California Congressional Elections 1996

With Rep. Robert K. Dornan's presidential campaign debt eclipsing his modest personal assets, the Garden Grove Republican may find his financial leverage to fund a 1996 congressional race depleted. So far, Dornan has accumulated $177,892 in debts for his presidential bid, including a loan to the campaign for $40,000 from his personal funds, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Take an empty congressional seat. Add two open state Legislature races--and a third where the incumbent faces strong opposition. Season with changing demographics that have both political parties salivating for success. Stir the pot with more than enough campaign dollars to sweeten the mix.

In one of the most unusual election years in recent California history, the bottom of the ticket--those contests coming after the presidential race on the ballot--are driving the 1996 campaign to a potentially dramatic conclusion this weekend. Political experts conceded the state's 54 electoral votes to President Bill Clinton in preelection interviews, but refused to forecast the outcome of critical congressional and legislative contests.

It hurts to lose by a lot. It is gut-wrenching to lose by a little. Just ask Republican Susan Brooks, who has lost twice in her bid for the House of Representatives--in 1994 by fewer than a thousand votes, and this year by a lot more. On the morning after election day last week, she awoke to the news that she had failed in her second bid to unseat South Bay Rep. Jane Harman (D-Rolling Hills), this time by a margin of nine big points--18,829 votes.

Maybe Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill was right. Maybe, as the late House speaker said, all politics is local. But rarely has that maxim been more clear in a national election year than in Tuesday's primary, when the Los Angeles County voters who do trudge to the polls will do so largely to decide local races, not high-profile contests. With the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations decided, the Golden State's primary lacks the luster of many prior elections.

Imagine the predicament of Democrat Doug Kahn, a candidate for Congress in a district that from all indications matches his moderate views. Considering that his opponent, state Assemblyman James Rogan (R-Glendale), is one of the more conservative lawmakers around, Kahn expected to be easily distinguished as the moderate by voters. But, at a recent campaign event, Rogan compared his own positions to those of Bill and Hillary Clinton often enough to be taken for a born-again Democrat.

Now that his rival is retiring, congressional candidate Rich Sybert is trying to portray himself as a chum of Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills). And Beilenson is not exactly thrilled. In a recent letter to Beilenson backers, the Republican Sybert downplays the differences between him and the outgoing congressman, long known for his liberal viewpoint. "On matters of conviction, we shared many views," Sybert says in the letter.

The amount of campaign, political and election-related information available on the Internet has grown explosively in recent years. New sites are added nearly every day. Viewpoints can range from seriously official campaigns to satirical parodies of established politicians. Most of the sites listed here contain links to still other political pages. Other sites can be found by using search engines such as Yahoo or Lycos.

While Democratic congressional candidate Brad Sherman on Wednesday declared his election victory to be a show of support for his sensible and moderate views, his Republican opponent, Rich Sybert, was blaming his loss on Bob Dole. "It is a nice victory and a vote of confidence," Sherman said after winning 50.4% of the vote in the 24th Congressional District that includes the western San Fernando Valley, portions of Ventura County and some coastal areas. Sybert picked up 42.

Digging deep into their own pockets, a Democratic congressional candidate and his Republican rival have collectively lent about $1 million to their political campaigns to win a seat in Congress. Campaign finance reports show that Democrat Brad Sherman has now lent $390,000 to his all-out election bid to replace Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills), who is retiring at the end of the year.