strickland.

Neither Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) nor Rep. Howard Berman (D-Mission Hills) faced major opposition Tuesday. Both cruised to victory as McKeon tallied 74.5% of the vote, and Berman 82.3%.

Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon, a Democrat, became the Valley’s first Latino state senator, dominating Republican Ollie McCaulley. The contest for the 20th Senate District ended with Alarcon collecting 66.2% of the vote to McCaulley’s 27.1%.

Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar), the first Latino elected to the lower state chamber from the Valley, did not face a Republican challenger and won reelection handily with 86.8% of the vote.

Assemblywoman Kuehl was reelected with 63.1% of the vote. Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles) won with 74.3%.

Democratic Assemblyman Scott Wildman of Los Angeles won a second term by trouncing Republican Peter Repovich. Wildman collected 65.4% of the vote to Repovich’s 31.2%.

In Lancaster, Republican Assemblyman George Runner beat Democrat Paula Calderon by a margin of 28% of the votes cast.