11-11-2000

POLITICS: Biographies of All Winners In The 2000 Election

After an election dominated by such issues as prescription drug coverage
and patients' rights, one would expect a plethora of physicians to be
entering Congress. But the 107th Congress will have no new doctors, except
for a veterinarian elected to the Senate, according to biographies of all
the new members compiled by National Journal Group. Education, another
major electoral theme, did seem to make an impact, as six new House
members have backgrounds in teaching or education administration.


If the House finds itself in need of leadership, one new member has
extensive experience as head coach in college football. Another new House
member carried a different kind of football-a nuclear one-for President
Reagan. Meanwhile, it's still in vogue to be a lawyer-16 of the 51 new
lawmakers are attorneys. The youngest Representative is now 26 years old,
but he looks even younger. And a newly elected former talk-show host could
provide rhetorical fireworks in the House, while a fireworks company
executive could provide some real ones. Only three members of racial
minorities will be joining Congress (all in the House): one
African-American, one Latino, and one Asian-American. Ten of the newly
elected legislators are women (including three Senators), and two new
governors are women.


How did they get here? One of the 10 new Senators was a governor, another
moved up from the House, another moved from the White House. Twenty-five
of the 41 new House members are current or former state legislators. One
of the six new governors came from the House. Political comebacks also
were big, as three former House members and one former governor made it to
the Senate, and one former House member has reclaimed her old
seat.


Arizona


1st House District


Jeff Flake (R)


Jeff Flake won Arizona's solidly Republican 1st House District, replacing
self-term-limited GOP Rep. Matt Salmon, who handpicked Flake to succeed
him. Flake's election became a sure thing after he defeated four other
candidates in the hard-fought September primary, where he was the most
conservative contender. With 32 percent of the vote, he had an
unexpectedly large margin over the runner-up, city Councilman Sal DiCiccio
of Phoenix, who received 23 percent. Flake had support from not only
Salmon, but several prominent GOP state leaders. He was also bolstered by
the endorsement of the Club for Growth, a new political action committee
of Wall Street financiers that promotes conservative economic ideology,
and the more than $200,000 received from its members. In the closing days
of the contest, the primary was marred by a bitter clash, when two of the
other GOP candidates accused each other of dirty campaigning; that spat
resulted in polygraph tests being given to those two candidates. The
results indicated that both had been telling the truth. In the general
election, Flake soundly defeated Democrat David Mendoza, a longtime
lobbyist for public employees who also ran for the seat in 1998.


Flake, a fifth-generation Arizonan, is a practicing Mormon who was born
and reared on a ranch in Snowflake; the town was named, in part, after his
great-great-grandfather. Born on Dec. 31, 1962, he was the fifth of 11
children. Flake served a Mormon mission in South Africa and Zimbabwe
before attending Brigham Young University, where he received a bachelor's
degree in international relations and a master's in political science. In
1987, he moved to Washington to work with the public affairs firm of
Shipley, Smoke & Henry. He returned to southern Africa as executive
director of the Foundation for Democracy, which monitored democratic
progress in Namibia. Following Namibian independence in 1990 and two more
years in Washington representing Namibian companies, Flake and his wife,
Cheryl, returned to Arizona. He became executive director of the Goldwater
Institute, where he led the fight for Arizona's charter-school law. Flake
has spent the past few months campaigning full-time. He and his wife live
in Mesa with their five children.


Flake ran a campaign based on his political philosophy-"government
that governs least, governs best"-and promised to serve no more than
three terms, just as his predecessor did. According to Salmon, Flake will
"continue to rock the boat," much as his predecessor has done
for six years. He plans to lead the congressional fight for charter
schools, and he has said that his term-limits pledge gives him the freedom
to stand up against corporate interests. He favors replacing the income
tax with a national sales tax. He is also an ardent foe of abortion
rights.


Arkansas


4th House District


Mike Ross (D)


State Sen. Mike Ross unseated four-term Republican Rep. Jay W. Dickey in
Arkansas' 4th House District. The traditionally Democratic area includes
Hot Springs, the childhood home of President Clinton, and Ross received
strong backing from Clinton and other national Democrats. They rallied the
local black constituency, which is roughly one-fourth of the population.
Dickey-who prided himself on using his House Appropriations Committee seat
to bring home federal largesse-was hurt earlier this year when he clashed
with local black farmers, whom he criticized for failing to repay his
favors by supporting him politically. Ross encountered unexpected trouble
winning the Democratic nomination: He was forced into a June runoff
against former television reporter Dewayne Graham, although Ross prevailed
with 59 percent of the vote. Going into the general election campaign,
Dickey had a slight monetary advantage, although both candidates had
raised about $1.5 million as of Oct. 18. Republicans criticized Ross for
raising nearly half of his money from political action committees.


A fifth-generation Arkansan, Ross was born on Aug. 2, 1961, in Texarkana.
He graduated from Hope High School and received his bachelor's degree in
political science from the University of Arkansas (Little Rock) in 1987.
While working on his degree, he served on the staff of Lt. Gov. Winston
Bryant, including four years as his chief of staff; during that time, Ross
was also executive director of the Arkansas Youth Suicide Prevention
Commission. He has also sold insurance and worked as a sales manager for a
pharmaceutical company. Ross, a Methodist, now owns Holly's Health Mart in
rural Prescott, where he lives with his wife, Holly, a pharmacist in the
store. They married in 1983 and have two children. Ross has been a state
senator for 10 years. In 1998, he led hearings into allegations of abuse
and neglect within the state Youth Services Division, and he has chaired
the Arkansas Committee on Children and Youth. He got his start in local
politics in 1982 as a travel aide for Clinton's successful bid to regain
the governor's office.


Ross led a campaign portraying himself as a small-town guy from Arkansas
who found himself pitted against his own pharmaceutical industry in his
fight to lower prescription drug prices and stop telemarketing harassment.
He also focused on reducing class sizes and making schools safer. Now that
he has regained control of the Democratic-leaning seat, it could be some
time before a Republican regains it. Because of the state's Republican
governor, however, redistricting could prove perilous for Ross.


California


15th House District


Mike Honda (D)


In a huge victory for Democrats, California state Assemblyman Mike Honda
defeated Republican Assemblyman Jim Cunneen in the race to succeed
Republican Rep. Tom Campbell, who ran for the Senate. Democrats were eager
to reclaim this district-which Democrat Norman Mineta, now Commerce
Secretary, represented before Campbell's victory in 1995-and President
Clinton and Vice President Al Gore campaigned for Honda. Honda led in the
battle for cash as of Oct. 18, out-raising Cunneen $1.9 million to $1.3
million. Cunneen, however, put up a good fight: He campaigned as a
moderate (pro-abortion-rights, pro-environment, pro-gun control) in this
slightly Democratic-leaning district in the Silicon Valley area. In
addition, as a former high-tech executive, Cunneen was able to get a lot
of support from leaders of that industry. Honda outdueled Cunneen in the
open primary, winning 39 percent of the vote to Cunneen's 33 percent;
Democrat Bill Peacock, who spent more than $1.2 million of his own money
in the primary, received only 14 percent.


A Japanese-American, Honda was born on June 27, 1941, in Walnut Creek,
Calif., and he spent his early childhood in an internment camp in Colorado
during World War II. He attended San Jose State University, where he
received undergraduate degrees in biology and Spanish, and a master's
degree in education. From 1978-86, Honda was a principal at two elementary
schools. He also served on the San Jose Unified School Board and the Santa
Clara County Board of Supervisors. In 1996, Honda was elected to the
California state Assembly, and he easily won re-election in 1998. Honda
and his wife, Jeanne, live in San Jose. They have two grown
children.


Honda has argued that the federal government should play an important role
in education. He also has close ties to organized labor, although after
the primary he supported permanent normal trade relations with China. With
Intel Corp. and IBM Corp. located in this district, Honda is sure to be a
staunch advocate for high-tech interests. In addition, he has indicated he
wants a seat on the House Appropriations Committee so he can deliver
transportation dollars to benefit the Bay Area's harried commuters. Expect
Honda to seek favorable changes under redistricting, since this
district-which tends to lean liberal on social issues and conservative on
fiscal ones-has rotated between Democrats and Republicans over the past
few years.


27th House District


Adam Schiff (D)


In the nation's most expensive House race, and one of


the most closely watched, state Sen. Adam Schiff defeated two-term
Republican Rep. James E. Rogan. Schiff owes much of his victory to the
district's changing demographics and to Rogan's role in President
Clinton's impeachment. The district-which includes Burbank, Glendale, and
Pasadena-was once solidly Republican but in recent years has attracted
more Democrats and minorities; in fact, registered Democrats now outnumber
Republicans, 44 percent to 37 percent. Moreover, many voters in this
Democratic-leaning district disapproved of Rogan's work in 1998 and early
1999 as one of the House managers who led the impeachment drive against
Clinton. Throughout the campaign, Schiff and Rogan clashed over health
care, abortion rights, gun control, and taxes. Rogan branded his opponent
as a traditional tax-and-spend liberal who would "run naked through
the Treasury, spending everything he can." Meanwhile, Schiff attacked
Rogan for controversial remarks he made to Roll Call in which he said
abortion had been a "holocaust" in the African-American
community. "The Ku Klux Klan," Rogan had said, "couldn't do
a better job on committing genocide on African-Americans." This was
the costliest House contest in history: As of Oct. 18, Schiff had raised
$3.9 million, while Rogan had brought in $6.2 million. In the March 7 open
primary, Schiff narrowly beat Rogan, 49 percent to 47 percent.


Born on June 20, 1960, in Framingham, Mass., Schiff graduated from
Stanford University in 1982 and obtained a law degree from Harvard
University three years later. From 1987-93, he worked as a criminal
prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles. Schiff failed in
three tries to win election to the California state Assembly-ironically
losing twice to Rogan. But in 1996, Schiff was elected to the California
state Senate, becoming its youngest member. During the 1997-98 Senate
session, he authored 40 measures that then-Gov. Pete Wilson signed into
law. Schiff has also taken time from his legislative duties to teach
political science at Glendale Community College. He and his wife, Eve,
reside in Burbank, Calif., and have a 2-year-old daughter.


Schiff is a liberal who supports abortion rights, gun control, and
campaign finance reform. With his experience as a federal prosecutor and
as the chairman of the California Senate Judiciary Committee, expect
Schiff to focus on justice and public safety issues. In fact, he says that
reforming the juvenile-justice system is one of his top priorities: He
believes that youths should have productive alternatives to drugs and
violence and that lawbreakers should face tough consequences. Although he
squeaked by in perhaps the nation's most competitive House race, Schiff
may find his re-election bid in 2002 somewhat easier, since the district
has begun to lean Democratic.


31st House District


Hilda Solis (D)


Without a Republican in the race, state Sen. Hilda Solis didn't have to
break a sweat in the November election. She won the right to represent
this district during the open primary in March, when she defeated
nine-term Rep. Matthew G. Martinez, who at the time was a Democrat, in a
rout-62 percent to 29 percent. Martinez lost support in this primarily
Democratic district after favoring a ban on late-term abortions, voting
for fast-track trade-negotiating authority for the President, and helping
to stall a gun control bill. As a result, Solis was able to win key
endorsements from organized labor, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Rep.
Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., among others. Solis also out-raised Martinez in
campaign cash by a 4-to-1 ratio. The primary race was caustic, and before
Martinez conceded his defeat, he called Solis "obnoxious" and
accused her of putting out "a lot of things in her fliers that are
absolute untruths." Martinez's defeat in a primary election is
unusual for a senior member of Congress who was untainted by scandal or
controversy. Martinez, angered by his party's lack of support, switched to
the GOP in July and voted mostly with Republicans after his primary
defeat.


The daughter of a union-shop steward, Solis was born on Oct. 20, 1957, in
Los Angeles. She graduated from California State Polytechnic University in
1979, and received a master's degree in public administration from the
University of Southern California in 1981. During the Carter
Administration, Solis worked in the White House's Office of Hispanic
Affairs. She began her career as an elected official in 1984, when she won
a seat on the Rio Hondo Community College Board of Trustees. She was
elected to the California state Assembly in 1992 and two years later
became the first Latina elected to the state Senate. Solis and her
husband, Sam H. Sayyad, live in El Monte, Calif.


Solis is much more liberal, and more outspoken, than Martinez. As a state
lawmaker, she was a strong advocate for increasing the minimum wage and
helping victims of domestic violence. As a member of Congress, she wants
to decrease gun violence among inner-city gangs by working to pass tough
gun control measures. Expect Solis to coast to re-election in 2002, as
long as she doesn't lose support from labor and other state Democrats: The
district, which includes East Los Angeles, is solidly Hispanic and
Democratic.


36th House District


Jane Harman (D)


In a huge victory for the Democrats, former three-term Rep. Jane Harman
reclaimed control of the 36th District by defeating Republican Rep. Steven
T. Kuykendall. Harman had held this seat from 1993-98, but abandoned it in
1998 for an unsuccessful bid for governor. Kuykendall proved to be a
formidable opponent. His moderate views-he is pro-abortion rights and
pro-environment-were a good fit for this district, which is virtually
split between registered Democrats and Republicans. But Harman attacked
Kuykendall for failing to support a Democratic bill that included Medicare
prescription drug benefits and for voting to repeal the estate tax. And,
despite Kuykendall's moderate record, Harman tied him to conservative
House leaders, such as Reps. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and Dick Armey, R-Texas.
Harman, whose husband made a fortune manufacturing audio equipment, also
won the battle for cash in this expensive media market: By mid-October,
she had almost $1 million cash on hand; Kuykendall had $600,000. Harman's
victory is a reversal of fortune from the March 7 open primary, in which
Kuykendall narrowly defeated her, 43 percent to 41 percent.


Born on June 28, 1945, in New York City, Harman graduated from Smith
College in 1966 and received a law degree from Harvard University three
years later. In the 1970s, she worked for Sen. John Tunney, D-Calif., and
the Senate Judiciary Committee. She later served in the Carter White House
and as a special counsel in the Defense Department. After her stints in
government, Harman practiced law and worked as a lobbyist. In 1992, Harman
won election to Congress, and she was narrowly re-elected in 1994 and
1996, before she ran for governor. In 1999, she was appointed as a regents
professor at the University of California (Los Angeles). Harman and her
husband, Sidney, live in Rolling Hills, Calif., and Washington, D.C., with
their two school-age children. She also has two grown children from an
earlier marriage.


During her previous tenure in the House, Harman was known for her record
as a fiscal conservative and a liberal on social issues. She was also
successful in bringing pork to the district's defense contractors. Expect
all of these things to continue. Harman, however, may face a tough
re-election campaign in 2002, since this is a swing district. Yet because
of her family's fortune, she might scare away some potential
opponents.


48th House District


Darrell Issa (R)


Businessman Darrell Issa easily defeated Democrat Peter Kouvelis for the
seat of retiring nine-term Republican Rep. Ronald C. Packard. The heavily
Republican district was never in serious danger of falling into Democratic
hands. The real contest took place in the GOP primary. State Sen. Bill
Morrow was the first to jump in after Packard's announcement. Bob Dornan,
the controversial former House member who had represented the adjoining
46th District, also expressed interest in running. After he decided not to
do so, his son, Mark Dornan, ran but never quite clicked. The race
essentially turned into a bruising two-man race between Issa and Morrow.
Morrow stressed his conservative beliefs and questioned Issa's business
practices. For his part, Issa raised questions about his opponent's
honesty. On most issues, the candidates held similar positions. They
supported streamlining government, opposed abortion, and favored spending
more on the military. Issa, powered by his personal wealth, including $3.1
million he gave to his own campaign, won the primary by 15 percentage
points over Morrow. Issa didn't have to mount a general-election campaign,
as Kouvelis, a former Marine Corps captain, was apparently unhappy with
the lack of Democratic support and didn't actively seek votes after
winning his party's nomination.


Issa was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on Nov. 1, 1953. He received his
bachelor's degree in business administration from Siena Heights College in
Adrian, Mich. After a 10-year stint in the Army, Issa started his own car
security alarm company, Directed Electronics, in Vista, Calif. He became
active in the high-tech industry, serving as chairman of the Consumer
Electronics Association. He ventured into politics in the early 1990s,
contributing to Republicans and chairing the 1996 campaign to pass
Proposition 209, which ended the state's affirmative action program. Issa
ran for his party's Senate nomination in 1998, but despite spending $12
million of his own money, he lost to Matt Fong, who later was defeated by
Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer. Issa lives in Vista with his wife, Kathy,
and son, William.


Issa has promised to push for Social Security reform, a stronger military,
and greater local control of schools. His chances for re-election are
unclear. Redistricting could radically change the composition of his
district. Although California probably will gain at least one seat after
the census count, Democrats appear to be in the driver's seat: The
governor is a Democrat, and the state Legislature is also under Democratic
control. Republicans abandoned a fall ballot initiative that would have
switched control over drawing districts from the Legislature to state
judges.


