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Michigan race viewed as test of gun owners strengt
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Dingell Prevails in Michigan Primary
By Juliet Eilperin and Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, August 7, 2002; Page A04
Rep. John D. Dingell defeated fellow Democratic Rep. Lynn N. Rivers last night in a contest to represent Michigan's newly-redrawn 15th District that exposed fault lines in their party.
Thrown together when state Republicans redrew congressional lines to compensate for losing a House seat, their primary race came to represent a broader ideological battle. While the 76-year-old Dingell has dominated inside-the-Beltway politics for years as the House's longest-serving member, Rivers, 45, chipped away at his base by emphasizing her more liberal credentials.
Rivers conceded the race shortly after 10:30 p.m., saying, "The fight for gun safety, the fight for the right to choose and the fight for the environment is not done, and I'll be back."
In an interview last night, Dingell said he won by campaigning on "traditional Democratic values -- protect Social Security and Medicare," adding: "I have never walked into a campaign with the expectation of a loss." He is expected to win the seat easily in November because the district is heavily Democratic.
With 70 percent of precincts reporting, Dingell had 41,238 votes, or 64 percent, to 23,660 votes, or 36 percent, for Rivers.
Meanwhile, state Attorney General Jennifer M. Granholm clinched the Democrats' gubernatorial nomination, according to early returns, defeating Rep. David E. Bonior and former governor James J. Blanchard. With 65 percent of precincts reporting, Granholm had 322,627 votes, or 48 percent; Bonior 188,554 votes, or 28 percent; and Blanchard 163,235 votes, or 24 percent.
Now that term limits have forced GOP Gov. John Engler's retirement, Democrats see Michigan as one of their best opportunities to pick up a governorship in November. Granholm is likely to face Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus, who was leading his GOP opponent, state Sen. John Schwarz, by a wide margin in exit polls.
Much of the national attention, however, was focused on the Dingell-Rivers contest, as union members and gun owners faced off against women's groups and environmentalists. Dingell has consistently promoted gun rights and organized labor while opposing some abortion procedures and environmental measures.
Dingell's victory preserved his family's 70-year hold on the seat, in a bastion of auto making that now encompasses the college town of Ann Arbor. The House member, who succeeded his father and namesake in 1955, helped create Medicare a decade after taking office and went on to write groundbreaking legislation to protect air quality and endangered species.
As chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Dingell terrorized bureaucrats and corporate executives alike, commissioning Government Accounting Office investigations that assailed the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to adequately clean up hazardous waste.
But Rivers, who ran in her first congressional race in 1994 as a "short, fat mother of two with an auto worker husband who drives a pickup," dared to take him on. Her campaign focused on her life story, emphasizing how she managed to finish college and law school despite the fact that she had two children with her high school sweetheart before turning 21.
Rivers's defeat represents a loss for gun control advocates as well as for environmental and women's groups, which had all invested heavily in her campaign.
The Sierra Club contacted 50,000 voters in recent weeks on her behalf, some as many as four or five times, and lent the lawmaker's campaign 10 staffers this weekend.
EMILY's List, which supports Democratic women who favor abortion rights, ran a television commercial and sent five mailings for the four-term House member. Though Dingell raised $1 million more than Rivers did, EMILY's List sent her at least $350,000.
But Dingell countered these efforts by tapping the vast network he has developed over decades in Washington, calling on telecommunications and electric utilities executives as well as auto officials and prominent female politicians.
Several groups demonstrated their gratitude this week for Dingell's service. The National Rifle Association made a flurry of phone calls to its members in the district yesterday, reminding them how Dingell was instrumental in defeating gun control legislation in the last Congress.
Statewide, Democratic voters chose Granholm, a relative newcomer who was elected attorney general four years ago, over two men with much more experience in Michigan politics. Blanchard served two terms as governor before losing to Engler in 1990, while Bonior rose to the post of House minority whip before giving up his seat to pursue the governorship.
Granholm used her grass-roots appeal and turned her opponents' experience against them to win. Both men challenged her in what became negative TV campaigns, questioning the work she had done for the Wayne County Commission, now under investigation for possible corruption, and charging that, as attorney general, she was too close to Engler.
Granholm labeled them "politician Bonior" and "politician Blanchard" and accused them of being "desperate" in their efforts to derail her candidacy.
Bonior counted on an endorsement from the United Auto Workers to turn out enough supporters on a hot August day to enable him to overtake Granholm, but he conceded the race last night. Blanchard, who served as U.S. ambassador to Canada during the Clinton administration, appealed to African American voters, particularly in Detroit.
While Posthumus faced a much easier GOP primary, he has trailed the possible Democratic nominees in pre-primary polling.
The other competitive gubernatorial primary yesterday was in Kansas, where the retirement of Republican Gov. Bill Graves set off the latest in a series of divisive primaries between competing wings of the state GOP. Conservative state Treasurer Tim Shallenburger defeated two moderates, state Senate President Dave Kerr and Wichita Mayor Bob Knight.
Democratic insurance commissioner Kathleen Sebelius was assured of winning the Democratic nomination in a state that has also become a Democratic target for picking up a governorship in November.
c 2002 The Washington Post Company
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52385-2002Aug6.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
By Juliet Eilperin and Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, August 7, 2002; Page A04
Rep. John D. Dingell defeated fellow Democratic Rep. Lynn N. Rivers last night in a contest to represent Michigan's newly-redrawn 15th District that exposed fault lines in their party.
