CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS / 42nd CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT : Pioneer Meets Voyager : Inland Empire: Veteran Rep. George E. Brown Jr. faces formidable opposition from folk hero Dick Rutan, who co-piloted a plane around the world nonstop.

FONTANA —  This used to be a blue-collar town, a place where the bulk of the jobs were at Henry Kaiser’s steel mill and most folks picked the Democrat on Election Day.

But the ‘80s brought change to Fontana, and to the region that cradles it. Kaiser closed up shop, and the gritty city was reborn as a tree-lined bedroom for families chased inland by soaring home prices in the Los Angeles megalopolis. In 1988, voters here went Republican, backing George Bush for President.

Concealed in Fontana’s metamorphosis from steel town to suburb is a subplot illustrating the peril confronting George E. Brown Jr., the region’s Democratic congressman for 28 years. In the old days, Brown scarcely broke a sweat as he racked up 30-point victory margins over his Republican opponents.

But gradually, his trusty base of support has been whittled away by growth and shifting demographics in the Inland Empire. Today, as he campaigns for a 15th term, Brown is considered one of the most endangered Democrats in the House.

Two factors have made the congressman’s reelection battle tougher than ever this fall. One is the electorate’s apparent disgust with incumbents. The other is his GOP foe, Dick Rutan, a modern-day folk hero with money and oodles of public appeal.

Rutan, you may recall, is the fellow who flew a wispy plane called Voyager around the globe without stopping to refuel. Coupled with his career as a fighter pilot, Rutan’s 1986 Voyager expedition makes him about the most menacing challenger the Grand Old Party could have cooked up.

Republican leaders have declared Rutan’s bid to win in the 42nd Congressional District one of their top priorities, guaranteeing the candidate hefty financial contributions from the party.

Meanwhile, professional election observers are carefully tracking the San Bernardino County matchup: It is a vivid test, they say, of whether voters are mad enough to trade a congressman of substantial power and national stature for a political nobody without a whit of government experience.

“It’s a classic,” said Larry Berg, a political scientist at USC. Regardless of Brown’s strengths, “voters have come to believe that government, and politicians in particular, are to blame for our problems. Because of that alone, they may well go for the folk hero.”

George Brown

Of all the incumbents struggling to survive in this kooky political season, there may be none who wears a bigger “I” on his chest than George Brown. Except for one brief hiatus, Brown, 72, has been an elected officeholder since Dwight D. Eisenhower was President.

Along the way, he has etched an enviable record, capped by his 1991 ascent to chairman of the powerful House Space, Science and Technology Committee. The trouble is, touting the resume may be hazardous this year--a reminder to constituents of his long tenure in the Capitol.

Brown is well aware of this dilemma but unsure about how gravely he will be wounded by the anticipated anti-incumbent backlash. To be safe, Brown quipped in an interview, “I’m taking pains to emphasize my performance in Congress, not my seniority.”

Raised by Quaker parents in Imperial County farm country, Brown began his political life on the Monterey Park City Council in 1954. He went on to serve in the state Assembly and was elected to Congress in 1962. He has held the seat ever since, save for a two-year pause for an unsuccessful 1970 run for the U.S. Senate.

A physics graduate of UCLA, Brown’s passion in Congress has been science and technology matters, as well as the environment. He was an early advocate of electric cars, renewable energy sources and protection for the deteriorating ozone layer.

In military affairs, he is a legendary peacenik: In the mid-1960s, he took a lone stand against funding for the Vietnam War, drawing accusations that he was a communist and disloyal to Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson. More recently, he opposed the deployment of troops in the Gulf War.

To Brown’s fans, such history is evidence of his independence and foresight.

“In his first term, George introduced legislation to convert defense industries to peacetime uses, because he knew the Cold War would end someday,” said Rialto Mayor John Longville, who once worked for Brown. “He has an uncanny ability to see problems long before others are aware they’re developing.”

Brown’s detractors call him an ossified career politician who is out of touch with the needs and views of his constituents. “These people inside the Beltway have lost all perspective,” said Bill Bader, who owns a San Bernardino car dealership. “George Brown has been at the public trough for 30 years. Enough is enough.”