49th House District


Susan Davis (D)


In a huge win for Democrats, state Assemblywoman Susan Davis defeated
Republican Rep. Brian P. Bilbray for control of California's 49th
District. The Democrats had targeted this San Diego district, which is
split almost evenly between Democrats and Republicans, ever since
Bilbray's victory six years ago. They lost in 1996 and '98, but this third
time was the charm. Davis tried to portray Bilbray as a conservative, even
though he supports abortion rights and holds pro-environment views (in
fact, to distance himself from Republicans, Bilbray stayed away from the
GOP convention in Philadelphia). "He talks moderate in San Diego but
votes conservative in Washington," Davis said of her opponent. She
attacked Bilbray for supporting legislation that would deny citizenship to
children of illegal immigrants and for voting in favor of a bill that
would improve prescription drug benefits to seniors through private
insurance (Davis wants these benefits provided through Medicare instead).
The candidates also sparred over the federal estate tax. In the battle for
campaign cash, Davis kept pace with the incumbent Bilbray: As of Sept. 30,
each candidate had raised about $1.5 million. Davis' victory marks a
reversal of fortune from the March open primary, in which Bilbray defeated
her 51 percent to 46 percent. But observers say that the primary was
tilted toward Bilbray because of a tightly contested GOP mayoral
race.


Davis was born on April 13, 1944, in Cambridge, Mass. She graduated from
the University of California (Berkeley) in 1965 with a degree in sociology
and three years later received a master's degree in social work from the
University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill). After moving to San Diego in
1973, she joined the League of Women Voters and later became a community
producer for the local public-television station. Davis got her first
taste of politics in 1983, when she won a seat on the San Diego school
board. Then, in 1992, she left the school board to become the executive
director of the Aaron Price Fellows Program, which helps teach leadership
and citizenship skills to a diverse group of high school students. In
1994, she was elected to California's state Assembly, and she won
re-election in 1996 and 1998. Davis and her husband, Steve, live in San
Diego. They have two grown sons.


Davis has a keen interest in education and health care issues. In the
state Assembly, she authored a bill to reduce the sizes of eighth-grade
classrooms, and she helped pass a law giving women easier access to
obstetricians and gynecologists. In Congress, Davis says, she will oppose
school vouchers. She also fully supports abortion rights, and she favors
targeted tax cuts. With her narrow victory, and with this district evenly
split between Democrats and Republicans, expect Davis to face a tough
re-election campaign in 2002.


Connecticut


2nd House District


Robert Simmons (R)


After coming dangerously close to losing re-election three times in the
1990s, Democratic Rep. Sam Gejdenson ran out of luck in 2000 against
former CIA officer Robert Simmons. A member of the Connecticut General
Assembly for 10 years, Simmons began this race with little name
recognition outside his New London area-based district. He seemed a long
shot to unseat Gejdenson, who tried to portray Simmons as too conservative
for the district and criticized his support for privatizing Social
Security. Simmons in turn attacked Gejdenson for being too entrenched in
Washington, where he serves as ranking member of the House International
Relations Committee, and for being out of touch with his constituents.
Simmons also made an issue of the Mashuntucket Pequot Indian tribe land
claims. In 1983, Gejdenson voted to give the tribe, whose lineage to the
original Pequot tribe is now in question, federal recognition and
settlement land for a reservation within the state, which many felt it did
not deserve. Earlier this year, human rights groups criticized Gejdenson's
support for military aid to Colombia to fight drug trafficking-a package
that included 18 Black Hawk helicopters built by Stratford, Conn.-based
Sikorsky Aircraft. Simmons also chimed in on the issue, saying that the
$1.7 billion in military aid would be better spent on paying for border
protection and drug education treatment in this country. Simmons overcame
a significant financial disadvantage: As of Oct. 18, Gejdenson had raised
more than $1.4 million to Simmons' $700,000.


Born Feb. 11, 1943, in New York City, Simmons enlisted in the Army after
graduating from Haverford College in 1965, spending 19 months in Vietnam,
where he earned two Bronze Star medals. In 1969 he joined the CIA, working
as an operations officer for a decade, including five years on assignment
in East Asia. Simmons joined the staff of former Sen. John Chafee, R-R.I.,
in 1979 and was staff director for the Senate Intelligence Committee from
1981-85. He earned a master's in public policy administration from the
Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1979 and was a
doctoral candidate in political science at the University of Connecticut
from 1988-92. Simmons is also an associate fellow of Yale's Berkeley
College, where he has taught courses on military intelligence. In 1990, he
was elected to the Connecticut General Assembly, serving five terms in a
Democratic-leaning district and voting against the state's new income tax.
He remains in the Army Reserve, where he holds the rank of colonel.
Simmons and his wife, Heidi Paffard, live in Stonington; they have two
children.


During his campaign, Simmons said he would fight for more federal money
for education and to provide prescription drug coverage for seniors. He
also said he would work to provide better benefits to veterans and
strengthen the nation's defense. He would be a logical appointment to the
House Armed Services, International Relations, or Intelligence committees.
Connecticut is expected to lose a House seat after reapportionment, and it
is uncertain what the boundaries of the remaining districts will look
like, making it difficult to determine Simmons' chances of re-election in
2002.


Delaware


Governor


Ruth Ann Minner (D)


Lt. Gov. Ruth Ann Minner defeated Republican businessman John Burris to
take over the post of Democratic Gov. Thomas R. Carper, who was
term-limited and ran for the Senate. Burris, a former state House leader
who was president of the state Chamber of Commerce for 10 years, eked out
the Republican nomination by 46 votes over Superior Court Judge William
Swain Lee, who had garnered statewide recognition while presiding over the
infamous Thomas Capano murder trial; Burris' victory, which was upheld in
a recount, was the slimmest win ever in a Delaware statewide primary.
Minner, who had no primary opponent, enjoyed double-digit leads throughout
most of the campaign. Minner and Burris did not differ much on the
issues-both took socially progressive, fiscally conservative,
middle-of-the-road stands, but it may have been Minner's tough personal
story that resonated with Delaware voters. A high school dropout and
widowed mother of three at age 32, Minner rose up to become Delaware's
first female lieutenant governor and now its first female
governor.


Born on Jan. 17, 1935, Minner grew up on a tenant farm near Milford, Del.;
she dropped out of high school at age 16 to work on the farm and married a
year later. Her husband died when she was 32, and Minner struggled to
raise their three young sons alone while studying to get her general
equivalency diploma and to take classes at the University of Delaware. In
1967, she went to work as a statistician for the Maryland-Delaware Crop
Reporting Service. In 1969, she remarried and formed a small business with
her husband. Minner also worked as a receptionist for then-Gov. Sherman
Tribbitt in 1973. One year later, she launched her own political career.
In 1974, she was elected to the state House, and she served there until
1982, when she was elected to the state Senate. She was elected lieutenant
governor in 1992. Minner, a Methodist, is the grandmother of seven; her
second husband died in 1991.


Minner ran a campaign of modest proposals. She promised to direct 90 cents
from each new education dollar to the classroom instead of administrative
costs; to create after-school programs for students; to temper urban
sprawl with a plan in which the state and counties work together to
preserve land for parks; and to make juvenile offenders take
responsibility for their actions by forcing them to face their victims and
work to pay restitution. As an elected official, Minner sponsored laws on
child care tax credits, campaign finance reform, and drunken driving. Once
in office, she will push for education reform by calling for after-school
programs for students, standardized testing, and smaller class
size.


Senate


Thomas R. Carper (D)


Weighing youthful vigor and centrist Democrat ideology against seniority
and a strong Republican tax-cutting record, Delaware voters chose Gov.
Thomas R. Carper, 53, over five-term GOP Sen. William V. Roth Jr., 79.
Roth, the Senate Finance Committee chairman, was an underdog during most
of the Senate campaign, but the race between the two political powerhouses
narrowed in September, leaving the insurgent Carper with only a
1-percentage-point lead and making it one of the nation's most hotly
contested Senate races. Roth's fund-raising advantage helped to tighten
the race: He had $3.1 million in August, compared with Carper's $1.7
million. Easily winning their primary contests, the candidates entered the
general election with high popularity ratings (above 70 percent). And both
were accustomed to winning: Carper had won his past 10 elections, and Roth
had successfully defended his Senate seat since 1970.


Carper was born on Jan. 23, 1947, in Beckley, W.Va., and went on to earn a
bachelor's degree in economics from Ohio State University in 1968. He
enlisted in the Navy, where he served as a flight officer in Southeast
Asia during the Vietnam War from 1968-73. He remained in the Naval
Reserves from 1973-91. Upon his discharge from active duty, Carper
enrolled in business school at the University of Delaware, where he earned
his MBA in 1976. During 1975-76, he was an industrial development
specialist in Delaware's economic development office. In 1976, at age 29,
he was elected to the state treasurer's post, where he served for three
terms until 1982, when he won a seat in the U.S. House. He served five
terms in that chamber, which included time as head of the House Banking
Economic Stabilization Subcommittee. He was also a member of the House
Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee. He was elected governor of
Delaware in 1992 and was re-elected in '96 with 70 percent of the vote.
Active on education and taxes, Carper overhauled the state's education
system last year by instituting a tight accountability system that
requires students to pass standardized tests in certain grades to progress
to the next level, and teachers' evaluations are tied in part to student
test performance. The reforms cost him the teachers union endorsement for
his Senate bid. He has also championed welfare-to-work efforts in the
state. Carper, a Presbyterian, lives in Wilmington with his wife, Martha,
and two sons.


Carper's proposed tax cuts are more modest than Roth's, but Carper would
mirror his efforts as governor by pushing for elimination of the
"marriage penalty" and estate taxes. He would like to target tax
breaks to benefit the middle class and to eliminate tax income liability
for the working poor. Having expended much political capital on education
in Delaware, and having devoted his speech at the Democratic National
Convention to the topic, Carper is likely to push for education reform.
When Congress takes up the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, he will
probably support the New Democrats' version of the bill. That bill ties
the consolidation of federal programs to more money for states in exchange
for promises to close the student achievement gap. On the economic front,
he wants to shore up Social Security and Medicare and pay down the
national debt. Given his business background and interests in economic
development, look for Carper to push for a seat on the Finance
Committee.


Florida


Senate


Bill Nelson (D)


State Insurance Commissioner Bill Nelson defeated Republican Rep. Bill
McCollum to claim the seat of retiring GOP Sen. Connie Mack for the
Democrats. Nelson's victory also gave President Clinton a bit of revenge,
since McCollum served as one of the House managers during Clinton's
impeachment trial. Nelson was better known in Florida after four statewide
campaigns, and he led in the polls during most of this campaign. He
overcame the independent candidacy of state Rep. Willie Logan, a former
Democrat who competed with Nelson for black Democrats' votes. Nelson faced
only token Democratic opposition in the party's Sept. 5 primary. McCollum
and Nelson raised and spent a bundle during their contest, which was
Florida's most expensive Senate fight ever. McCollum reported more than
$7.1 million in receipts by Oct. 18, and Nelson's take totaled $5.7
million. Both spent much of their money trying to appeal to moderate
voters. Most analysts felt Nelson had a shorter distance to travel to the
political middle, and his victory seems to confirm that.


Nelson was born on Sept. 29, 1942, in Miami. He graduated from Yale in
1965 and earned his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1968.
After serving as a legislative assistant to Democratic Gov. Reubin Askew,
Nelson ran for and won a seat in the Florida Legislature in 1972. After
three terms, he was elected at age 36 to Congress. Nelson served six terms
in the House and eventually became chairman of the Space Subcommittee of
the Science, Space, and Technology Committee. That position no doubt
helped him win a spot as payload specialist 2 on NASA's 24th space shuttle
mission, which landed just 10 days before the doomed launch of the
Challenger in 1986. In 1990, Nelson suffered his first political defeat,
losing a nasty race to Lawton Chiles for the Democratic nomination for
governor. His career was revived in 1994, when he was elected to the open
insurance commissioner's seat. Nelson, an Episcopalian, is married to
Grace H. Cavert. They have two children and live in Tallahassee.


In addition to the Science Committee, Nelson was also serving on the
Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs Committee when he completed his sixth
term in the House. It would be logical for him to seek similar
appointments in the Senate. Early in his House career, Nelson was also
able to win appointment to the Budget Committee, and he might try a
similar move in the Senate. While in the House, Nelson's popularity in
Florida's 11th District made him nearly impossible to beat. When the 2006
campaign arrives, Nelson will hope to have established that reputation
statewide.


4th House District


Ander Crenshaw (R)


In a district viewed as a safe bet for the GOP, former state Sen. Ander
Crenshaw beat two opponents to retain the seat for his party. He replaces
Republican Rep. Tillie K. Fowler, who retired to honor her term-limits
pledge. Crenshaw won his Sept. 5 primary by a landslide and instantly
became the front-runner in the general election. His primary campaign
focused on tax cuts and a "government that does more for less,"
while his opponent Dan Quiggle, a political newcomer, emphasized
"faith and family." Crenshaw received 70 percent of the vote in
the primary, while Quiggle was unable to win even his home base of St.
Johns County. In the general election, Crenshaw faced Democrat Tom
Sullivan, a retired businessman, and Deborah Katz-Pueschel, an air traffic
controller who ran as an independent. Sullivan's $97,000 campaign budget
(mostly his own money) paled against the $745,000 Crenshaw had going into
the general election.


Crenshaw was born on Sept. 1, 1944, in Jacksonville, Fla. He attended the
University of Georgia on a basketball scholarship and received his
bachelor's degree in 1966; he obtained his law degree from the University
of Florida in 1969. He was elected to Florida's House of Representatives
in 1972. In 1978, he returned to the private sector to work as an
investment banker. From 1986-94, he served in Florida's Senate and was its
president in 1992 and 1993, becoming the first Republican to hold that
post in more than a century. While in the Senate, Crenshaw strongly
opposed tax increases. He ran for governor in 1994 but lost the primary to
current Gov. Jeb Bush. An Episcopalian, Crenshaw lives in Jacksonville
with his wife, Kitty, whose father, Claude Kirk, was once the state's
governor. They have two daughters.


Crenshaw touts himself as a "consensus builder" but has strong
conservative credentials. He was endorsed by numerous conservative-leaning
groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Rifle
Association, and Florida Right to Life. In addition, Fowler and House
Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., endorsed him. Crenshaw's platform
includes abolishing the "marriage penalty" and estate tax;
establishing a "simpler, flatter, and fairer" tax system; and
increasing military spending. He also supports shoring up the Social
Security program, giving the federal government less control over
education, building more prisons without raising taxes, and limiting urban
sprawl. Since the 4th District is heavily Republican, Crenshaw's chances
for re-election are strong.


8th House District


Ric Keller (R)


A virtual unknown when he began his campaign, attorney Ric Keller fought
an uphill battle to win Florida's 8th District seat-his first elected
office. He defeated former Orange County Commission Chairwoman Linda
Chapin, a Democrat, and will succeed Republican Rep. Bill McCollum, who
ran for the Senate. Five weeks earlier, Keller survived a tough Republican
primary runoff against state Rep. Bill Sublette. Keller and Sublette each
claimed to be more conservative than the other. Sublette, an established
lawmaker who touted the state funds he had delivered to the Orlando area,
had the greater name recognition, but he failed to win a majority in the
September primary, receiving 43 percent to Keller's 31 percent, thus
forcing a runoff. Keller focused on conservative concerns, such as
abortion rights and gun rights. After winning the runoff with 52 percent
of the vote, Keller was again considered the underdog in the general
election. Although the district has more registered Republicans than
Democrats, Chapin depicted her moderate views, plus her experience as a
longtime county official, as more in line with district voters. Keller
touted his outsider status and, with advertising help from House
Republicans, lampooned Chapin-incorrectly, she maintained-for providing
frills for the county jail and other local facilities. He generated more
controversy when he called Palestinians "lower than pond scum"
for their recent rebellion. Keller won despite being significantly
outspent by his opponent; he raised $850,000 to Chapin's $1.4 million as
of Oct. 18. But he received more than $200,000 each from the national GOP
and the Club for Growth, a Wall Street-based group of
entrepreneurs.


Keller was born on Sept. 5, 1964, in Tennessee but grew up mostly in
Orlando. He graduated first in his class from East Tennessee State
University with a bachelor's degree in 1986, and he earned his law degree
from Vanderbilt University in 1992. Since then, he has practiced with the
Orlando firm of Rumberger, Kirk and Caldwell. A Methodist, he lives in
Orlando with his wife, Cathy, and their two young children.


Although he is a newcomer to elected office, Keller comes to the table
with conservative credentials. His law firm served as general counsel to a
business coalition that won passage of tort reform in the Florida
Legislature. He also co-authored two amendments to the state's
constitution, one of which required polluters to pay to clean up pollution
so taxpayers wouldn't have to. Keller opposes abortion rights and gun
control, and backs a flatter tax system and elimination of the
"marriage penalty" tax. With Republicans in control of Florida's
redistricting, Keller may seek changes to ease his re-election in 2002. He
has pledged to serve only four terms.