Thrown together when state Republicans redrew congressional lines to compensate for losing a House seat, their primary race came to represent a broader ideological battle. While the 76-year-old Dingell has dominated inside-the-Beltway politics for years as the House's longest-serving member, Rivers, 45, chipped away at his base by emphasizing her more liberal credentials.
Rivers conceded the race shortly after 10:30 p.m., saying, "The fight for gun safety, the fight for the right to choose and the fight for the environment is not done, and I'll be back."
In an interview last night, Dingell said he won by campaigning on "traditional Democratic values -- protect Social Security and Medicare," adding: "I have never walked into a campaign with the expectation of a loss." He is expected to win the seat easily in November because the district is heavily Democratic.
With 70 percent of precincts reporting, Dingell had 41,238 votes, or 64 percent, to 23,660 votes, or 36 percent, for Rivers.
Meanwhile, state Attorney General Jennifer M. Granholm clinched the Democrats' gubernatorial nomination, according to early returns, defeating Rep. David E. Bonior and former governor James J. Blanchard. With 65 percent of precincts reporting, Granholm had 322,627 votes, or 48 percent; Bonior 188,554 votes, or 28 percent; and Blanchard 163,235 votes, or 24 percent.
Now that term limits have forced GOP Gov. John Engler's retirement, Democrats see Michigan as one of their best opportunities to pick up a governorship in November. Granholm is likely to face Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus, who was leading his GOP opponent, state Sen. John Schwarz, by a wide margin in exit polls.
Much of the national attention, however, was focused on the Dingell-Rivers contest, as union members and gun owners faced off against women's groups and environmentalists. Dingell has consistently promoted gun rights and organized labor while opposing some abortion procedures and environmental measures.
Dingell's victory preserved his family's 70-year hold on the seat, in a bastion of auto making that now encompasses the college town of Ann Arbor. The House member, who succeeded his father and namesake in 1955, helped create Medicare a decade after taking office and went on to write groundbreaking legislation to protect air quality and endangered species.
As chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Dingell terrorized bureaucrats and corporate executives alike, commissioning Government Accounting Office investigations that assailed the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to adequately clean up hazardous waste.
But Rivers, who ran in her first congressional race in 1994 as a "short, fat mother of two with an auto worker husband who drives a pickup," dared to take him on. Her campaign focused on her life story, emphasizing how she managed to finish college and law school despite the fact that she had two children with her high school sweetheart before turning 21.
Rivers's defeat represents a loss for gun control advocates as well as for environmental and women's groups, which had all invested heavily in her campaign.
The Sierra Club contacted 50,000 voters in recent weeks on her behalf, some as many as four or five times, and lent the lawmaker's campaign 10 staffers this weekend.
EMILY's List, which supports Democratic women who favor abortion rights, ran a television commercial and sent five mailings for the four-term House member. Though Dingell raised $1 million more than Rivers did, EMILY's List sent her at least $350,000.
But Dingell countered these efforts by tapping the vast network he has developed over decades in Washington, calling on telecommunications and electric utilities executives as well as auto officials and prominent female politicians.
Several groups demonstrated their gratitude this week for Dingell's service. The National Rifle Association made a flurry of phone calls to its members in the district yesterday, reminding them how Dingell was instrumental in defeating gun control legislation in the last Congress.
Statewide, Democratic voters chose Granholm, a relative newcomer who was elected attorney general four years ago, over two men with much more experience in Michigan politics. Blanchard served two terms as governor before losing to Engler in 1990, while Bonior rose to the post of House minority whip before giving up his seat to pursue the governorship.
Granholm used her grass-roots appeal and turned her opponents' experience against them to win. Both men challenged her in what became negative TV campaigns, questioning the work she had done for the Wayne County Commission, now under investigation for possible corruption, and charging that, as attorney general, she was too close to Engler.
Granholm labeled them "politician Bonior" and "politician Blanchard" and accused them of being "desperate" in their efforts to derail her candidacy.
Bonior counted on an endorsement from the United Auto Workers to turn out enough supporters on a hot August day to enable him to overtake Granholm, but he conceded the race last night. Blanchard, who served as U.S. ambassador to Canada during the Clinton administration, appealed to African American voters, particularly in Detroit.
While Posthumus faced a much easier GOP primary, he has trailed the possible Democratic nominees in pre-primary polling.
The other competitive gubernatorial primary yesterday was in Kansas, where the retirement of Republican Gov. Bill Graves set off the latest in a series of divisive primaries between competing wings of the state GOP. Conservative state Treasurer Tim Shallenburger defeated two moderates, state Senate President Dave Kerr and Wichita Mayor Bob Knight.
Democratic insurance commissioner Kathleen Sebelius was assured of winning the Democratic nomination in a state that has also become a Democratic target for picking up a governorship in November.
c 2002 The Washington Post Company
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52385-2002Aug6.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Comments
Thrown together when state Republicans redrew congressional lines to compensate for losing a House seat, their primary race came to represent a broader ideological battle. While the 76-year-old Dingell has dominated inside-the-Beltway politics for years as the House's longest-serving member, Rivers, 45, chipped away at his base by emphasizing her more liberal credentials.
Rivers conceded the race shortly after 10:30 p.m., saying, "The fight for gun safety, the fight for the right to choose and the fight for the environment is not done, and I'll be back."
YAHOO, WAY TO GO JOHN
Quod principi placuit legis habet vigorem.Semper Fidelis