Democratic strategists declare this race to be Brown’s toughest ever, but they have been saying that since 1980, when his victory margin began to shrink. In 1984, he won by 14 points. By 1990 the point spread had tumbled to six.

This year, Brown has an added burden: a district made less hospitable by reapportionment. Democrats still enjoy the edge in voter registration--52% to 39%--but the remapping cut their margin by two percentage points and added to the district two cities dominated by GOP voters--Rancho Cucamonga and Grand Terrace.

Brown, however, is a wily and savvy campaigner, and he plans to spend up to $850,000 to extend his Capitol stay two years. Brown’s strategy is to “introduce myself to my new constituents” and advertise his contributions to the district, including his work to land a federal court branch for the Inland Empire, his efforts to save hundreds of aerospace jobs in the region, and legislation to provide funds for retraining idled defense workers.

Dick Rutan

It is a warm September evening, and Dick Rutan is trolling for votes on Spyglass Drive in Rancho Cucamonga. He approaches a beige tract house, buttons his blazer and rings the doorbell.

Candidate: Hi, I’m Dick Rutan and I’m running for Congress.

Resident, behind screen door: Hi. (Glazed look.)

Candidate: Remember the Voyager? You know, the guy and the girl who flew around the world? Well, I was the guy.

Resident: Oh! That was you ? (Glaze becomes grin; screen door opens.)

For years, the Republicans have been looking for just the right candidate to knock off Brown. They believe they have found their man in Rutan.

Tall, lanky and plain-spoken, Rutan is a purebred political innocent in an era when political veterans have become national whipping boys. “The worst thing you can say about Dick Rutan,” said his consultant, Emil Franzi, “is that he has absolutely no experience in politics. Great! Say it some more--please!”

Rutan, 53, grew up the son of a dentist in the San Joaquin Valley town of Dinuba. He got his pilot’s license on his 16th birthday and joined the Air Force, flying 325 combat missions in Vietnam and earning the nickname “Killer.”

National prominence came when he and partner Jeana Yeager circumnavigated the world in the crude, H-shaped plane called Voyager. A celebration of moxie and American ingenuity, the nonstop, nine-day flight brought Rutan international acclaim as an aviator in the league of Charles Lindbergh and Chuck Yeager.

Since then, he has been consulting and developing projects at his aircraft company in the Kern County desert. He mulled a run for Congress.

“A while back, when my grandbaby was born, I got to thinking about this $4-trillion national debt and all those tax-and-spend liberals in Washington, and I got mad,” Rutan said in an interview. “They’re mortgaging my grandkids’ future, and it’s time I got off my tush and did something about it.”

Rutan, who moved from Mojave to Rancho Cucamonga to run for the 42nd District seat, brings to his campaign an odd mix of super self-assurance and almost corny, awe-struck reverence for his role as candidate.

At the urging of a friend, he rented the movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and now models himself after Jimmy Stewart’s character--a naive outsider who gets elected and takes on the political Establishment.

Many residents find his rookieness refreshing: “He’s the real thing, sort of the epitome of America,” said Hank Rager, a teacher and Democrat who plans to vote for Rutan.

Others wonder if he is qualified: “He’s got an impressive background,” said engineer Michael Johnson, a Democrat, “but I’m not sure that automatically means he should be in Congress.”

Occasionally, Rutan’s inexperience can lead to gaffes. Discussing the budget deficit, he mentioned the work of “Sen. Graham Rudman.” (In fact, Sens. Phil Gramm of Texas and Warren B. Rudman of New Hampshire co-sponsored a law that puts limits on deficit spending.)

As for his campaign spiel, it is thin when it comes to specifics, relying instead on sound bites reflecting a conservative philosophy he likens to that of a key supporter, former Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater.

Whether the pilot can muster the votes to topple the politician remains to be seen, but Rutan’s backers find hope in the June primary results. In that election, he upset the local favorite--longtime San Bernardino County Supervisor Robert Hammock--by a surprisingly large margin of eight points.

42nd Congressional District

Voter registration: 52% Democrat, 39% Republican