12th House District


Adam Putnam (R)


Adam Putnam, who won the contest to take over for retiring GOP Rep.
Charles Canady, will enter the House in January as its youngest current
member. The 26-year-old, who has served as a state legislator since 1997,
beat Democratic businessman Michael Stedem to win the seat, despite
Stedem's assertion that Putnam did not have enough life experience for the
job. Putnam became the front-runner early on, after the Democrats' favored
potential challenger, state Sen. Rick Dantzler, decided in February that
he would not seek the office. Putnam did not face a challenge from his own
party, and he raised more money than his Democratic opponent: almost
$775,000, compared with the nearly $488,000 raised by Stedem. Stedem, an
auto dealer from New York who moved to Florida in 1983, portrayed himself
as a pro-business, centrist Democrat, but he could never gain momentum
against Putnam, who has deep ties in Polk County.


Putnam was born on July 31, 1974, in Bartow, Fla. He is a fifth-generation
member of that community and still resides there with his wife, Melissa.
He graduated from the University of Florida in 1995 and worked in his
family's citrus and cattle business. In 1997, Putnam won election at age
22 to the Florida House of Representatives, where he served on the
Agriculture Committee. He supported several controversial pieces of
legislation, including a "sovereign lands" bill, rigidly opposed
by environmentalists, that would have given shoreline property along
inland waters to adjacent property owners. He also sponsored a bill that
set mandatory sentences on prisoners who had been released early and then
committed another crime.


After announcing his congressional bid, Putnam was endorsed by some
big-name Republicans and conservative organizations, including Florida
Gov. Jeb Bush, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., the Fraternal
Order of Police, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He opposes abortion
rights and supports eliminating the "marriage penalty" and
estate tax, lowering the capital gains tax, and allowing workers to invest
part of their Social Security funds privately. He also supports increasing
military pay and setting up a national missile defense system. Putnam's
outlook for re-election is good: In the 12th District, registered
Democrats outnumber Republicans but tend to vote conservative.


Idaho


1st House District


C.L. "Butch" Otter (R)


C.L. "Butch" Otter, Idaho's lieutenant governor, defeated
Democratic city councilwoman Linda Pall in the battle to succeed Rep.
Helen Chenoweth-Hage, a controversial Republican who is retiring from
Congress because of self-imposed term limits. But the race to represent
the conservative 1st District was really decided in May, when Otter beat
Dennis Mansfield in the Republican primary. Mansfield, along with
Chenoweth-Hage, founded the Idaho Family Forum, a Religious Right group,
and the primary campaign between him and Otter was venomous. Mansfield's
supporters highlighted Otter's drunken-driving conviction in 1993. One of
their ads stated: "Just what we need in Washington-another bad
example for our children." It was later discovered that Mansfield's
teen-age son had recently pleaded guilty to drug charges. Otter won the
primary with 48 percent of the vote, compared with Mansfield's 27 percent.
Former state GOP Chairman Ron McMurray received 17 percent. Otter
benefited from a late get-out-the-vote campaign by the National Rifle
Association and local farming and ranching interests. In addition, he
outraised Mansfield more than 3-to-1. The general election matchup between
Otter and Pall, of Moscow City, wasn't much of a contest in this
conservative state. Otter was able to raise $877,000 to Pall's
$80,000.


Otter was born on May 3, 1942, in Caldwell, Idaho. He graduated from the
College of Idaho in 1967 with a degree in political science, and then
worked for his then- father-in-law, J.R. Simplot, at the J.R. Simplot Co.,
one of the nation's largest agribusinesses. He also served in the Idaho
Army National Guard from 1968-73. From 1972-76, he was a member of the
state's House of Representatives. Then in 1986, he was elected lieutenant
governor, a position he has held since then. Otter, who lives in Star,
Idaho, is also a wealthy independent ranch owner. He is divorced and has
four children.


Otter is a conservative who believes strongly in gun ownership and
property rights, but he is not the social conservative that Chenoweth-Hage
is. While he opposes abortion, he believes that the government should stay
out of people's lives. He also declined to take a term-limits pledge. In
Congress, Otter wants to sit on either the House Commerce Committee or
House Resources Committee, where he would favor checking the power of the
Environmental Protection Agency. This isn't a surprise: As a ranch owner,
Otter has been charged three times in the past six years by the EPA with
violating the Clean Water Act, the last time for filling wetlands without
a permit. Since Idaho is solidly Republican, don't expect Otter to face a
tough re-election race.


Illinois


10th House District


Mark Kirk (R)


Mark Kirk will succeed his mentor, Republican Rep. John Edward Porter, in
Illinois' 10th District after defeating Democratic state Rep. Lauren Beth
Gash in a close race. Kirk, Porter's former chief of staff, first won a
wild 11-candidate primary, which included six millionaires who spent a
total of nearly $4 million of their own money. But Kirk had an invaluable
advantage, the endorsement of the immensely popular Porter. Kirk won the
primary with 31 percent of the vote-more than twice as much as the
next-closest candidates, Shawn Margaret Donnelley, who is an R.R.
Donnelley & Sons printing company heiress, and Northbrook Mayor Mark
Damisch. In the general election, Kirk and Gash campaigned on promises to
continue Porter's fiscally conservative, socially moderate record, as well
as his propensity to buck party leadership. Gash, a lawyer, tried to
downplay Kirk's 16 years in Washington while touting her own legislative
experience in the Illinois General Assembly. In the campaign, she focused
on protecting Social Security and making prescription drugs more
affordable for seniors. Kirk, meanwhile, wooed voters with his federal
policy-making experience and his promises to deliver on local issues, such
as cleaning up Waukegan Harbor, removing nuclear waste from the Zion
nuclear power plant, and maintaining the Veterans Administration Hospital
in North Chicago. As of Sept. 30, Kirk and Gash had each raised more than
$1.5 million. The additional $5.6 million spent by the losing Republican
primary candidates made this the most expensive House campaign in Illinois
history.


Kirk was born on Sept. 15, 1959, in Champaign, Ill., but spent the better
part of his childhood in the affluent Chicago suburb of Kenilworth. As a
16-year-old, Kirk nearly died of hypothermia after a boating accident, an
incident that he said helped influence him to go into public service. Kirk
earned a bachelor's degree in history from Cornell University in 1981 and
received a master's at the London School of Economics the following year.
He took a job as a legislative assistant in Porter's Washington office in
1984 and became the chief of staff after just three years. Kirk left
Porter's office in 1990 and moved on to other Washington jobs, first as an
officer at the World Bank's International Finance Corp., then as a State
Department aide working on the Central American peace process, and most
recently as counsel to the House International Relations Committee. He
earned a law degree from Georgetown University in 1992 and from 1993-95
was an attorney at Baker & MacKenzie, where he specialized in
international trade and finance. Kirk serves in the Naval Reserve as a
lieutenant commander, and has had tours of duty in Turkey, Serbia, Bosnia,
Haiti, Panama, and the Persian Gulf. He is engaged to be married to
Kimberly Vertolli of Alexandria, Va.


Like Porter, the moderate Kirk is expected to butt heads with conservative
House Republicans on such issues as abortion rights and gun control. As a
staffer for the International Relations Committee, Kirk drafted
legislation that became law on aviation safety, environmental protection,
support for Israel, and international assistance for AIDS patients; he
would be a natural assignment for that committee. Republicans still have
an edge of 36 percent to 32 percent in voter registration in this
district, and Kirk should be a good fit with its large number of
independent voters, who will probably help him retain his seat.


15th House District


Tim Johnson (R)


Veteran state Rep. Tim Johnson, a surprise winner in the Republican
primary, will succeed five-term GOP Rep. Tom Ewing in Illinois' 15th
District. Ewing-a close friend of House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert,
R-Ill.-unexpectedly announced his retirement in October 1999, citing
concerns about what could happen to the district after redistricting.
Hastert was angered, however, when Ewing appeared to delay his retirement
announcement until his 29-year-old son Sam could move back to the district
from Texas to begin his own candidacy. The Speaker retaliated by endorsing
state Rep. Bill Brady, the scion of a prominent real estate family.
Johnson, however, possessed some advantages: He has represented the
Champaign area in the state Legislature since 1976 and is a ferocious
campaigner. Johnson's experience proved vital in the primary, enabling him
to win 44 percent of the vote, while Brady finished second with 36 percent
and Ewing third with 17 percent. In the general election, Johnson faced
professor Mike Kelleher of Illinois State University, who dredged up a
1980 photo of a paper-clip-rigged device Johnson had used to hold down the
"yes" button on his desk in the Legislature, enabling him to
vote while being absent. Johnson said such tactics were "accepted
practice" at the time and called it a "silly little red
herring" raised by a desperate candidate. If Kelleher seemed
desperate, it may have stemmed from the fact that he had raised only about
$700,000 as of Sept. 30, compared with Johnson's $1.3 million.


Born on July 23, 1946, in Champaign, Johnson earned his undergraduate and
law degrees from the nearby University of Illinois in 1969 and 1972,
respectively. He was elected to the Urbana City Council while still in law
school and served there for four years before winning election to the
state House in 1976. In the Legislature, Johnson worked his way up to
deputy majority leader. His legislative highlights include helping to
eliminate the sales tax on food and medicine; crafting tougher
drunken-driving laws; and playing important roles in passing welfare
reform, educational improvements, truth-in-sentencing laws, and
initiatives to help businesses. He is a trial lawyer and a founder and
senior partner at the law firm of Johnson, Frank, Frederick and Walsh, and
he manages a small farm operation. Johnson lives in Sidney and has 10
children and seven grandchildren.


Johnson's experience in law and farming would qualify him for appointments
to the House Judiciary and Agriculture committees. Despite the district's
conservative leanings, Johnson's future is far from secure here because of
the pending reapportionment in 2002. Illinois is expected to lose a seat
from its 20-member House delegation, and the lines of the 15th District
may change dramatically.


Indiana


2nd House District


Mike Pence (R)


Although independent candidate Bill Frazier made this race closer than
expected, former conservative radio-show host Mike Pence defeated Frazier
and Democrat Robert W. Rock to retain Indiana's 2nd District for the
Republican Party. Pence will succeed GOP Rep. David McIntosh, who ran for
governor. After handily winning the six-candidate Republican primary with
45 percent of the vote, Pence was expected to easily defeat Rock, a lawyer
who had won the low-key Democratic primary. But conventional wisdom went
out the window about a week after the May primaries when Frazier, a former
Republican state senator and four-time losing nominee for this seat,
entered the race. All three candidates opposed abortion rights and gun
control and supported increased military spending. But Frazier-who owns a
mobile-home business and is also a farmer-tried to tap into populist
sentiment by bashing free-trade agreements, supporting a minimum-wage
increase, touting American energy independence, and offering to donate his
congressional salary to a fund for college scholarships. Rock, a former
Marine, knocked Pence for never having served in the military, and he
supported tax cuts for middle-income families. Pence, meanwhile, focused
on across-the-board tax cuts (including repeal of the "marriage
penalty" and the estate tax), as well as reform of Medicare
financing. As of Sept. 30, Pence had raised the most money, with more than
$865,000, compared with Rock's $350,000 and the self-financed Frazier's
$130,000.


Born on June 7, 1959, in Columbus, Ind., Pence graduated from Hanover
College in 1981 and received a law degree from Indiana University in 1986.
From 1991-93, Pence was president of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation,
a think tank based in Fort Wayne. In 1992, he began broadcasting the Mike
Pence Show, a conservative talk-radio program that was syndicated
statewide beginning in 1994. He gave up the show to focus on his
congressional campaign and is now a broadcast consultant for Emmis
Communications. Pence was the Republican nominee for this same seat in
1988 and 1990, when he challenged Democrat Phil Sharp. After his second
loss to Sharp, Pence, an evangelical Christian, wrote an article called
"Confessions of a Negative Campaigner," in which he apologized
for running negative advertisements. He and his wife, Karen, live in
Edinburgh with their three children.


This district has changed greatly since Sharp retired in 1994 after 20
years in the House. The decline of manufacturing jobs has significantly
weakened its historically Democratic labor base, and the 2nd seems firmly
Republican under its current boundaries.


7th House District


Brian Kerns (R)


Brian Kerns comfortably won Indiana's 7th District seat, replacing
two-term Republican Rep. Ed Pease, who unexpectedly announced his
retirement in January for medical reasons. Kerns seemed a logical
successor: He had been Pease's chief of staff, and he also is the
son-in-law of former Rep. John T. Myers, who served in the House 30 years.
In this solidly Republican district, Kerns won 39 percent of the vote in
the May primary to defeat seven other candidates. With 32 percent,
financial planner Bob Griffiths gave Kerns a scare by sweeping his home
base of Tippecanoe County, the largest in the district, but Kerns handily
won the district's 12 other counties. Kerns suffered some negative
publicity in the primary, when The Indianapolis Star reported allegations
by former female aides to Pease that Kerns had verbally abused them and
ordered them to perform political tasks during official work hours in
1997. Kerns denied that he broke the law, but he declined to comment on
the charges. In the general election, Kerns kept the seat in the GOP
column, where it's been for 34 years, by defeating Democrat Michael
Douglas Graf, an employee of United Parcel Service. Graf, who defeated the
party favorite in the primary, didn't start campaigning until the end of
September and raised slightly more than $5,000, compared with Kerns' total
of more than $400,000. The ex-staffers' allegations against Kerns did not
prominently resurface.


Kerns has spent his life in western Indiana. He was born on May 22, 1957,
in Vigo County, where he still lives on a small farm south of Prairieton.
He earned a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's in
public administration from Indiana State University. In 1986, he married
Lori Myers. The two, both Episcopalians, have five children. His political
career began with internships with the Indiana Senate and the U.S. House
Ethics Committee, where John Myers was a senior member. His private-sector
work has included service as director of publications and public relations
at St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, a reporter and photographer at WTWO
television in Terre Haute, and a public information specialist for
Indiana's Natural Resources Department. With Pease, Kerns also served as a
member of the National Republican Congressional Committee's chief of staff
executive committee.


In his low-stress campaign, Kerns focused on conservative cornerstones
with promises to never vote to raise taxes and to never stop trying to
reduce the size of the federal government. He expects to carry on Pease's
work, fighting for elimination of the "marriage penalty" and the
federal estate tax, as well as lower taxes on Social Security. These are
popular ideas in western Indiana, home to a Sony plant and Purdue
University. Assuming Kerns follows these themes, he should face an easy
re-election in two years.


Michigan


Senate


Deborah Ann Stabenow (D)


Rep. Deborah Ann Stabenow ousted first-term Republican Sen. Spencer
Abraham following a hard-fought and uphill battle that proved more
difficult than many Democrats had expected. National Democrats had
targeted Abraham when polls showed him garnering less than 50 percent of
the vote against potential challengers. They initially thought that former
Gov. Jim Blanchard would be their candidate, but he chose not to run. That
led to expressions of interest from Geoffrey Fieger, who lost badly in his
1998 bid for governor, and from Stabenow, who has served two House terms.
When Democratic leaders rallied behind Stabenow, Fieger-the controversial
former lawyer for Jack Kevorkian-chose not to run. With no primary
opposition, Stabenow began the general election contest with a lead in
early polls. Although she raised more than $7.1 million for the race as of
Oct. 18, partly from environmental and women's groups, Abraham raised some
$10.8 million. Heavy summertime advertising on behalf of the Republican
plan for prescription drug coverage for seniors propelled Abraham into the
lead in September. But Stabenow staged a late comeback with her appeal to
blue-collar voters and by contrasting her record with Abraham's on
education issues. She also benefited by presenting herself as a New
Democrat with conservative fiscal policies.


Born on April 29, 1950, in Clare, Mich., Stabenow says she has long been
drawn to public service out of a sense of civic responsibility. She earned
a bachelor's degree and a master's in social work at Michigan State
University, plus a law degree from Harvard. She began her political career
in 1975, when she was elected Ingham County commissioner. Later, she
served 16 years in the state Legislature, where her chief focus was the
needs of children. Her sponsorship of state child-support legislation
became a model for federal reforms embraced by then-President Reagan. In
1994, Stabenow ran for governor, but she was opposed by labor unions and
lost the primary to ex-Rep. Howard Wolpe. Two years later, she was elected
to a swing House district by defeating freshman Republican Rep. Dick
Chrysler. Stabenow, a United Methodist, is divorced and lives in Lansing
with her two adult children, Todd and Michelle.


With views that stamp her as somewhat less liberal on economic issues than
most Northern Senators, Stabenow could be a swing vote in the Senate. She
will very likely continue to focus on her chief priorities of health care
and education. She has promised to fight to lower prescription drug costs
and to enact a patients' bill of rights. In Michigan, a political swing
state, Stabenow can expect a tough GOP challenge for re-election in
2006.


