CAMPAIGN FUNDS GO FAR AWAY CONGRESS MEMBERS, THEIR SEATS SAFE, SEND MONEY TO AID RACES IN OTHER STATES.

Byline: Lisa Friedman Washington Bureau

Three weeks before Election Day, local members of Congress are pouring money into competitive House races - outside California.

Southern California House members, representing districts tailored to make them politically safe, have given more than $200,000 since July to help fuel campaigns as far away as Connecticut, Oklahoma and Texas, according to campaign finance reports released Friday.

And since January 2002, local representatives have given their colleagues about $1.8 million from their own campaign coffers and various unaffiliated fund-raising accounts.

Political analysts said the politician-to-politician donations underscore how safe California House races have become for incumbents, thanks largely to 2000 redistricting engineered by the two parties.

``We know that so many of these races are done deals from the get-go, as do the contributors,'' said Robert Richie, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Voting and Democracy.

Raising money in safe districts, Richie said, creates a type of ``candidate-based party boss system'' in which a politician can help struggling colleagues and solidify their own leadership position within their parties.

Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, gave $100,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee this quarter and a total of about $235,000 to GOP candidates since 2002, but his spokesman, Vartan Dijhanian, insisted his boss wasn't taking his election for granted.

``The congressman has a full-time campaign operation at home, and he's constantly reaching out to voters,'' Dijhanian said.

Still, he added, ``the congressman believes it's important to maintain and extend our majority so he can push for legislative causes in Congress.''

Gene Smith, spokesman for Rep. Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys, who gave $93,700 to other candidates this quarter and about $360,000 total since 2002, also maintained Berman's donations were not a sign of complacency.

``I think it's a sign of how supportive he is of our leadership's push to retake the majority,'' she said.

McKeon's Democratic challenger is Tim Willoughby, a small-business owner from Crowley Lake. Berman's Republican opponent is David Hernandez, an insurance adjuster from North Hollywood.

According to Friday's reports, Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Thousand Oaks, contributed about $3,000 to Connecticut and Georgia lawmakers since July, and about $19,000 total since 2002.

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, gave $25,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee this cycle and about $71,000 since 2002.

Most recent reports were not available for Reps. David Dreier, R-Glendora, Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, and Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles.

Between January 2002 and July 2004, however, Dreier had given more than $400,000 to other Republicans. Waxman gave about $228,000 to other Democrats, and Schiff gave about $130,000, also to other Democrats.

Lisa Friedman, [phone]

lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com