California Congressional District 24

It's a political prize coveted by both major parties, a congressional seat discussed more often by Democratic and Republican strategists in Washington than by the voters deciding who sits there. Seven Democratic candidates are competing for a chance to fill the seat soon to be vacated by a venerable Democratic congressman, Anthony C. Beilenson of Woodland Hills. So are three Republicans, including one candidate who came close to bouncing Beilenson from office in a close election two years ago.

Republican congressional candidate Richard Sybert raised nearly $112,000 in donations last year to pay off debts from his unsuccessful 1994 attempt to replace Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills) in Congress and launch a renewed effort this year. Democratic congressional candidate Brad Sherman raised nearly $12,000 in the final weeks of last year and personally loaned his campaign $275,000 to jump-start his political bid for federal office.

Falling short of the needed signatures, Joe C. Gelman failed to qualify as a Republican candidate for the congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills), election officials said Monday. "He had only 23 good signatures and he needed a minimum of 40," said Marcia Ventura, a spokeswoman in the Los Angeles County elections office. Gelman, a 35-year-old Westwood political consultant, attributed the failure to the rush of collecting signatures of registered Republican voters the afternoon of the filing deadline.

Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills) declared victory Friday over Republican candidate Rich Sybert, but Sybert said he may ask Congress to deny Beilenson his seat on grounds of election fraud. With some ballots still uncounted, Beilenson campaign manager Craig Miller said he expects the nine-term congressman to maintain or increase his lead of 3,206 votes--just five more than when election officials finished the first tally of ballots on election night. "The race is clearly over.

It was relatively quiet, low-tech politics in the end. After weeks of pumping tens of thousands of expensive, targeted mailers into district mailboxes, U.S. Rep. Anthony Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills) met voters Sunday at the Calabasas home of a Republican supporter, while Richard Sybert, Beilenson's GOP challenger, thanked squads of his volunteers scattered throughout the huge 24th District.

U.S. Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson on Thursday charged Richard Sybert, his Republican rival in next week's election for a San Fernando Valley congressional seat, with "ripping off" taxpayers by doing private legal work while he had a state job. Sybert, calling the Beilsenson charge a smear, responded that he was specifically cleared by state ethics officials to do such work.

U.S. Rep. Anthony Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills), 61, is seeking his 10th term in congress. A lawyer by training, the former state legislator is married and has three children. Republican challenger Richard Sybert, 42, is an attorney and businessman who was director of Gov. Pete Wilson's Office of Planning and Research. He and his wife have one child. This is one of the most closely watched congressional races in the state.

U.S. Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D--Woodland Hills) and his Republican challenger, Richard Sybert, jumped into the Proposition 187 fray Wednesday, agreeing that illegal immigration needs to be controlled but parting ways on the controversial ballot proposition. Beilenson condemned the initiative as ineffective, costly and unconstitutional during a debate sponsored by the Woodland Hills Chamber of Commerce, while Sybert said it is an important first step in easing the state's immigration woes.

As their hotly contested congressional race enters its final, three-week stretch, U. S. Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills) and his GOP challenger, Richard Sybert, are nearly matching each other dollar for dollar in campaign fund raising. Campaign finance reports released Tuesday show that the Beilenson campaign had $207,593 on hand as of Sept. 30, while Sybert had $203,840.