8th House District


Mike Rogers (R)


State Sen. Mike Rogers defeated Democratic state Sen. Dianne Byrum for the
seat of two-term Democratic Rep. Deborah Ann Stabenow, who ran for the
Senate. Rogers and Byrum waged one of the nation's closest and
most-watched open-seat campaigns in a district evenly divided between
Democrats and Republicans. Each candidate raised about $1.8 million as of
Oct. 18; neither faced primary opposition. High-ranking Republicans such
as House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois and House Majority Leader
Dick Armey of Texas stumped for Rogers, and House Minority Leader Richard
A. Gephardt of Missouri, among other Democrats, hit the campaign trail for
Byrum. Although hotly contested, the tone of the campaign was civil.
Rogers is considered conservative, but won points for his promise to build
coalitions with Democrats and avoid partisan bickering. This attitude led
Democrat Sylvia McCollough, Rogers' 1998 state Senate opponent, to endorse
him.


Rogers was born in Livonia, Mich., on June 2, 1963. He earned a bachelor's
degree in sociology and criminal justice from Adrian College, a small
liberal arts school in southeastern Michigan. He graduated from the FBI
Academy, and became a special agent in Chicago for six years before
returning to Michigan in 1994 and winning election to the state Senate. In
1999, he was selected to be minority floor leader. Rogers also founded a
business, E.B.I. Builders, along with his brothers and father in 1994.
Rogers, like his opponent, is a Methodist. He resides in Brighton with his
wife, Diane, and their two children.


Rogers describes his political philosophy as consistent with George W.
Bush's "compassionate conservatism." He has pledged to work to
improve education by making schools more accountable to parents and
allowing more local control. The former FBI agent has carried his interest
in law enforcement with him into government-his state legislative tenure
is perhaps best known for legislation he co-sponsored to increase the
penalty for using the Internet to facilitate sex crimes. Also, Rogers
promised to work to improve health care by pushing a patients' bill of
rights and holding HMOs more accountable to patients. Re-election will be
no sure thing, but Michigan Republicans, who control both the state
Legislature and the Governor's Mansion, will very likely work to make
Rogers' district more Republican during the redistricting process that
begins next year.


Minnesota


Senate


Mark Dayton (D)


Mark Dayton, a wealthy department store heir, defeated conservative
freshman Republican Sen. Rod Grams in one of the tightest, most expensive,
and most closely watched Senate races in the country. Dayton beat four
major candidates in the Democratic primary with $5.2 million of his own
money. He won 41 percent of the vote; 22 percent went to attorney Mike
Ciresi, 21 percent to state Sen. Jerry Janezich, and 15 percent to Rebecca
Yanisch, a construction company executive. During the campaign, Dayton
sponsored bus trips to Canada so senior citizens could buy cheap
prescription drugs. In the general election, he fought to maintain a
positive public image, despite a string of previous electoral defeats, a
recent divorce, and Grams' criticism of his investment portfolio and his
"East Coast consultants." Grams, meanwhile, had to deal with
personal embarrassment as well-his 22-year-old son's run-ins with the law.
As of Oct. 18, Dayton had raised $8.8 million and Grams had raised $5.3
million.


Dayton was born on Jan. 26, 1947, in Minneapolis. In 1969, he graduated
from Yale University with an undergraduate degree in psychology. Until
1971, Dayton taught ninth-grade science in a New York City public school.
He spent the next four years working as a counselor and administrator for
a Boston social service agency. During this time, he was active in the
anti-Vietnam War movement, and was named to President Nixon's enemies
list. In 1975 and 1976, he was a legislative assistant to then-Sen. Walter
F. Mondale, D-Minn. The following two years, he worked on the staff of
then-Gov. Rudy Perpich. Between 1983 and 1986, he was state commissioner
of energy and economic development. In 1982, he defeated former Sen.
Eugene McCarthy in the Senate primary, but lost the general election to
incumbent Republican Sen. David Durenberger. In 1990, he was elected state
auditor, and served in that office until 1995. In 1998, he lost a primary
race for governor to Skip Humphrey, who went on to lose to third-party
upstart Jesse Ventura. More recently, Dayton spent two years as the
finance chairman and re-election co-chairman for Sen. Paul Wellstone,
D-Minn. He is Presbyterian, divorced, and has two sons.


Throughout his campaign, Dayton advocated universal health insurance,
ending taxation of Social Security benefits, and targeting tax reductions
for middle-income families. He says he wants to serve on the Senate
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee. Minnesota, known for its
moderate-to-liberal tendencies, now fields two of the most liberal members
of the Senate.


2nd House District


Mark Kennedy (R)


In a surprising outcome, department store executive Mark Kennedy defeated
Democratic Rep. David Minge in Minnesota's 2nd District. The contest was
reminiscent of how Minge won this seat in 1992, when he went to bed behind
in the polls but awoke as the winner. In the September primary, Kennedy
easily won the Republican nomination with 79 percent of the vote over
apple farmer and funeral director Joe Wagner. Kennedy, a former executive
with Pillsbury and several retail chains, tried to portray himself as a
businessman who could help the district market its farm products abroad
and bring more businesses to its small towns. He campaigned on the partial
privatization of Social Security, eliminating the "marriage
penalty" and the estate tax, and improving the district's roads.
Kennedy also launched an aggressive advertising campaign against Minge,
characterizing him as deceitful; this prompted Minge to accuse him of
running a smear campaign. Kennedy raised nearly as much money as the
incumbent, with about $700,000 by Oct. 18, compared with Minge's
$800,000.


Born on April 11, 1957, in Benson, Minn., Kennedy graduated from St.
John's University in 1978 and earned an M.B.A. from the University of
Michigan in 1983. He was a CPA with Arthur Andersen before becoming
financial director of Pillsbury. He was then an executive with Federated
Department Stores, Shopko Stores, and finally Department 56, where he
stepped down as a senior vice president to become a full-time candidate
this year. Kennedy lives in Watertown with his wife Debbie; they have four
children.


Kennedy is likely to seek a seat on the House Agriculture Committee to
address the needs of this rural district. He has also promised to seek
more federal transportation money and might welcome an appointment to the
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. This district has been
Republican for most of the past century, but a conservative Democrat can
win here, as Minge proved. Minnesotans are continuing to move to the
suburbs, and this trend will affect the boundaries of most of the state's
districts after redistricting, making it difficult to predict Kennedy's
chances for re-election.


4th House District


Betty McCollum (D)


State Rep. Betty McCollum fended off a strong third-party challenge and
managed to hold onto an open seat in Minnesota's solidly Democratic 4th
District, which includes St. Paul and some of its suburbs. McCollum beat
conservative Republican state Sen. Linda Runbeck and prosecutor Tom Foley,
a moderate from Gov. Jesse Ventura's Independence Party. The seat had been
held by 12-term Democratic Rep. Bruce F. Vento, who was diagnosed with a
rare form of lung cancer in February and died in October. In the primary,
McCollum, who was endorsed by Minnesota's Democratic Farm Labor Party, won
50 percent of the vote; 23 percent went to state Sen. Steve Novak, 19
percent to St. Paul City Council member Chris Coleman, and 8 percent to
Cathie Hartnett, a St. Paul business owner. Foley's candidacy helped
determine the tone of the general election in this state that, in the
Ventura era, takes independent candidates very seriously. Former U.S. Sen.
Eugene McCarthy's endorsement of Foley showed the threat his candidacy
posed to McCollum's base of liberal Democratic voters, but it proved not
to be decisive. In pre-election polls, Runbeck never attracted more than
30 percent support. As of Oct. 18, McCollum had spent $750,000, compared
with Runbeck's $760,000 and Foley's $250,000.


McCollum was born on July 12, 1954, in Minneapolis. She grew up in North
St. Paul and received undergraduate degrees from Interhill Community
College and the College of St. Catherine. She worked for 11 years as a
high school social studies teacher and for 14 years as a retail sales
manager. In 1986, McCollum was elected to the North St. Paul City Council.
She served on the council until 1992, when she was elected to the
Minnesota House of Representatives. McCollum is Roman Catholic. She and
her husband, Doug, have been married for 25 years and have two children,
Sean, 21, and Katie, 19.


During the campaign, McCollum focused on health care, education, gun
control, and the environment. She has her eye on a post on the House
Commerce Health and Environment Subcommittee. Depending on the strength of
the state's Independence Party, McCollum should be able to win re-election
in two years. Democrats have held the seat since 1948, when Eugene
McCarthy was first elected here.


Missouri


Governor


Bob Holden (D)


State Treasurer Bob Holden had history on his side in his gubernatorial
race against Republican Rep. James M.


Talent. In 60 years, no St. Louis politician had been elected governor,
and Talent turned out to be no exception. Holden will fill the post of the
late Democratic Gov. Mel Carnahan, who was running for the Senate but died
in a plane crash in mid-October. Since there was no primary contest on the
Democratic side and negligible opposition within the GOP, Talent and
Holden had in essence been running against each other for at least two
years, anointed and heavily funded by their respective parties. With
Holden raising $7.3 million and Talent $6.87 million (as of Oct. 16), this
was not only one of the longest but also one of the costliest races in
Missouri history-yet polls showed a quarter of "likely voters"
were undecided well into September. Talent tried hard to push beyond his
urban base, endorsing a costly and controversial plan to build a rural
highway network, but in the end Holden held the line.


Holden was born in Kansas City, Mo., in 1949, but he grew up on a farm
outside the small town of Birch Tree-also the home of the late Gov. Mel
Carnahan, who became Holden's political patron. Holden graduated from
Southwest Missouri State with a degree in political science and a passion
for politics. After working as a grass-roots Democratic activist, he ran
for the state House in 1982, ousting the incumbent. That campaign also won
him his wife, Lori, a campaign worker; they were married the next year and
have two children. After three terms in the Legislature, he tried for
state treasurer and failed. But after three years in the office of Rep.
Richard A. Gephardt, D-Mo., he ran again in 1992 and won. The buzz about a
gubernatorial bid began soon after his re-election in 1996.


As governor, Holden will likely build upon his good-government record as
treasurer. During the campaign, he touted his money-saving management and
his modernization of the office, while standing by his opposition to the
expensive rural highway plan, despite its popularity among key
constituencies. He pledged to continue Carnahan's policies, particularly
on education. Holden opposed Talent's push for school vouchers and
defended Carnahan's 1993 tax increase to fund education improvements.
Holden has supported abortion rights and expanding medical coverage for
women, while opposing attempts to legalize the carrying of concealed
weapons.


Senate


Jean Carnahan (D)


In a startling re-


sult, Missouri voters elected the state's late governor, Mel Carnahan,
over first-term Republican Sen. John Ashcroft. Carnahan died on Oct. 16 en
route to a campaign event when a plane piloted by his son Roger crashed
near St. Louis in bad weather. It was too late to remove Carnahan's name
from the ballot, but two weeks after her husband's death, Jean Carnahan
announced that she would accept the Senate appointment that the state's
Democratic acting governor, Roger Wilson, had promised to offer her,
should her late husband win the election. The contest between her husband
and Ashcroft-two long-time political rivals-had been one of the closest
and most scrutinized Senate races of this year, and had long before taken
on an acrimonious tone. Ashcroft stopped campaigning for 10 days following
Carnahan's death, a move that seemed to give his late opponent a bump in
the polls. Afterward, Ashcroft touted his experience-Jean Carnahan has
never held public office-without directly referencing Carnahan. But
Democrats seemed energized by her pseudo-candidacy and the powerful St.
Louis Labor Council devoted all its resources to the campaign. "Don't
let the fire go out"-the ending of a speech she gave late last year
to the Missouri Federation of Women's Democratic Clubs-became their
rallying cry. Ashcroft was faced with running against the legend of a
popular late governor, an outpouring of sympathy for his widow, and
constant media coverage that helped fuel a large voter turnout. In
frustration, he lashed out at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for what he
perceived as unfair coverage. Further complicating matters, a state judge
ordered the polls to remain open an extra three hours on Election Day in
heavily Democratic St. Louis, saying that the huge turnout had overwhelmed
polling places and voters were being turned away. After Republicans cried
foul, the extra time was reduced to 45 minutes, but further charges may be
issued. As of Oct. 18, Ashcroft had raised almost $8 million, compared
with $7.4 million raised by Carnahan's campaign.


The 66-year-old Jean Carnahan graduated from George Washington University
with a degree in business and public administration. She married at age 20
and worked side-by-side with her husband during his long political career,
acting as his scheduler when he was state treasurer and sharing some of
his duties and interests while he served as a state legislator, lieutenant
governor, and governor. As Missouri's first lady, she has been an advocate
on children's issues, working to promote immunization and day-care
programs. Carnahan said she was inspired to offer herself in her husband's
place after reading comments by ABC's Cokie Roberts, whose mother, Lindy
Boggs, had replaced her late husband in the Senate after he was killed in
a plane crash in 1972. Jean Carnahan has authored three books, on topics
such as the history of Missouri's first families and the Governor's
Mansion, and entertaining at Christmastime. She lives in her family
farmhouse in Rolla and has three surviving children and two
grandchildren.


Jean Carnahan's appointment to this seat is uncertain despite Wilson's
pledge. The Missouri Republican Party may challenge the appointment, and
the Senate may then refuse to seat her until the legal question is
resolved. Sadly, this marks the second time in Missouri history that a
plane crash interrupted a Senate contest: Democratic Congressman Jerry
Litton died in 1976 while en route to a victory celebration after winning
his party's nomination, enabling Republican John Danforth to win that
race.


1st House District


William Lacy Clay Jr. (D)


To no one's surprise, state Sen. Lacy Clay trounced perennial Republican
candidate Z. Dwight Billingsly in the district that Clay's father,
retiring Democratic Rep. William "Bill" Clay, held for 32 years.
The younger Clay had raised $652,864 to Billingsly's $9,327 (as of Oct.
15). A far more serious foe for Clay Jr. was his challenger in the
Democratic primary-Charlie Dooley, a St. Louis council member. Dooley
raised $387,696 and had strong support in St. Louis County's suburbs,
which have become an ever more important part of this district as the
neighborhoods of St. Louis proper have shrunk and eroded the Clay family
base. Unions long allied to Clay Sr. declined to endorse his son,
reflecting a split in the local Democratic Party. But with many voters
believing the two Clays were the same person, Clay Jr. played up his
father's name, revved up his father's machine, and won the primary 61
percent to 28 percent.


Born July 27, 1956, in St. Louis, Clay Jr.'s whole life bears the imprint
of his father's politics. He moved to the Washington area after his
father's 1968 election and grew up there as a Congressman's son. He
attended public high schools in Silver Spring, Md., and then enrolled at
the University of Maryland, studying by night for seven years (and
graduating in 1983) while he worked as a House staffer by day. He had
started law classes at Howard University in Washington when he was drawn
back to St. Louis in 1983 to run in a special election for a state House
seat, which he won. Then in 1991, party bosses picked Clay Jr. to run in a
special election for a state Senate seat, which he also won. Clay Jr. and
his wife, Ivie Lewellen Clay, have a 5-year-old daughter, Carol, who
attends public school in St. Louis-for now.


Much of Clay Jr.'s political career has been filled with the nuts and
bolts of local politics-a casino here, a sales tax there-but he has also
staked out strong liberal positions, notably on abortion rights,
education, and minority contracting. And he played a key role in helping
to end the long-running St. Louis school desegregation case after 30
years. He is said to have inherited the convictions of his 1960s activist
father but has toned down his dad's confrontational style. Clay Jr. is not
above symbolism, however: He led a campaign to have a highway adopted by
the Klu Klux Klan renamed to honor civil rights icon Rosa Parks. Given his
strong Democratic base, Clay's only real vulnerability is to
redistricting. The city of St. Louis keeps losing population, and
redrawing district lines might put him at odds with the neighboring 3rd
District-the base of Democratic House leader Richard A. Gephardt.


2nd House District


Todd Akin (R)


In a reliably Republican district, conservative state Rep. Todd Akin
successfully painted Democratic state Sen. Ted House as too liberal in the
race for the seat of GOP Rep. James M. Talent, who ran for governor. Akin
had won a five-way GOP primary, following a recount, by just 77 votes over
Gene McNary, a former Bush Administration official and St. Louis County
executive. Meanwhile, House, who opposes abortion rights and gun control,
ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. He exploited the interest raised
by the Republican infighting to tout his conservative credentials in TV
ads that neglected to mention that he is a Democrat. As of Oct. 15, Akin
had raised $647,515 to House's $709,310.


Born in New York City on July 5, 1947, Akin grew up in St. Louis. He
earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from Worchester Polytech
Institute in 1971, and then served as an Army combat engineer. He also
earned a masters degree from Covenant Seminary Missouri in 1984. Before
his election to the state House in 1988, Akin had a career in business,
first at IBM and then at the same company where his father once worked,
Laclede Steel. During his 12 years in the Missouri Legislature, few bills
he backed ever passed. Undaunted, he took to the courts, filing one
lawsuit to stop a tax increase intended to underwrite education
improvements and another to stop "riverboat" gambling on barges
moored in artificial ponds; the former case failed, but the latter one
succeeded, forcing the industry to spend millions on a referendum that
ultimately changed the law in its favor. Akin's idealism derives from his
avid study of American history and the Constitution, on which he lectures
at various public and private institutions. Akin, an active member of the
Twin Oaks Presbyterian Church, and his wife, Lulli, have six
children.


