toppling of longtime chairman
Philip Schiliro

Waxman’s District At-a-Glance

With such glamorous locales as Beverly Hills, Malibu, Bel Air and Pacific Palisades, few places in the 30th have not been immortalized by a movie or television show. The Democratic district stretches west from Santa Monica along the Pacific Coast Highway, past Malibu to the Ventura County line. It also extends north across the Santa Monica Mountains to Calabasas and Hidden Hills on the north side of the range.

The entertainment industry drives the economy here. Many movie and television studios have facilities in the 30th, including MGM, HBO Films, Fox Broadcasting and King World Productions. Tourism also brings revenue to the district. The 30th is home to attractions such as Grauman’s Chinese Theater and several blocks of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The famed Hollywood Bowl also is in the district.

Exclusive Rodeo Drive offers ample high-end shopping, and health care also is a major economic contributor. The 30th has six medical campuses, including the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and a Department of Veterans Affairs-run site.

The district, about three-fourths white, has an active gay community in West Hollywood and a large Jewish population. Its economy is overwhelmingly white-collar, and it has the state’s highest percentage (54 percent) of college-educated residents, which also is the fourth-largest percentage in the country. The district’s colleges and universities, including Pepperdine University and the University of California, Los Angeles, together provide tens of thousands of jobs.

The district votes overwhelmingly Democratic in elections at all levels, and gave John Kerry 66 percent of its presidential vote in 2004.

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