Well-Heeled Crowd : Fund-Raiser Nets $150,000 for Katz’s Bid

Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sepulveda), who is seeking a fifth term in a politically competitive district coveted by the Republicans, netted more than $160,000 at a fund-raiser Thursday--more than his GOP opponent hopes to raise for his entire campaign.

About 530 supporters paid $350 each to dine on tortellini salad and chicken, listen to country music at the Sheraton-Universal Hotel and make the event Katz’s most lucrative fund-raiser ever.

The well-heeled crowd also heard Jim Hightower, the plain-speaking, populist Texas commissioner of agriculture, tell them: “Both parties, Democrats and Republicans, have been focused way too much on an economic elite. . . . Let’s invest in our people again. Let’s put the economic tools in their hands.”

Hightower, a Democrat who has gained a national reputation for his give-’em-hell speaking style and maverick views, was the guest speaker.

“We’ve had all the Reaganomics that we can stand,” he said. “Reagan-mortis is setting in.”

Katz, whose donors generally include some of the state’s major special interests, now has more than $220,000 on hand eight months before the general election. He does not face a primary challenge. As a past target for defeat by the GOP, Katz benefits by having many contributors steered to him by other Democrats.

Foe Hopes for $150,000

In contrast, Jim Rendleman of Granada Hills, Katz’s likely Republican opponent, says he aspires to raise $150,000 for his campaign in the northeast San Fernando Valley district. He also hopes, however, that the state Republican Assembly campaign committee will find his candidacy viable enough to match or exceed that figure.

“We’ll be able to raise enough money to do the job,” Rendleman said Thursday. He also said that Katz is “going to have trouble raising money,” a prediction seemingly belied by the success of Katz’s fund-raiser.

Rendleman, 31, an attorney, is chairman of the Los Angeles County Young Republicans. He is a former Air Force officer who has never sought public office.

“I expect a moderately serious challenge,” Katz said Thursday. He added that Assembly Minority Leader Pat Nolan (R-Glendale) has always targeted his conservative 39th District for significant GOP financial and technical aid and may do so again for Rendleman.

“If Pat Nolan gives him $2,000, you have to take him seriously,” Katz said.

Some strategists have suggested that Nolan would at least like to inspire enough concern by Katz to force him to concentrate his campaign treasury in his own district rather than transfer large sums to colleagues in tighter races.

Alexander M. Newton of Sylmar has also registered to run in the district as a Libertarian Party candidate.

Katz, 37, appears to be taking nothing for granted. His campaign committee hired many workers to register voters in heavily Democratic areas last fall and has another registration drive under way. Katz said 4,000 new voters were put on the rolls in 1987.

Katz began the voter registrations regularly after a Republican campaign caught him by surprise by signing up 10,000 new GOP voters. He beat back a well-financed challenge by ex-Los Angeles Police Detective Robert F. Thoreson in 1986, with 60% of the vote, his largest margin ever. Thoreson, who also ran in 1984, is Rendleman’s campaign manager.

The 39th District, which includes Latino and black neighborhoods of Pacoima and San Fernando, blue-collar Sepulveda, rural Sylmar and part of affluent Northridge, has more registered Democrats than Republicans but has strongly supported Ronald Reagan and the anti-tax Proposition 13.

In an age of incumbency, the district has also earned a reputation for sending incumbents packing. Before Katz’s first victory in 1980, it had elected four different assemblymen in 12 years.

Katz’s appeal has been to offset his generally liberal positions on social issues with his tough stands on law enforcement, including support for the death penalty, advocacy for small businesses and high-visibility community activism. His clout in Sacramento has been enhanced by his close association with Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), who told Katz’s supporters Thursday that the assemblyman “is the embodiment of what a public official ought to be.”

Katz’s fund-raising ability is boosted by his position as chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, which was duly noted on the fund-raising invitation.

He emphasized that his financial supporters include a cross-section of small businesses and individuals, some of whom are represented through labor groups and trade associations.

A review of Katz’s 1987 fund-raising reports shows he garnered substantial contributions from legal, medical, real estate, labor, insurance, financial and transit interests. Overall, he raised $260,341 and spent $203,423.

His largest contributors were the Assn. of California Insurance Companies political-action committee and Costain Homes Inc., a Newport Beach developer, which each gave him $5,000; the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council, $4,000; the California Teachers Assn., $3,800, and the Cooperative of American Physicians Trust Legislative Committee and the California Trial Lawyers PAC, both of which contributed $3,500.