Akin has received 100 percent ratings from several business groups, and
his campaign Web site proudly cites his endorsement by Gary Aldrich, a
former FBI agent and the anti-Clinton author of Unlimited Access. Given
his record and rhetoric, Akin will certainly pursue a conservative agenda
in Congress. Whether his uncompromising passion fares well with national
party leaders, or his own district in the long run, is less certain. But
the previous redistricting only made this district more conservative, and
as the Republican suburbs of St. Louis expand, that trend will likely
continue after 2000 to Akin's advantage.


6th House District


Sam Graves (R)


Scratch one dynasty. When ailing four-term Democratic Rep. Pat Danner
announced, 22 minutes before the state filing deadline, that she would not
seek re-election, the party rallied around her son Steve, a former state
senator. But Republican state Sen. Sam Graves also leapt into the race,
and he won, thanks in part to backing by such national party leaders as
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Majority Leader Dick Armey,
R-Texas, who thought that Graves had a good shot in this swing district.
Graves' opportunistic entry, high-powered support, and conservative
positions riled primary rival Teresa Anne Loar, a moderate Republican on
the Kansas City Council who had filed before the elder Danner's
retirement. In an ugly primary, Loar blasted Graves as the darling of
extremist and sexist party leaders, while Graves countered by savaging her
travel expenses while on the city council-probably unnecessarily, as
Graves outraised Loar 2-to-1 and outpolled her 4-to-1. With personal
appearances in the district by Hastert and Armey, and brief stops by
George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, who helped him raise $649,908 to the
Democrat's $557,739 (as of Oct. 15), Graves successfully hammered Danner
as more liberal than his mother and the district.


A sixth-generation farmer and lifelong resident of Tarkio, Mo., where he
was born in 1963, Graves began his career in agriculture, the issue which
defined much of his politics as well. He graduated from the University of
Missouri as an agronomist and soon after, in 1987, joined the Farm Bureau.
The '80s farm crisis drew him into politics, and in 1992, he defeated a
longtime incumbent Democrat in the state House. He ascended to the state
Senate two years later. The young Graves was a quiet legislator. Besides
his successful push to lighten automobile inspection requirements, he
attracted attention with a five-hour filibuster in 1998, when he baffled
colleagues and nearly derailed the Legislature over a school desegregation
bill that he called slanted against rural districts such as Tarkio. (The
bill passed 26-8.) His wife, Lesley, teaches school in Tarkio, where the
Graveses live with their three children.


Graves' fervent defense of rural interests accounts for his support of
free trade with China and might make him a natural choice for the House
Agriculture Committee. Against abortion rights and tax increases, but in
favor of the death penalty and business interests, Graves successfully
slammed Danner for his support of the 1993 Outstanding Schools Act, which
raised taxes sharply to fund education, a bad trade-off in many
Missourians' view. But as the district's demographic balance shifts from
declining rural areas to growing Kansas City, Graves' support may wane,
setting this district up for yet another swing in 2002.


Montana


Governor


Judy Martz (R)


Lt. Gov. Judy Martz became the first woman to be elected governor in
Montana with her victory over Democratic state Auditor Mark O'Keefe. Martz
will succeed fellow Republican Gov. Marc Racicot, who was term-limited
after eight years in office. A former Olympic speed skater who owns a
trash disposal business with her husband, Martz was a surprise selection
by Racicot in 1996. Racicot chose her as his running mate after she made
an unsolicited phone call to him. But she faced a challenge this year for
the Republican gubernatorial nomination from University of Montana law
professor Rob Natelson, the founder of a conservative political group and
the leader of several successful anti-tax ballot initiatives. Natelson
also lost a primary challenge to Racicot in 1996. Martz prevailed in the
June primary, 57 percent to 43 percent, setting up the race against
O'Keefe, who won a three-way primary for the Democratic nomination against
the Montana attorney general and secretary of state. In the general
election, O'Keefe questioned Martz's understanding of state policy and ran
on a platform of strengthening economic development, improving the state's
education system, and protecting the environment. Martz, meanwhile,
criticized O'Keefe for inadequately regulating the insurance industry and
for featuring himself in public service announcements during his eights
years as auditor. Martz said O'Keefe's economic proposals would result in
tax increases, and as an alternative, she offered a partnership between
government and the private sector to improve the state's business climate.
O'Keefe-whose wife is a heiress to the Dayton-Hudson department store
chain, which was sold to Target-had a tremendous fund-raising advantage.
As of Oct. 18, he had raised nearly $3 million, including more than $2.1
million of his own money, compared with Martz' $800,000. With only weeks
remaining in the campaign, he had $800,000 more than Martz left to spend,
but polls had this race as a statistical dead heat for much of the
campaign. Martz was also aided by advertisements placed by a group called
People for Montana, formed by the state's 10 largest companies.


Born on July 28, 1943, in Big Timber, Mont., Martz made her mark as an
amateur athlete long before beginning a political career. She was crowned
Miss Rodeo Montana at age 20 and in 1964 represented the United States as
a speed skater at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. Martz studied
at Eastern Montana College (now Montana State University-Billings) in
1964-65. She married her husband, Harry, in 1965. Although she had worked
for a number of Republican candidates in the 1960s, her interest in
politics and its effect on business intensified after she and her husband
started a garbage disposal company in Butte. Martz spent six years as a
field representative for Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., before being elected
lieutenant governor on a ticket with Racicot in 1996. Martz and her
husband live in Helena and have two children.


Economic development will be Martz's greatest challenge as governor. She
has proposed tax credits to lure high-tech companies to Montana and has
promised an across-the-board cut in state income taxes. But if Martz fails
to improve the state's economy, Natelson might launch another intraparty
challenge. Numerous Democrats, including O'Keefe with his millions of
dollars, also wait in the wings for another chance to be chief
executive.


At-Large House District


Dennis Rehberg (R)


Former Lt. Gov. Dennis Rehberg overcame a late start in this campaign to
defeat Democrat Nancy Keenan and keep Montana's at-large House seat in
Republican hands. Rehberg will succeed Republican Rep. Rick Hill, who
ended his re-election bid in August 1999 because of complications from eye
surgery that impaired his vision. In the months before he abandoned his
campaign, Hill repeatedly contrasted himself with Keenan, the state's
School Superintendent, by noting that she was single and childless and
therefore supposedly less capable of understanding mainstream Montanans
than a "family man" such as himself. In response, Keenan noted
that she had to have a hysterectomy at age 31 and had spent a decade
caring for her ailing mother. The remarks generated a tremendous backlash
against Hill and sympathy for Keenan, giving her an early advantage over
Rehberg. Both candidates talked about stimulating Montana's economy,
protecting Social Security, adding Medicare coverage of prescription
drugs, and improving education. A former teacher, Keenan opposed school
vouchers while promising to work for higher federal education funding and
a minimum-wage increase. Rehberg was a rancher who left his position as
lieutenant governor in 1996 to mount an unsuccessful challenge to
Democratic Sen. Max Baucus. In this House campaign, Rehberg tried to
portray Keenan as a liberal, but he ran into trouble with some social
conservatives over his support of permanent normal trade relations with
China and his acceptance of donations from gambling interests.
Out-of-state money played a major role in the race: Keenan received strong
support from unions, abortion-rights groups, and EMILY's List, while
Rehberg received support from such groups as the National Federation of
Independent Business. Despite Keenan's five-month head start, Rehberg had
more money; as of Oct. 18, he had raised more than $1.8 million, compared
with $1.7 million for Keenan.


Born on Oct. 5, 1955, in Billings, Rehberg earned a bachelor's degree from
Washington State University in 1977 after spending two years at Montana
State University. After graduation he worked for two years as a real
estate agent in Billings, then moved to Washington, D.C., to work as a
legislative assistant for Rep. Ron Marlenee, R-Mont. In 1984, Rehberg
returned to Montana to wage a successful campaign for the state House and
was re-elected in 1986 and 1988. Gov. Stan Stephens appointed Rehberg
lieutenant governor in 1991, and he regained the office as a running mate
to Stephens' successor, Marc Racicot, in 1992. Since his 1996 loss to
Baucus, Rehberg has been managing his family's ranch, overseeing a herd of
500 cattle and 600 cashmere goats. Rehberg and his wife, Janice, live in
Billings with their three children.


Given his family's ties to ranching, Rehberg would be a logical
appointment to the House Agriculture Committee. Montana is expected to
pick up a second House seat following the 2000 census, and the new
district lines will very likely resemble the state's pre-1990 map: one
district covering the mountainous western half of the state, and one
encompassing the eastern plains. Rehberg would almost certainly run for
re-election in the more Republican eastern district, where his roots and
ranching background would help most.


Nebraska


Senate


Ben Nelson (D)


Former Gov. Ben Nelson defeated Republican Don Stenberg, Nebraska's
attorney general, for the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey.
Pundits predicted early on that the seat would go to the Republicans, and
Stenberg emerged from a pack of six GOP challengers to gain his party's
nomination. Nelson, who lost a bid for Nebraska's other Senate seat in
1996 to Republican Chuck Hagel, faced no primary opposition. He carefully
crafted a platform based on bipartisanship and support for local
government to distinguish himself from more-liberal Democrats in the minds
of Nebraska's largely conservative electorate. By the end of the summer,
Nelson had jumped to a 20-point lead in the polls, but then steadily lost
ground through the fall. By October, he had raised $2.2 million to
Stenberg's $1.2 million. In the race's ad wars driven by "soft
money," Nelson accentuated his record as governor, particularly his
success in controlling spending, and his fight for prescription drug
coverage, family farms, and improving education.


Nelson was born on May 17, 1941, in rural McCook, Neb. At the University
of Nebraska (Lincoln), he earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy in
1963, a master's degree in 1965, and a law degree in 1970. Nelson made a
name for himself as a lawyer and insurance administrator, and began his
political career in 1975 when he was named director of the Nebraska
Department of Insurance. In 1976 and 1980, Nelson gained recognition
within the Democratic Party by serving as state campaign manager for
presidential candidate Jimmy Carter. From 1980-85, Nelson served various
posts in national insurance groups and was a partner in a law firm from
1985-90. In 1990, Nelson eked out a 4,030-vote victory to become governor
and was re-elected in 1994. Following his demoralizing 1996 Senate loss to
Hagel, a political unknown, Nelson finished his gubernatorial term and
joined a law firm in Omaha. Nelson and his wife, Diane, live in Omaha;
they have four children and three grandchildren.


As Senator, Nelson will continue Kerrey's considerable focus on health
care issues, and he will likely take his defense of family farms to the
Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee. He may also seek
appointment to the Senate Finance or Budget committees. In 2006, he could
face several strong challengers in a state chock full of experienced
politicians in both parties. This may not have been his last
nail-biter.


3rd House District


Tom Osborne (R)


It's been a long time since Nebraska football legend Tom Osborne has been
a rookie, but that's what he'll be in the new Congress as he succeeds
retiring Republican Rep. Bill Barrett. Osborne, who coached the University
of Nebraska Cornhuskers to three national championships before retiring in
1998, trounced Democratic real estate agent Rollie Reynolds in the 3rd
District contest that was never in doubt. Reynolds, who at one point in
the campaign referred to Osborne as "my hero ... everyone's
hero," raised less than $12,000 as of Oct. 18, no match for Osborne's
$420,000-which Osborne collected despite a self-imposed ban on political
action committee money. Osborne said he wants to unify Nebraska's
agricultural interests, protect ethanol subsidies, open markets abroad,
and enhance local control of schools and taxes. Osborne, who won 71
percent of the vote to win the Republican nomination over former state
party Chairman John Gale in May after other prominent GOP contenders bowed
out, exploited his character appeal and Nebraska roots. He also benefited
from running in one of the nation's most secure Republican districts.
Probably the most difficult political decision that Osborne had to make
this year was whether to seek the House seat or the more competitive
Senate seat that was opened by Sen. Bob Kerrey's retirement. But Osborne
said at the time, "I was never interested in anything
else."


Osborne was born on Feb. 23, 1937, in Hastings, Neb. He excelled in
basketball, football, and track, first at Hastings High School and then at
the University of Nebraska, where he graduated with a history degree in
1959. He played professional football for three years in Washington and
San Francisco before returning to Nebraska to work as a graduate assistant
for his alma mater's football team. Osborne would stay there for 36 more
years, including 25 as head coach. Along the way, he earned a master's
degree in educational psychology in 1963 and his Ph.D. in the field in
1965. A Methodist, Osborne has been married to his wife, Nancy, for 38
years. They have three children and four grandchildren.


Osborne is likely to land a seat on the House Agriculture Committee, and
his background in college athletics could lead him to the House Education
and the Workforce Committee. His football experience might also open some
doors for him in the GOP. The ranks of House Republican leaders include
ex-gridiron stars Steve Largent and J.C. Watts, both of Oklahoma. Osborne
is an extremely popular Republican in a Republican-dominated district; his
health, which has been a question since he underwent heart bypass surgery
in 1985, may be the only limiting factor in his political future.


Nevada


Senate


John Ensign (R)


John Ensign beat back a late-campaign surge by Democrat Ed Bernstein, a
personal injury lawyer, to win a Senate seat in his second attempt. Two
years ago, then-Rep. Ensign lost to Democratic Sen. Harry Reid by only 428
votes. This time around, in the race for the seat of retiring Democratic
Sen. Richard H. Bryan, Ensign expected to waltz into the Senate chamber
because two leading Democrats dropped out. After Ensign handily won his
primary (his closest Republican opponent, Richard Hamzik, polled 6 percent
to his 88 percent), the Democrats' first two choices for the nomination,
former Gov. Bob Miller and state Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa,
declined to run. Yet Bernstein emerged as a formidable replacement,
challenging Ensign's hard line on abortion, his use of "soft
money," and his health care and school funding proposals. By Oct. 18,
Ensign had amassed $4.5 million to fund an ultimately successful ad
campaign that touted his opposition to storing nuclear waste in Nevada and
his support for local control of schools and a health care plan that
"puts patients first." Bernstein raised only $2.4 million, $1
million of which came from his own fortune.


Ensign was born in Roseville, Calif., on Feb. 25, 1958. He spent three
years, 1976-79, at the University of Nevada (Las Vegas), and received his
bachelor's degree from Oregon State University in 1981. Ensign earned his
degree in veterinary medicine from Colorado State University in 1985. For
nearly 10 years, he presided over his own veterinary practice, the first
24-hour animal hospital in Las Vegas. He also dabbled in the trademark
industry of northern Nevada, gambling, as he became general manager of the
Gold Strike Hotel & Casino in 1991 and the Nevada Landing Hotel &
Casino in 1992. He left his practice and put his business career on hold
to run for the House in 1994. He won, was re-elected in 1996, and
relinquished his seat in 1998 to run unsuccessfully for Reid's seat. A
Christian, Ensign and his wife, Darlene, live in Las Vegas with their
three children.


During his tenure in the House, Ensign served on the Ways and Means
Committee and the Resources Committee, where he supported tax reform and
efforts to protect Nevada's environmentally sensitive lands. In the
Senate, he will probably serve on comparable committees. One certainty is
that he will continue to oppose plans to store nuclear waste at Yucca
Mountain, Nev., a signature issue in his political career. Looking ahead
to 2006, some pundits believe that Bernstein will try another run.


New Jersey


Senate


Jon Corzine (D)


After the most expensive campaign in Senate history, Jon Corzine, the
former co-chairman of investment bank Goldman, Sachs & Co., defeated
Republican Rep. Bob Franks to retain retiring Sen. Frank Lautenberg's seat
for the Democratic Party. Lautenberg had foreseen a costly race in
February 1999, when he announced his retirement plans. Two-term GOP Gov.
Christine Todd Whitman was the early front-runner to take Lautenberg's
place in a projected rematch against former Democratic Gov. Jim Florio,
whom she had defeated in 1993. But Corzine (and his personal fortune of
$300 million to $400 million) was looming on the horizon. He declared his
candidacy shortly after Whitman surprisingly withdrew from the race in
September 1999, and he began a 12-week television advertising blitz in
March 2000 that enabled him to pull ahead of Florio in the Democratic
primary. Florio, with only $2.5 million in his coffers, relentlessly
attacked Corzine in the last weeks of the campaign as a political
neophyte. But Florio's drive was undermined three weeks before the primary
election, when it was reported that he had supported a limited stock
market investment plan for Social Security as recently as a year ago, a
position for which he had attacked Corzine for espousing. Corzine won
easily with 58 percent of the vote, taking 14 counties, mostly in the
northern part of the state; Florio attracted 42 percent of the voted and
prevailed in seven counties, mostly in the south. On the Republican side,
Franks barely won a four-way primary after a relatively obscure campaign
waged mostly through direct mail. In the general election, Corzine's
decision not to release his income tax returns-because of a
confidentiality agreement with a former employer-became a major issue.
Franks questioned whether voters could trust someone who had withheld
information from them, but he simply could not compete with Corzine's deep
pockets: As of Sept. 30, Corzine had raised $50 million (including $42
million of his own money), compared with Franks' $4.3 million.


