Wyman Will Seek New Seat in Congress; Fiedler Rules Out Bid

One well-known politician jumped into the race for a proposed new congressional seat in northern Los Angeles County as an even better-known one ruled herself out Friday.

Assemblyman Phillip Wyman, a conservative Republican from Tehachapi, formally announced he will be a candidate for the 25th Congressional District seat. Only hours earlier, former Rep. Bobbi Fiedler, a fellow Republican from Northridge, said she will not.

Palmdale Mayor William (Pete) Knight also announced Friday that he would not run for the seat. Knight said he is considering a bid for the Assembly or state Senate instead.

Word that he would not have to battle Fiedler or Knight in the GOP primary election brought a smile to Wyman’s face.

“That’s good news for our campaign,” he said, shortly before announcing his candidacy before a dozen relatives and supporters at the Northridge Woman’s Club.

The only other announced candidate is Santa Clarita City Councilman Howard (Buck) McKeon, a conservative Republican and part-owner of the Howard & Phil’s chain of Western clothing stores. Also considering a run is former Los Angeles County assessor John Lynch of Northridge, who lost a reelection bid in 1990.

Whoever wins the June GOP primary in the heavily Republican district will be strongly favored to win the November general election. As yet, no Democrat has publicly indicated interest in the seat.

The new congressional district was created in a reapportionment plan drawn by a panel of three retired judges to reflect changes in population shown in the 1990 census. The jurists were appointed by the state Supreme Court, which is expected to approve their plan this month unless the state Legislature and Gov. Pete Wilson can agree on a redistricting plan of their own.

If approved by the court, the 25th District will become the geographically biggest congressional district in Los Angeles County, encompassing the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys plus all of Granada Hills and parts of Northridge and Chatsworth.

It also will give unified representation to the Antelope Valley, which now is split among four congressmen, none of whom live in the region. Antelope Valley business leaders have complained for years about fragmented representation weakening the area’s political influence.

Wyman, whose Assembly district covers about 40% of the congressional district, pledged to pursue an anti-tax, pro-defense agenda if he is elected to Congress.

He promised to fight to retain funding for 75 of the B-2 bombers--assembled at a Northrop Corp. plant in Palmdale--which President Bush this week agreed to cut to a fleet of 20. He also said he would vote against federal tax increases.

“The impact of the recession has been compounded by bad government decision making at the federal, state and local levels, which has increased the tax burden on California families at precisely the time when we cannot afford it,” Wyman said. He said he has voted against “every general tax increase” since his 1978 election to the Assembly.

In a recent issue of the California Journal, a magazine that reports on state politics and government, Wyman was described as a “conservative religious ideologue” who seems befuddled about the legislative process despite his long tenure in Sacramento.

Last year, the magazine said, Wyman forced members of his own party to vote against Wilson’s cherished California Environmental Protection Agency by reviving a resolution to kill it. The measure was sponsored by a Democratic lawmaker who had been willing to drop it, the Journal said.

Wyman, the article continued, “tends to pontificate on issues rather than debate them” and “can be morally self-righteous and unwilling to compromise,” although he is personally honest and sincere in his beliefs.

Steve Johnson, a Wyman spokesman, responded that although the Journal often runs thought-provoking articles, many of its reporters are former aides to Democratic lawmakers and tend to write unflattering things about conservative Republicans.

“The Cal Journal also has been critical of Proposition 13 and they think tax increases are reasonable,” Johnson said.

In a telephone interview, Fiedler also ruled herself out of the race for the proposed 24th Congressional District, which will cover the southwestern San Fernando Valley and parts of Ventura County.

Fiedler, who lost her seat in the House of Representatives after making an unsuccessful 1986 run for U.S. Senate, said she did not want to resume the rigorous lifestyle of a member of Congress, “traveling back and forth 6,000 miles a week” between Los Angeles and Washington.