(FORTUNE Magazine) – QUICK NOW: Who's being called the best Democratic fund raiser since Lyndon Johnson? Senator Edward Kennedy? Wrong. Speaker Thomas P. ''Tip'' O'Neill? Wrong again. Tony Coelho, the 43-year-old, four-term Congressman from California's San Joaquin Valley? Right. Coelho (pronounced Quell-o) is not widely known outside his home district and Washington, D.C., but since 1981, when he became chairman of the House Democratic campaign committee, contributions have risen from the paltry $1.2 million gathered for the 1980 election to $11 million in 1984. Projected for the 1986 election: $15 million. Coelho's money-raising prowess is making him the favorite to be majority whip, the No. 3 House job, when a new Congress convenes in 1987. Business lobbyists in Washington know Coelho well. It is their wallets that he is especially adept at opening. His simple but effective sales pitch: ''Your business shouldn't be identified with only one party.'' He clinches the sale by pointing out that the Democrats now have a 71-seat majority in the House and are likely to keep it for a while. He adds: ''We're going to be involved in your business, so it doesn't make sense for you not to get involved in our business.'' The Speaker's Club is one of Coelho's most successful fund-raising vehicles. Expected to bring House Democrats over $2 million for their 1986 races, this program gives C.E.O.s and business lobbyists a chance to talk to the House Democratic leadership. Club events include a Christmas party, golf tournaments hosted by Tip O'Neill, and intimate briefings with powerful committee chairmen like Dan Rostenkowski. Political action committees from Chevron, General Electric, Bank- America, U.S. Steel, and other FORTUNE 500 companies have all ponied up $15,000 to - join the club. Says one business lobbyist: ''The Speaker's Club is a cheap contribution considering all the access you get.'' Intense and ambitious, Coelho has a liberal voting record and is a highly partisan critic of the Reagan Administration. But he has gone to bat for business interests on a variety of issues. He has helped oil and gas companies fight tax reform by forging a coalition between them and pro-Israeli Democrats, who fear that provisions hurting domestic drillers may also help Arab suppliers. And Coelho has looked out for California winegrowers. He recently kept watch over a provision in the House tax package that is favorable to Ernest and Julio Gallo, Coelho constituents who founded the wine company bearing their names. Under the bill, children would continue to be liable for estate taxes on inheritances from their parents, but grandchildren would be exempted from taxes on the first $2 million each. That provision could save the Gallos' numerous grandchildren millions of dollars in estate taxes. Not surprisingly, Coelho opposes legislation, supported by a number of leading Democrats, that would limit PAC contributions. Coelho argues that the escalation in spending for House and Senate races -- not the influence of PACs -- is the real problem, and he would support a measure to cap campaign spending. Says Coelho: ''It doesn't make sense to spend $5 million or $6 million for a job that pays only $75,000. But to say that PACs are responsible for that is ludicrous.'' Of Portuguese descent, Coelho started out to be a Jesuit but had to change goals after he learned that he had epilepsy. The Jesuits found him a job with comedian Bob Hope -- doing what, Coelho won't say. Recalls Coelho: ''Bob told me, if you want to change things and help people, go into politics. It will be as satisfying as the priesthood.'' Coelho's epilepsy is controlled by medication; he has not had an attack in years.