Born on New Year's Day in 1947, in Willey's Station, Ill., Corzine left
his family's farm to attend the University of Illinois, where he earned a
B.A. in 1969. He received an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago in
1973. He was a member of the Marine Corps Reserve from 1969-75. Corzine
joined Goldman Sachs in 1975-a job that brought him and his wife to New
Jersey-in an entry-level position with responsibilities that included
fetching coffee for his superiors. The coffee must have been great; within
five years, Corzine had made general partner, and in 1994 he became
chairman and CEO. In 1999, Corzine led the drive to take Goldman Sachs
public in a $3.66 billion initial offering that yielded him $300 million
before he was pushed aside in a subsequent management shake-up. Corzine
and his wife, Joanne, live in Summit, N.J.; they have three
children.


Corzine was an anomalous Wall Street candidate in that he campaigned as an
unabashed liberal. He called for universal health care, as well as for
free college tuition for any student with a B average, while opposing the
death penalty and supporting mandatory licensing of guns and registration
for gun owners. "The bearded, rumpled Corzine," wrote syndicated
columnist George Will, "is friendly, industrious, intelligent,
intellectually curious, liberal with his own money, forthright,
well-meaning, and caught in a time warp. He wants to be Hubert
Humphrey." Given his experience in high finance, Corzine would be a
natural for the Banking Committee, although he is also interested in
education. With his $50 million campaign, Corzine topped the high of
nearly $30 million spent by Michael Huffington in his unsuccessful 1994
run for Senate in California. Whoever is to challenge him in 2006 needs to
accumulate a monster nest egg.


7th House District


Michael Ferguson (R)


In one of the most competitive races in the nation, Michael Ferguson, a
30-year-old educator, defeated Democrat Maryanne Connelly, a retired
AT&T  executive, for the seat of Republican Rep. Bob Franks, who ran
for the Senate. In 1998, Ferguson badly lost a challenge to Democratic
Rep. Frank E. Pallone in the neighboring 6th District, and he moved into
the 7th after Franks' announcement that he would run for the Senate. But
Ferguson faced a serious hurdle on the way to the Republican nomination:
He had to win a four-way primary against state Assemblyman Joel
Weingarten, former congressional aide Patrick Morrissey, and Tom Kean Jr.,
the son of the popular former governor. In the primary campaign, Ferguson
focused on fiscal issues, such as cutting taxes, while Kean struggled on
the stump, despite having better name recognition. Ferguson raised the
most money and won 41 percent; Kean got 28 percent, Weingarten got 23
percent, and Morrissey got 9 percent. Meanwhile, Connelly, a former mayor
of Fanwood, won a nasty Democratic primary by just 294 votes. In the
general election campaign, Connelly sought to portray Ferguson as
inexperienced, while he focused on character. The race quickly degenerated
into a series of negative attacks in which Ferguson's campaign accused
Connelly of calling him racist, and she accused Ferguson of flip-flopping
on gun control and health care. But Ferguson's mix of views-he opposes
abortion, supports school vouchers, and calls for the licensing and
registration of all guns-won over enough voters.


Born on July 22, 1970, in Ridgewood, N.J., Ferguson graduated from the
University of Notre Dame, after which he taught history and coached
basketball at Mount St. Michael Academy in the Bronx, N.Y. He earned a
master's degree in public policy from Georgetown University in 1995 and
served as executive director of both the Catholic Campaign for America and
the Better Schools Foundation in Washington. Ferguson then returned to New
Jersey and founded Strategic Education Initiatives Inc., an education
consulting firm, and became an adjunct professor of political science at
Brookdale Community College. In his 1998 challenge to Pallone, Ferguson
spent more than $1 million but lost 57 percent to 40 percent. Ferguson and
his wife, Maureen, live in Warren Township with their two
children.


With his strong background in education, Ferguson would probably welcome
an assignment to the House Education and the Workforce Committee. His
prospects for retaining this seat, however, are cloudy. Franks held it for
four terms, despite a rising Democratic tide: The district now has 21,000
more registered Democrats than Republicans.


New York


Senate


Hillary Rodham Clinton (D)


In winning New York's Senate race, Hillary Rodham Clinton made history by
becoming the only first lady (sitting or former) to be elected to public
office. She defeated Republican Rep. Rick A. Lazio-a replacement candidate
for New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani-to succeed four-term Democratic
Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. New York seemed the only place big enough to
stage a steel-cage match between the polarizing first lady and the
audacious mayor of Gotham, but in April 2000 Giuliani began to
self-destruct: The mayor's mishandling of a police shooting of an unarmed
Haitian immigrant gave Clinton her first lead in the polls; later that
month, Giuliani announced he had colon cancer; two weeks later, Giuliani
startled the city by announcing he was seeking a separation from his wife.
Then, on May 19, the mayor withdrew his candidacy to focus on his health
and family problems, and Lazio grasped the GOP baton. Within a week, Lazio
had tied Clinton in the polls. By Sept. 30, Lazio had actually raised more
money than Clinton. He collected about $29 million to her $25 million, and
outpaced her fund raising by nearly a 4-1 ratio in August and September.
As a first-time candidate, Clinton initially struggled to master New
York's labyrinth of ethnic politics, but after a few early mistakes (such
as calling on the President to rescind a clemency offer to convicted
Puerto Rican terrorists, and kissing the wife of Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat while on a state visit) she became a more savvy customer. Lazio
promoted his moderate House voting record while belittling Clinton for
being a carpetbagger. She, meanwhile, promised to aide the ailing upstate
economy, while reminding voters that Lazio was a deputy whip under Newt
Gingrich. The race seemed to turn in Clinton's favor when, in their first
debate, Lazio harshly confronted her about "soft money," an
encounter that helped Clinton gain support among suburban women.
Ironically, Lazio's challenge spurred the two to make history of sorts by
agreeing to ban soft-money advertisements (although Lazio continued to
benefit from ads paid for by his party, thanks to an obscure loophole).
But Lazio's ploy also painted him as a hostile aggressor, while she
remained poised. Subsequently, Lazio's campaign lost its focus.


Born on Oct. 26, 1947, in Chicago, Clinton was raised in the nearby suburb
of Park Ridge, Ill. After graduating from Wellesley College in 1969,
Clinton attended Yale Law School-where she met her future husband-and
earned her law degree in 1973. She married in 1975 and moved to Arkansas,
where she practiced law at the Rose law firm, while serving as first lady
of the state from the time Bill Clinton was first elected governor in
1978, and then from 1983-93. In her husband's Little Rock administration,
Clinton worked on education and children's initiatives. After he was
elected President in 1992, she chaired a widely criticized national task
force on health care reform, and again led initiatives on women's issues
and children. She played leading roles in the passage of the Family Leave
Act and the Adoption and Safe Family Act. She lives in Chappaqua, N.Y.,
and has a daughter, Chelsea.


Clinton would no doubt relish an appointment to the Senate Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. She may not be a New Yorker by
birth, but many famous New Yorkers weren't either, and her victory seems
to indicate that she has been accepted in her new home. Clinton is
treading on uncharted political ground. She is moving to establish an
identity separate from that of her husband's. Should they remain together,
she could allow him to make history by becoming the first first gentleman
in the White House.


1st House District


Felix Grucci (R)


Fireworks manufacturer Felix Grucci will return New York's 1st House
District to Republican hands after the bizarre odyssey of his predecessor,
Democratic Rep. Michael P. Forbes. In July 1999, Forbes became the first
sitting House member to switch from Republican to Democratic affiliation
since Don Riegle in 1973. Then, in September of this year, Forbes lost the
Democratic primary to Regina Seltzer, a 71-year-old retired school
librarian originally considered to be only a token opponent. (He was one
of three House incumbents to lose primaries this year.) Although national
Democratic Party leaders had embraced Forbes, he struggled to win the
support of local Democrats who had campaigned against him in the three
previous congressional races. Republicans played an important role in the
Democratic primary, releasing embarrassing video outtakes of old Forbes
campaign commercials and sending a mailing to Democratic voters portraying
Forbes as an archconservative. Seltzer won a court ruling halting state
Democratic Party ads that she said illegally interfered with the primary
by helping Forbes. And she campaigned as "the real Democrat."
Seltzer won by 35 votes-despite being outspent by almost $1 million. She
immediately become an underdog against Grucci, the well-known supervisor
of Brookhaven Township (which comprises 62 percent of this district) and
the president of Fireworks by Grucci, the internationally known fireworks
company. Democrats criticized him for using public money to pay for a
campaign event at a local high school, and they ran ads displaying a news
report questioning whether the Grucci fireworks factory was the source of
toxic contamination in nearby drinking water wells. Grucci said the
event-at which Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., appeared-was educational, not
political, and he denied his company was the source of the pollution. As
of Oct. 18, Grucci had raised $1.3 million to Seltzer's $200,000. There
was no miracle in the cards for Seltzer this time around.


Born on Nov. 25, 1951, in Bellport, L.I., Grucci began working at
Fireworks by Grucci-his family's business-immediately after graduating
from high school in 1970. Felix became its president following a
devastating accident in 1983, and he transformed the company from a small,
hometown business to an international pyrotechnic entertainment firm that
handled the inaugurations of Presidents Reagan, Bush, and Clinton, the
centennial celebrations of the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge;
and the 2000 New Year's Eve celebration on the National Mall in
Washington. Grucci was elected Brookhaven supervisor in 1995 and was
re-elected in 1997 and 1999, never receiving less than 62 percent of the
vote. Grucci and his wife, Madeline, live in Bellport; they have two
children.


Grucci could face a serious challenge in 2002. Democrat George
Hochbrueckner held this seat from 1986-94, and several high-profile
Democrats-among them Tony Bullock, chief of staff to retiring Sen. Daniel
Patrick Moynihan-expressed an interest in running against Forbes before
being dissuaded by their party.


2nd House District


Steve Israel (D)


With Steve Israel's surprising victory over Republican Joan Johnson on the
home turf of GOP Rep. Rick A. Lazio, the Democratic Party has recaptured
New York's 2nd House District for the first time since 1992. The thought
that Israel, a Huntington Township council member, could win this seat was
unimaginable six months ago, but three unlikely events made it possible:
In late May, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani dropped out of the
Senate race against first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Lazio was
picked as a replacement candidate; Israel won a fiercely contested primary
against a higher-profile opponent for the Democratic nomination; and
Republicans nominated Johnson, an African-American, despite her support
for abortion rights and gun control. In the Democratic primary, Suffolk
County Legislator David Bishop-who was considered a slight
favorite-accused Israel of giving raises to Huntington employees who had
volunteered for his campaign, and he questioned Israel's credentials and
environmental record. Israel said the raises were deserved and had
bipartisan support, while noting that he had worked to pass a $15 million
bond to preserve open space in the township and had given Bishop his first
job in politics-a claim Bishop denied. Israel squeaked out a 45 percent to
41 percent victory. In the general election, the 67-year-old Johnson-the
Islip Township clerk-was an intriguing candidate but did not have the
support of rank-and-file Republicans, as evidenced by her loss of the
important Conservative Party primary and her weak showing in the
Republican primary against an anti-abortion-rights candidate. As of Oct.
18, Johnson had raised slightly more than Israel, with $750,000 to his
$680,000.


Born on May 30, 1958, in Brooklyn, N.Y., Israel was reared in Wantagh,
L.I. He earned a B.A. from George Washington University in 1983, and began
working full-time in Washington in 1980, first as a constituent
correspondent for Rep. Robert T. Matsui, D-Calif., then for three years as
a legislative assistant to Rep. Richard Ottinger, D-N.Y. Israel returned
to Long Island, where he was fund-raising director for Tauro Law School
(1985-88), assistant Suffolk County executive for intergovernmental
relations (1988-91), and a public relations and marketing executive
(1992-99). He is currently the president and CEO of the Institute on the
Holocaust and the Law. In 1993, Israel won election as the only Democrat
to the Hunting Township Council, where he forged a reputation as a
bipartisan leader who helped revive the finances of the then-strapped
town; he was re-elected in 1995 and 1997. He lives in Dix Hills and has
two daughters; he and his wife are separated.


Israel said the first bill he wants to introduce in Congress would keep
elderly Americans from losing their Medicare HMOs. In addition to his
experience with finances, Israel is interested in child care and
environmental protection. He is considered an eloquent speaker and gifted
fund-raiser, but Republicans are sure to mount a strong challenge for his
seat in 2002.


North Carolina


Governor


Mike Easley (D)


In one of the nation's most hotly contested gubernatorial races, North
Carolina Attorney General Mike Easley defeated Republican Richard Vinroot,
the former mayor of Charlotte, allowing Democrats to maintain control of
the Tar Heel Statehouse. Easley will succeed popular Democratic Gov. James
B. Hunt Jr., who was term-limited after serving for the past eight years,
as well as from 1977-84. Both candidates were products of unorthodox
primaries that they were able to win despite opposition from the state's
major interest groups. And both of their primary campaigns relied largely
on television advertising. During his two terms as attorney general,
Easley appeared in about $1 million worth of state-financed public service
ads about consumer fraud. This so upset Republicans in the state
legislature that they passed a law preventing elected state officials from
appearing in public service ads during election years. But the ads boosted
Easley to a 59 percent to 36 percent primary victory over Lt. Gov. Dennis
Wicker, who had been endorsed by traditional Democratic supporters such as
teachers' groups, women's organizations, and African-American leaders. In
the Republican primary, Vinroot, a corporate lawyer, won 45 percent in a
three-way race, despite opposition to his candidacy from the Christian
Coalition and the National Rifle Association. During the general election
campaign, Vinroot brought a caravan of Republican governors through the
state to stump on his behalf. He also hit Easley on the public service
ads, accusing the attorney general of misusing public money to further his
own political ambitions. Easley, meanwhile, criticized Vinroot for
opposing a strong patients' bill of rights and promised to implement a
lottery to fund education improvements. Easley went into the election with
a lead in the polls and as of June 30 had raised about $4.8 million and
had another $850,000 on hand, while Vinroot had raised $3.3 million and
had just $117,000 on hand.


Born on March 23, 1950, in Nash County, N. C., Easley graduated from the
University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) in 1972 with a bachelor's
degree in political science. He went on to receive his law degree from
North Carolina Central University in 1976 and became an assistant attorney
in a district encompassing the state's three southeast counties. After
being promoted to district attorney there in 1982, Easley developed
programs to combat rape and sexual abuse and to counsel child-abuse
victims, and he won accolades for his prosecution of drug traffickers. He
was elected state attorney general in 1992 and again in 1996. In that
office, he pushed to reform sentencing laws to keep violent criminals
imprisoned longer, created a task force on environmental crimes, and
worked on the national tobacco settlement. Easley and his wife, Mary, live
in Rocky Mount with their son.


During his campaign, Easley promised to improve education by reducing
class sizes using money from a state lottery, provide prescription drug
coverage for seniors and a patients' bill of rights, and enact new
environmental regulations to reduce pollution. Democrats have now won five
of North Carolina's last six gubernatorial races, but past results are not
necessarily indicative of future performance.


North Dakota


Governor


John Hoeven (R)


In a tight gubernatorial campaign where the unexpected became routine,
Bank of North


Dakota President John Hoeven defeated Democrat Heidi Heitkamp, the state's
attorney general. The candidates were vying for a seat that opened up
after the surprise announcement in October 1999 by popular Gov. Ed
Schafer, a centrist Republican, that he wouldn't seek a third term.
Republicans scrambled to find a candidate, and Hoeven got a late but
well-financed start-as well as Schafer's endorsement. Heitkamp, the
state's first female attorney general, was expected to be a strong
contender, and Schafer's departure opened the door for Democrats to take
the seat. But a Sept. 20 announcement that Heitkamp had been diagnosed
with breast cancer briefly stalled the race, while speculation brewed over
her ability to remain a candidate. After surgery in October, she surged in
the polls going into the final month of the campaign. But the momentum did
not last to Election Day, and Hoeven was able to eke out a
victory.


Hoeven, a Catholic, was born in Bismarck, N.D., on March 13, 1957. He
attended Dartmouth College, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1979,
and went on to receive an M.B.A. from Northwestern University's Kellogg
Graduate School of Management in 1981. He returned to North Dakota to join
the family business, First Western Bank, in Minot, where he rose to the
position of executive vice president. In 1993, he moved to the Bank of
North Dakota in Bismarck, where he became president and CEO. He has
chaired and served on a number of local development boards, including the
Minot Area Development Corp., and community organizations such as the area
United Way campaign. Hoeven and his wife, Mikey, reside in Bismarck with
their two children.


Touting his business experience on the campaign trail, Hoeven has
emphasized the need to promote economic development in this largely
agricultural state by creating higher-paying jobs in such industries as
technology. Pushing a centrist plan similar to his opponent's, he says
education is crucial in preparing future workers for these jobs, and he
wants to spend more money on teacher training and salaries. For the
agriculture industry, Hoeven would push for reforms to the federal farm
bill to give farmers more of a safety net, and he wants to provide
incentives for farmers to produce "value-added" goods.


