DEMOCRAT TO RUN IN 25TH DISTRICT.

Byline: Angela M. Lemire Staff Writer

The 2000 congressional race is taking shape, as Congressman Howard ``Buck'' McKeon faces Democratic opposition for the first time since 1996.

The Democratic Alliance for Action is pitting Sid Gold, president of the North Valley Democratic Club, against the 62-year-old Republican incumbent, who has held the 25th Congressional District seat since it was created in 1992. The Democratic presence was missing from McKeon's last race in 1998, when he was challenged only by a Libertarian Party candidate.

Attempts to reach Gold were unsuccessful. But DAA President Diane Trautman, also a former candidate for Congress, described Gold as ``passionate about creating a government that works for the people.''

``Sid Gold is a formidable candidate, and Howard McKeon knows it,'' Trautman said. ``Dr. Gold has the education, experience and skills necessary to be a fine congressman, and he is steadily building the support needed to get him there. That has to be unnerving for the Republican party members here, who appear desperate to convince the electorate that McKeon is in a totally safe seat.''

McKeon's spokesman, David Foy, said McKeon takes any candidate seriously but added, ``It's to his advantage that he represents such a strong Republican district.''

The 25th Congressional District spans the Santa Clarita Valley, stretching from the northwest San Fernando Valley to the Antelope Valley.

Gold faces an uphill battle, as the 25th District long has held a Republican majority. Of 310,000 registered voters, Republicans account for 140,746 voters, or 45.4 percent, while 117,662, or 38 percent, of voters are registered as Democrats.

And in all congressional races, McKeon always has prevailed by no less than an 18 percent majority.

Campaign strategies aside, his supporters also feel confident that McKeon's record in the Santa Clarita Valley can stand on its own.

His political roots are planted at the local levels, having been the first mayor of Santa Clarita when it incorporated in 1987. He also served on the Governing Board for the William S. Hart Union High School District for many years.

One reason McKeon didn't face Democratic opponent in the 1998 race may have been his high-profile victory in 1996, when he pushed legislation that banned the transfer or sale of national forest land for landfill purposes, under the Omnibus Parks and Recreation Lands Act.

That piece of legislation blocked a portion of the Angeles National Forest in Elsmere Canyon from being turned into a landfill.

``Congressman McKeon has a record of accomplishment in the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys, including killing the landfill deal in Elsmere,'' Foy said.

In the coming election, McKeon will continue his focus on issues that always have been of concern to him, Foy said, such as Social Security, education, cutting taxes and strengthening the military.

``Congressman McKeon is looking forward to the election, getting to know more of the people and finding out what their issues are,'' Foy said. He later added, ``The fact that we have a Democratic candidate obviously means that we'll have a more expensive race.''