Ohio


12th House District


Patrick J. Tiberi (R)


State Rep. Patrick J. Tiberi kept Ohio's 12th District in Republican hands
by besting Democrat Maryellen O'Shaughnessy in


a race that Rep. Richard A. Gephardt, D-Mo., had labeled a
"must-win" for the Democrats. Tiberi will replace his mentor,
retiring nine-term Republican Rep. John R. Kasich. After Kasich's
retirement announcement, Tiberi consolidated his support within the
Republican party, and with $1 million in primary spending, swamped former
state Sen. Gene Watts 73 percent to 21 percent. The general election
campaign against O'Shaughnessy, a funeral home owner and Columbus City
Council member, offered voters clear differences over prescription drug
benefits, "soft money," taxes, and shoring up Social Security.
Tiberi often campaigned alongside Kasich, whom he once served as a
congressional aide, as he called for overhauling the tax code and
controlling spending. Tiberi had raised $2.1 million as of Oct. 18,
compared with O'Shaughnessy's $1.3 million.


A first-generation Italian-American, Tiberi was born on Oct. 21, 1962, in
Columbus, Ohio. He received a bachelor's degree in journalism from Ohio
State University in 1985. Before entering politics, Tiberi worked as a
real estate agent. After eight years as an assistant to Kasich, he won a
seat in the Ohio House of Representatives in 1992. He is now in his fourth
term in the state chamber, where he has become known for supporting
business-friendly legislation and legal reform. Tiberi, a Roman Catholic,
has been married to his wife, Denise, for nine years. They live in
Columbus.


In Washington, Tiberi may want a role in Republican efforts to pay down
the national debt and tune up Social Security and Medicare. His
Kasich-inspired fiscal conservatism may make him a shoo-in for the House
Budget Committee, which Kasich chaired. Assuming he seeks re-election in
two years, Tiberi will likely have his work cut out for him, given
significant Democratic gains in Ohio cities, including the 12th District's
Columbus. But Republican-controlled redistricting should provide a
boost.


Oklahoma


2nd House District


Brad Carson (D)


Lawyer Brad Carson reclaimed Oklahoma's 2nd District for the Democratic
Party by defeating Republican car dealer Andy Ewing. Carson succeeds GOP
Rep. Tom Coburn, who is honoring his promise to serve only three terms.
While Ewing coasted to victory in the Republican primary, Carson was
forced into a runoff with state Rep. Bill Settle after receiving 45
percent of the vote to Settle's 39 percent in the three-candidate
Democratic primary in August. Settle focused on health care, touting his
sponsorship in the Legislature of a bill that would allow patients to sue
their HMOs, and contrasted his experience with Carson's youth (the
33-year-old Carson had never held public office before, while the
62-year-old Settle chaired the House's Appropriations Committee). Carson
focused on campaign finance reform and criticized Settle for accepting
large donations from nursing homes. He won the September runoff by 57
percent to 43 percent. In the general election, Ewing benefited from
Coburn's endorsement and the name recognition that came from 20 years'
worth of television advertisements for his car dealerships. Like Coburn,
he promised to serve only three terms in office, a pledge that Carson
dismissed as harmful for the district. Both candidates opposed gun
control, but only Carson supported abortion rights. Ewing tried to portray
Carson-who moved to the district two years ago-as an outsider and a
political opportunist. But Carson has roots in the district-his mother's
family migrated to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears-and he sought to portray
himself as a moderate, fresh face. Health care emerged as a key issue:
Carson criticized Ewing's proposal to help seniors with drug costs by
stimulating competition among pharmaceutical companies, and touted his own
plan to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. Both candidates had
raised about $700,000 as of Sept. 30, but Coburn's popularity was not
enough to get Ewing elected.


Born on March 11, 1967, Carson is a sixth-generation Oklahoman. After
graduating from Baylor University, Carson won a Rhodes scholarship and
earned a master's degree from Oxford University in 1989. In 1994, he
received a law degree from the University of Oklahoma. After law school,
Carson was a lawyer in private practice and then spent just over a year
working at the Pentagon as an aide to Defense Secretary William Cohen. In
December 1998, he left the Defense Department and moved back to Oklahoma
to work for a Tulsa law firm. Carson and his wife, Julie, live in
Caremore. He is a member of the Cherokee Nation.


With his experience at the Pentagon, Carson would be a sensible
appointment to the House Armed Services Committee. Despite the district's
conservative bent, Democrats retain a 5-2 advantage among its registered
voters, who had elected Democratic Representatives for more than 70 years
before Coburn's victory. Oklahoma is expected to lose one of its House
districts after reapportionment, and it is unclear how the 2nd District
would be affected. In any event, Carson is likely to face a strong
challenge in 2002.


Pennsylvania


4th House District


Melissa Hart (R)


In a historic win for the Republican Party, state Sen. Melissa Hart
defeated Democratic state Rep. Terry Van Horne to win the seat of
Democratic Rep. Ron  Klink, who ran for the Senate. Hart, a hard-charging
lawyer with influential business allies, becomes the first Republican
woman ever elected to the House from Pennsylvania, and the first
Republican to win this seat in 18 years. She was unopposed for the
Republican nomination. By contrast, Van Horne, a former grocer who has
served in the state House for 20 years, upset the establishment candidate
in the Democratic primary in April; he won in an eight-candidate field
with 24 percent of the vote. Shortly after the primary, Republicans drew
attention to a racial slur Van Horne had used in 1994 in reference to a
black state representative. Van Horne, who had apologized on the floor of
the state House after making the comment, said it had been taken out of
context, but several members of the Congressional Black Caucus expressed
their concern. In the general election campaign, Van Horne and Hart
clashed over prescription drug plans for seniors and campaign finance
reform, and both launched nasty attack advertisements. Van Horne
criticized Hart for moving only recently to the district and campaigned on
his support for public education, organized labor, protecting Social
Security, and enforcing current gun laws rather than adding new ones.
Hart, meanwhile, crafted a Democratic-friendly campaign message for this
predominantly blue-collar district touting her labor roots. Van Horne had
the help of an estimated $250,000 television campaign by the Pennsylvania
Democratic Committee, along with the AFL-CIO's endorsement. But Hart
brought a parade of high-profile Republicans to the district to campaign
for her and was leading in the polls in late October. She also had a
significant fund-raising advantage: As of Oct. 18, Hart raised almost $1.5
million, compared with Van Horne's $600,000.


Born on April 4, 1962, in Pittsburgh, Hart graduated from Washington and
Jefferson College in 1984 and received her law degree from the University
of Pittsburgh in 1987. After law school, she spent three years working as
a real estate attorney for a Pittsburgh firm. Hart was elected to the
state Senate in 1990, defeating an incumbent Democrat, and won re-election
in 1994 and 1998. In the state Senate, where she chairs the Finance
Committee, Hart sponsored Pennsylvania's first major tax reform in more
than a century. She also worked to expand penalties for domestic violence
and repeat drunken drivers, and advocated a school choice program. Hart is
a counsel at the Pittsburgh law firm of Doepken, Keevican & Weiss,
where she has worked for six years. In 1999, she moved from McCandless to
Bradford Woods to establish residency in the district. Hart is
single.


Hart would like assignments to either the House Commerce or House Ways and
Means committees, which would be two plum posts. Republicans might be
inclined to give one to her, however, to help her ward off a strong
challenge in 2002. Although this district is culturally conservative, it
has liberal labor roots and could be ripe for the picking by
Democrats.


19th House District


Todd Platts (R)


Four-term state Rep. Todd Platts was a shoo-in for the loyally
conservative 19th District after GOP Rep. William F. Goodling announced
his retirement and Platts emerged as the Republican nominee. Platts, who
is known for his commitment to campaign finance reform and refusal to take
political action committee money, easily beat Democrat Jeff Sanders on
Election Day. In the Republican primary, Platts received 33 percent of the
vote in a five-way contest, with state Rep. Al Masland taking 29 percent
and attorney Dick Stewart, who had been endorsed by Goodling, coming in
third. Platts emphasized his views on campaign finance, education, shoring
up Social Security, and health care issues. Sanders, a 59-year-old Towson
University psychology professor from the town of New Freedom, stressed his
32-year teaching career, his work as secretary of the York County
Democratic Party, and his tour as president of a local school board. Even
though the two had similar views on many issues, Sanders was fighting a
losing battle from the start in a district that voted for Bob Dole over
Bill Clinton 52 percent to 38 percent in 1996. Sanders spent most of his
campaign money early in the game, defeating Democratic primary opponent
John Moran, an attorney from York. Platts, on the other hand, raised a
total of $207,186 without PAC funds by Sept. 30.


Born on March 5, 1962, Platts graduated from Pennsylvania's Shippensburg
University in 1984 and Pepperdine University School of Law in 1991. He was
elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1992. He is also
active in community affairs in York, where he serves on local
transportation and urban planning boards. Platts, a lifelong resident of
York, lives with his wife, Leslie, their son, T.J., and daughter, Kelsey,
in Springettsbury Township.


Platts said his top priority in Congress would be rewriting campaign
finance laws, and his biggest challenge would be convincing more
Republicans to join in. He refused PAC donations for eight years as a
state legislator, and says he wants to eliminate PACs. An advocate of
George W. Bush's plan to allow young people to invest in personal
retirement accounts, he also says that younger workers should be allowed
to invest part of their payroll taxes in stocks and bonds. Platts marks
education high on his priority list, and is angling for a spot on the
House Education and the Workforce Committee, though he'd welcome a seat on
the House Armed Services or House Transportation and Infrastructure
panels. Goodling held the seat for 16 years; Platts has a good chance to
be re-elected in 2002 in what should remain strong Republican
territory.


Rhode Island


2nd House District


Jim Langevin (D)


Rhode Island Secretary of State James R. "Jim" Langevin beat
Republican casino supervisor Bob Tingle for the seat of Democratic Rep.
Robert A. Weygand, who ran for the Senate. In the Democratic primary,
Langevin won with 47 percent of the vote over Kate Coyne-McCoy, a social
worker and union activist, who got 29 percent. While Coyne-McCoy had the
backing of various labor unions, women's groups, and environmental
coalitions, Langevin benefited from his wide recognition in Rhode Island,
where he has held statewide office for nearly six years. He was endorsed
by the Democratic State Committee and also had major union backing. The
GOP, meanwhile, had hoped that a well-known Republican-such as state House
Minority Leader Bob Watson or former state Attorney General Jeffrey
Pine-would run for the seat, but they declined to do so. Tingle emerged as
a disappointing candidate, paving the way for Democrats to safely keep the
seat. Going into the final month of the campaign, Langevin had $41,293 in
his war chest, after spending a sizable chunk of the nearly $1 million he
had raised. Tingle had campaign funds totaling less than $1,000.


Born on April 22, 1964, Langevin grew up in Warwick with hopes of becoming
a local law enforcer. In 1980, when Langevin was a 16-year-old police
cadet in the Boy Scout Explorer program, he was shot when a gun
accidentally discharged, leaving him paralyzed in a wheelchair. Langevin
points to this accident as a personal motivator in his desire to serve his
community and country. He won election as a delegate to his state's
Constitutional Convention in 1986, and was ultimately elected secretary of
the convention. Langevin graduated from Rhode Island College in 1990 and
received a master's degree from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy
School of Government in 1994. In 1989, he was elected to the state House
of Representatives, where he served until 1995 and was a member of the
Rules Committee, Judiciary Committee, and Health and Welfare Committee. He
was elected Rhode Island's secretary of state in 1994-becoming the
youngest secretary of state in the country. A Roman Catholic, he resides
in Warwick.


First on Langevin's agenda is passing legislation that ensures universal
health coverage. He also says he will fight for prescription drug coverage
as part of the Medicare program and for a comprehensive patients' bill of
rights. In addition, Langevin wants to reform the campaign finance system,
a cause he advocated while secretary of state. In 2002, Republicans could
field a more formidable opponent, but Langevin will have the strength of
incumbency on his side.


South Carolina


1st House District


Henry Edward Brown Jr. (R)


With a little help from a candy bar, state Rep. Henry Edward Brown Jr.
defeated Democrat Andy Brack in South Carolina's 1st District. Brown
succeeds Republican Rep. Mark Sanford, who's retiring because of a
self-imposed term limit. In this conservative district that includes
Charleston, Brown's toughest challenge was getting past the June 13 GOP
primary, where he upset Buck Limehouse, the former head of the state's
Transportation Commission. Brown stressed the issues that senior citizens
care about, such as property tax relief and shoring up Social Security. To
boost his name recognition before the primary, Brown distributed 20,000
"Oh! Henry" chocolate bars. The gimmick worked: He beat
Limehouse, 44 percent to 34 percent. But because he didn't receive a
majority, Brown had to face Limehouse again, two weeks later. In the
runoff, Brown won by grabbing 55 percent of the vote. In the general
election, Brown and Brack (currently a partner of a Charleston Internet
company and a former aide to Sen. Ernest F. Hollings, D-S.C.) battled over
Social Security, minimum-wage increases, and prescription drug benefits.
Brown outstripped Brack in fund raising by about a 2-1 ratio and had
$144,000 cash-on-hand-even with his tough primary battles-going into the
final weeks of the campaign, as opposed to Brack's $17,000.


Brown was born on Dec. 20, 1935, in Bishopville, S.C. After graduating
from high school, he worked at the Charleston Naval Shipyard. He then
spent almost 30 years at the Piggly Wiggly grocery chain, where he climbed
the ladder to become a vice president. In 1981, Brown entered politics and
won a seat on the Hanahan, S.C., city council. Four years later, Brown won
election to the state's House of Representatives, where he has served
until now. Since 1994, he has chaired the state legislature's powerful
Ways and Means Committee. Brown and his wife, Billie, live in Hanahan, and
they have three grown children. Although he never received a college
degree, Brown did take night courses at The Citadel and a small Baptist
college in Charleston.


Brown is a fiscal conservative. He is against minimum-wage increases, and
he believes that any type of prescription drug benefit should be handled
through the private sector, rather than through Medicare. Brown says that
his primary goal in Congress is to fix Social Security. Although he hasn't
issued any specifics on how to do this, his campaign touts his experience
in reforming South Carolina's retirement system. Due to this district's
conservative bent, Brown's seat seems to be fairly safe.


Texas


7th House District


John Culberson (R)


State Rep. John Culberson soundly defeated Democratic attorney Jeff Sell
in the race to succeed retiring Republican Rep. Bill Archer. But in this
conservative Houston district, which includes the famously upscale River
Oaks neighborhood, the battle to replace Archer was actually decided in
the GOP primary. After that crowded March 13 race, Culberson faced Peter
Wareing, a Houston businessman, in a runoff. Their race turned into a
contest about which candidate was more associated with
Democrats-definitely a taboo subject in this district. Culberson charged
that Wareing had contributed $5,000 to a Democratic candidate, while
Wareing countered that Culberson had voted in a Democratic primary when he
was 19 years old. Wareing had a huge financial advantage: He had an
estimated budget of more than $3 million, compared with Culberson's
$650,000. Nevertheless, Culberson's extensive grass-roots organization won
the day, and he easily defeated Wareing 60 percent to 40 percent. In the
general election, Sell portrayed himself as a conservative Democrat who
opposes abortion rights and favors across-the-board tax cuts. But in the
end, he didn't have much of a chance to defeat Culberson. By mid-October,
Culberson had raised more than $1 million; Sell had pulled in just less
than $15,000.


Culberson was born on Aug. 24, 1956, in Houston. He graduated from
Southern Methodist University in 1981, and afterwards worked for his
father's advertising agency. In 1986, at the age of 29, Culberson won a
seat in the Texas House of Representatives, where he has served until now.
In 1988, he received a law degree from the South Texas College of Law, and
then began work as a civil defense attorney at the law firm of Lorance
& Thompson. Culberson and his wife, Belinda, live in Houston with
their 4-year-old daughter.


Archer, who chaired the House Ways and Means Committee, was an avid tax
cutter, and Culberson seems eager to follow in his footsteps. Culberson
wants to abolish the estate tax and the so-called marriage penalty. In
addition, he says it's his goal to eliminate the entire income tax and
replace it with a tax on consumption. Culberson also opposes affirmative
action, gun control, and abortion (except in cases of rape, incest, or to
save the life of the mother). Republicans have controlled this district
since its creation, first by former President Bush and then by Archer.
Expect Culberson to hold on to this seat for a very long time.


Utah


2nd House District


Jim Matheson (D)


In a much-sought victory for Democrats, businessman Jim Matheson defeated
Republican high-tech entrepreneur Derek W. Smith to win Utah's 2nd
District seat. Matheson, the son of popular former Utah Gov. Scott M.
Matheson and a former energy company consultant, becomes the first
Democrat to hold federal office in this state since 1996. In a bitter
Republican primary in June, Smith beat volatile two-term Rep. Merrill
Cook, who is known for his temper tantrums, staff turnover, and ongoing
feud with fellow Utah Republican Rep. Chris Cannon. Matheson began the
general election campaign with better name recognition than Smith, and a
lead in the polls. He played down his party affiliation and emphasized his
positions on issues where he differed from most Democrats, such as gun
licensing and registration. Smith, meanwhile, campaigned on the locals'
antipathy toward Democrats, which stemmed from President Clinton's
creation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by executive
order in 1996, and contended that Matheson was trying to run as a
Republican. Smith sold $830,000 in stock to finance his campaign and
benefited from about $1 million worth of advertisements paid for by the
National Republican Congressional Committee, more than four times what the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent on Matheson. As of Oct.
18, both had raised more than $1.1 million. But Matheson's name-he even
used his father's old campaign slogan, "Matheson Makes
Sense"-proved mightier.


A native of Salt Lake City, Matheson was born on March 21, 1960. He earned
a B.A. in government from Harvard University in 1982 and interned on
Capitol Hill for the House Speaker's Office. After college, he worked for
the Environmental Policy Institute, and then earned an M.B.A. from UCLA in
1987. Matheson returned to Salt Lake City to join Boneville Pacific, an
energy development company, where he was a project development manager
from 1987-91. In 1992 he moved to Energy Strategies, a consulting firm,
where he was a senior associate. In 1998 Matheson started his own
business, the Matheson Group, to help businesses adapt to electricity
deregulation, but he closed his office to start campaigning in 1999.
Matheson worked on his father's successful gubernatorial campaigns in 1976
and 1980, and served four years on the Salt Lake Public Utilities Board.
He lives in Salt Lake City with his wife Amy and their son.


Matheson could become a thorn in the side of the Democratic leadership
because he opposes the party's views on some issues-he criticized Al
Gore's prescription drug plan for Medicare, for example. He is likely to
pursue a seat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee,
given the transportation needs he sees in this district, but he is also
qualified for the House Commerce Committee because of his background in
the energy industry. Smith could mount a strong challenge in 2002. Cook,
meanwhile, has hinted at running again as an independent, which he did six
times without success before winning this seat as a Republican in
1996.


Virginia


Senate


George Allen (R)


In an important victory for the Republican Party, former Virginia Gov.
George Allen defeated two-term Democratic Sen. Charles S. Robb in one of
the hardest-fought and most closely watched Senate races in the nation.
This contest featured two well-recognized candidates with distinct
positions on the issues: They differed on abortion rights, taxes, and
environmental protection. Allen announced his bid early, in April 1999,
and took an immediate lead over Robb, whose personal popularity-along with
the popularity of the Democratic Party-waned in the state. Robb campaigned
on his conservative record on foreign policy and defense, along with his
support of abortion rights, gun control, and the environment. Allen
highlighted his record as governor, touting tax cuts, the abolition of
parole, reforms of the state's education system, and economic stimulus.
After gun control advocates James and Sarah Brady endorsed Robb, Allen
said he, too, would vote to extend the ban on assault weapons, taking away
a key issue for Robb. But the central issue of the race was education:
Allen promoted $1,000-per-child tax credits for expenses such as
computers, tutors, books, and supplies; Robb countered that few families
would be eligible for the maximum benefit under Allen's plan and contended
that federal funds-such as those Allen rejected as governor-could pay for
the same education benefits. Allen had the cash advantage: As of Sept. 30,
he had raised more than $8.5 million, compared with Robb's $5.1
million.


Born on March 8, 1952, in Whittier, Calif., Allen is the son of the former
Washington Redskins coach of the same name, who is fondly remembered in
the D.C. area for his winning seasons. The younger Allen earned a
bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia in 1974 and a law degree
in 1977, after which he opened a law practice in Charlottesville. In 1982,
Allen was elected to the state House of Delegates, where he served until
being elected to Congress in a special election in 1991. He promptly lost
his seat because of redistricting. In 1993, he was elected governor, and
in office he won battles against a Democratic Legislature on several
issues, including reforming welfare and revamping the state's
juvenile-justice system. Virginia's governors can serve only one term, and
after Allen left office, he joined the Richmond law firm of McGuire,
Woods, Battle & Boothe. Allen and his wife, Susan, live in Richmond
and have three children.


Virginia's cities vote mostly Democratic, and its rural areas vote mostly
Republican, so the key battleground in this race was the suburban crescent
stretching from Northern Virginia to Hampton Roads, which accounts for 60
percent of the state's voters. Allen appealed to new suburbanites by
asserting that as governor he had helped create the very jobs that brought
them to Virginia. It is a long way to 2006, but Allen figures to be a
strong candidate should he seek re-election.


1st House District


Jo Ann Davis (R)


State legislator Jo Ann Davis cruised to victory over her Democratic
challenger to keep this Tidewater Virginia district in Republican hands.
Davis replaces nine-term GOP Rep. Herbert H. Bateman, who had announced
his retirement because of health reasons in January and then died in
September. The real race in this solidly Republican district was during
the primary. Davis, a one-term member of Virginia's House of Delegates,
jumped into the contest three days after Bateman's retirement announcement
and had his endorsement. But she had to beat out four other candidates for
the nomination, including businessman Paul Jost, who spent more than $1
million of his own money and had the endorsement of Gov. James S. Gilmore
III. Davis, who raised $243,000, had Bateman's popularity working to her
advantage, and she won with slightly more than 35 percent of the vote. In
the general election, she faced Democrat Lawrence Davies, a college
administrator and former Fredericksburg mayor. The two biggest issues of
the campaign were abortion rights-Davies for, Davis against-and a proposed
reservoir that Davis considered too expensive to justify and Davies
defended as a necessary component for growth in the area. By October,
Davis had $130,000 cash on hand as opposed to Davies' $30,000.


Davis was born in North Carolina on June 29, 1950. She graduated from
Hampton Roads Business College in 1971 and went to work as an executive
secretary for several years before becoming a stay-at-home mom. After
getting her real estate license, she opened Davis Management Co. in 1988
and Jo Ann Davis Realty in 1990. Davis was elected to the House of
Delegates in 1998, defeating a 15-year incumbent who outspent her 3-to-1.
Davis lives in Yorktown with her husband, Chuck. They have two
children.


Davis received endorsements from business and conservative organizations.
She favors a Social Security "lockbox," giving states more
flexibility on education, eliminating the "marriage penalty" and
estate taxes, and gun owners' rights. Davis is also a strong supporter of
the military, and with the shipbuilding city of Newport News included in
the 1st District, defense and technology are two of its major industries.
Davis could follow in the footsteps of Bateman, who served on the House
Armed Services Committee. She is in good shape for re-election in 2002, as
redistricting is not expected to greatly affect the district's Republican
tilt.


2nd House District


Edward Schrock (R)


State Sen. Edward Schrock defeated Democratic attorney Jody Wagner to take
over for retiring seven-term Democratic Rep. Owen Pickett. Schrock had
been discussed as a possible Republican contender for the seat even before
Pickett's decision to leave the House. Schrock announced his candidacy in
early December, about a month before Pickett's unexpected retirement
announcement. Schrock faced no opposition from within his party and was
declared the front-runner early on. Even so, he faced a credible
challenger in Wagner, who, despite being a political novice, was a
successful fund-raiser: As of Oct. 18, she raised $950,000 to Schrock's $1
million. In his campaign, Schrock emphasized his military experience,
legislative record, and high number of donors.


Schrock was born on April 6, 1941, in Ohio. He received his bachelor's
degree from Alderson-Broaddus College in 1964 and his master's degree from
American University in 1975. He joined the Navy in 1964, prior to his
college graduation, and served until 1988, when he retired with the rank
of captain. He worked on public affairs throughout his Navy career, which
included stints at the Pentagon and the White House, and another on the
West Coast, ensuring Hollywood accurately portrayed the Navy. From
1989-95, he was an investment adviser with the firm of Kidder Peabody. In
1996, he entered the Virginia Senate by defeating popular incumbent
Clarence Holland. Schrock, a Baptist, and his wife, Judy, live in Virginia
Beach and have one child.


The 2nd District, which includes the city of Virginia Beach and much of
Norfolk, has a strong military presence, and Schrock, like Pickett, is a
firm supporter of the military. Schrock endorses a national missile
defense system, increased military funding, and improving health care for
military retirees. He has been promised a seat on the House Armed Services
Committee, where Pickett also served. Schrock is willing to cross the
political aisle to reach compromises and has been described as a
"behind-the-scenes" legislator. He is an anti-abortion-rights
conservative who wants lower taxes, but he also supports bipartisan
measures such as paying down the national debt, improving the environment,
and saving Social Security and Medicare. Although the district's residents
vote conservative on defense issues, they are more evenly split on social
issues, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., carried the district in the
Republican presidential primary. With his history of supporting the
military, Schrock stands a good chance of winning re-election.


7th House District


Eric Cantor (R)


In Virginia's heavily Republican 7th District, state Del. Eric Cantor
easily defeated Democrat Warren A. Stewart, a retired school
superintendent. The real race for this seat took place in the GOP primary,
where Cantor barely eked out a victory-by a margin of just 263 votes-over
state Sen. Stephen H. Martin. While Martin had a solid base of
conservative support, Cantor had the endorsement of the man he hoped to
replace: Republican Rep. Tom Bliley, who is retiring after representing
the 7th District for 10 terms. Cantor, a five-term legislator in
Virginia's House of Delegates, also served as Bliley's campaign chairman
for the past six years. Cantor had a significant cash advantage as well:
He raised $950,000, compared with Martin's $165,000.


Born on June 6, 1963, in Henrico County, Va., Cantor graduated from George
Washington University in 1985. He earned a law degree from the College of
William and Mary in 1988 and a master's degree in real estate from
Columbia University in 1989. He then began practicing law at Cantor and
Cantor, his family's firm in Richmond, Va.; and, in 1991, he was elected
to the first of his five terms in Virginia's House of Delegates. He served
on the Corporations, Insurance, and Banking Committee; the General Laws
Committee; the Science and Technology Committee; and the Courts of Justice
Committee. He and his wife, Diana, live outside Richmond with their three
children.


A conservative, as well as someone who has said he likes to "work
toward consensus," Cantor is a strong supporter of tax relief. He
endorses a $1,000-per-child educational tax credit, the elimination of the
so-called marriage penalty, and an increase in the maximum individual
retirement account contribution. He is also a strong supporter of Israel.
Cantor created the Virginia-Israel Advisory and secured funding for a new
building for the Virginia Holocaust Museum. He has said he wants to work
on economic development issues in Congress. Although the 7th District is
solidly Republican right now, it is considered a prime area for redrawing
next year. It sits next to several solidly Democratic precincts near
Richmond, and several swing precincts near Northern Virginia.


Washington


2nd House District


Rick Larsen (D)


In a race that was described as critical for both parties in their
struggle for control of the House, Snohomish County Council President Rick
Larsen edged out Republican state Rep. John Koster, returning this
district-which until 1994 had been under Democratic rule for 30 years-to
Democratic hands. The race was for the state's only open seat, vacated by
self-term-limited Republican Rep. Jack Metcalf. Coming out of a late
all-party primary, Larsen trailed Koster 46 percent to 49 percent, but was
able to successfully position himself as a moderate Democrat to win over
the socially conservative, Democratic-leaning district. The district
became a major battleground for political action committee money, with
anti-abortion-rights groups and the National Rifle Association backing
Koster, while unions and abortion-rights groups fought for Larsen. Both
national campaign committees focused on this district in the struggle for
control of the House, with House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt,
D-Mo., campaigning for Larsen, and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert,
R-Ill., for Koster. As of August, Larsen's campaign had out-raised
Koster's, $900,000 to $475,000, and had twice as much cash-on-hand-about
$200,000.


Born in Arlington, Wash., on June 15, 1965, Larsen, who is Methodist,
earned his bachelor's degree from Pacific Lutheran University in 1987 and
his masters of public affairs from the University of Minnesota in 1990. He
then spent a year as a research analyst for the Port of Everett, where he
focused on economic development. From 1991-97, he was director of public
affairs for the Washington State Dental Association, where he stayed until
1998 when he won a seat on the Snohomish County Council. He continues to
live in Arlington with his wife, Tiia Karlen, and his two sons.


As a centrist Democrat running for a Republican's seat, Larsen emphasized
fiscal responsibility. He promoted paying down the national debt as a key
priority, and supported "targeted tax cuts" and
"financially responsible" prescription drug benefits.
Representing the upper Northwest corner of the state, which borders
Canada, Larsen's environmental positions focused on fighting for open
space and clean water in his district. Larsen hopes to gain seats on the
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the House Commerce
Committee. Having fought a tight race in a volatile district, re-election
prospects will depend on his performance in the next two years and how a
nonpartisan commission reconfigures the district.


West Virginia


Governor


Robert Wise (D)


Rep. Robert E. Wise Jr. defeated Republican Gov. Cecil H. Underwood, the
nation's oldest governor and West Virginia's only Republican statewide
elected official. That victory was certainly not an upset in a state where
registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-to-1. Yet Wise's win did not
come without hard work. After beating attorney Jim Lees in the primary, 62
percent to 38 percent, Wise struggled to win back the Democratic faction
that had defected to Underwood in 1996. He did so by promoting economic
development in West Virginia, and by criticizing Underwood for failing to
spend the state's portion of the federally funded Children's Health
Insurance Program and for letting the state's per capita income drop.
Underwood had tried to appeal to social conservatives by attacking Wise
for supporting same-sex marriage and not supporting prayer in school and
bans on all "partial-birth" abortions.


Wise was born on Jan. 6, 1948, in Washington, D.C., and grew up in
Charleston, W.Va. In 1970, he graduated with a B.A. from Duke University
and went on to get a J.D. from Tulane University in 1975. He worked for
the United Mine Workers of America-COMPAC while in law school. He was a
practicing attorney for close to seven years until he was elected to the
state Senate in 1980. He won the 2nd District House seat in 1982, beating
out the state House majority leader in the primary, and then soundly
defeating the Republican incumbent in the general. His wife, Sandy, has
been counsel to the House Ways and Means Committee since 1983. They reside
in Clendenin, W.Va., with their two children, Robert Whitten and Alexandra
Stewart. A booster of West Virginia culture, Wise prides himself on being
well-known on the bluegrass-music circuit and throughout the state for his
clog dancing.


Once in office, Wise plans to focus on getting all eligible children
signed up for the state's Children's Health Insurance Program. He also
plans to sign legislation funding the PROMISE program, which would offer
scholarships to graduating high school students for state universities,
and to fight for prescription drug benefits for seniors. Underwood's 1996
victory can be partially attributed to infighting within the West Virginia
Democratic Party; Democratic candidates normally have an easy time winning
in this heavily Democratic state. Unless there's dissension within the
party, Wise should easily win a second term.


2nd House District


Shelley Moore Capito (R)


Defying West Virginia's Democratic heritage with a political heritage of
her own, state Rep. Shelley Moore Capito defeated Democrat Jim Humphreys
to win the seat of Democratic Rep. Robert E. Wise Jr., who ran for
governor. Capito is the daughter of former West Virginia Gov. Arch Moore,
a Republican who was the only three-term governor in state history.
Humphreys, a trial attorney and former state representative, spent $3
million of his own money to win the Democratic nomination; Capito had no
primary opposition. In the general, Humphreys focused on health care
issues. Capito, who supports both gun control and abortion rights,
attacked him for voting to raise taxes as a state legislator, while she
campaigned on job creation and economic revitalization in a state that has
been left behind during the past several years of national prosperity.
Humphreys' high-profile primary gave him an initial lead in the polls, but
Capito had good name recognition and was able to tap into her father's
political network-although he is not always fondly remembered in the
Mountain State after being imprisoned for fraud and extortion upon leaving
office. Capito overcame a significant fund-raising disadvantage: As of
Oct. 18, Humphreys raised almost $6.5 million (of which more than $5.6
million was his own) compared to her $1 million.


Born on Nov. 26, 1953, in Glen Dale, W.Va., Capito spent some time in
Washington as a child while her father served in Congress. She graduated
from Duke University with a B.S. in zoology in 1975 and earned a master's
degree in education from the University of Virginia the following year.
Capito worked for two years as a career counselor at West Virginia State
College, and then was director of the state's Educational Information
Center from 1978-81. She was elected to the West Virginia state House in
1996 and re-elected in 1998, where she won accolades for her work to pass
a tax on smokeless tobacco. Capito and her husband, Charles, live in
Charleston; they have three children.


The key issues in West Virginia are the local economy and health care-the
state has a growing number of uninsured; high rates of obesity, heart
disease, and cancer; and an aging population. Capito will seek assignment
to committees where she can work on these issues. Although the state is
historically Democratic, it has become more Republican in recent years,
and Capito has her maiden name and incumbency working in her
favor.


The biographies were researched, written, and edited by the editors of the
Almanac of American Politics, Eleanor Evans and Gideon Berger; National
Journal correspondents Richard E. Cohen and John Maggs; National Journal
reporters Piper Fogg, Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., Siobhan Gorman, Mark
Murray, and Megan Twohey; and NationalJournal.com editors Troy Schneider,
Amy Braverman, Chuck Jordan, Lauren Mandell, Julie Samuels, Drew Sullivan,
and Anne Wagner.




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