Pennsylvania’s 17th District
Gekas vs. Holden
The contest in the reapportioned 17th District of Pennsylvania is one of those races that few on either side enjoy but that are inevitable consequences of census-caused redistricting. It is being intensely fought because both combatants are sitting U.S. representatives-conservative Republican George Gekas, 20-year incumbent, and moderate Democrat Tim Holden, ten-year House member. There is an added element of drama in their race for political survival, since Gekas turned 72 this past April and Holden is 45.
Everyone in the old Harrisburg-Lebanon congressional district seemed to know George Gekas. With his silver hair, arching black eyebrows, and dark circles under his eyes from years of giving late-night help to constituents-the congressman by El Greco-Gekas has been handling what he calls "the people’s business" since he was first elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives back in 1966. He went on to the state senate a decade later and, in the Democratic year of 1982, became one of the few Republicans anywhere to win a previously Democratic seat in Congress.
When he’s not on the phone to a government agency or dictating letters on behalf of a constituent in need, the lawmaker everyone at home called just "George" is doing the brand of campaigning he’s done longest and loves the most. Legend has it that, in 36 years in office, Gekas has played the piano in every senior citizen’s center and restaurant where constituents gather. Music has been a part of Gekas’s career for as long as anyone can remember. The Gekas family piano was purchased from a speakeasy and young George began earning money as a teenager with renditions of "It Had to Be You" and "The Way You Look Tonight" at his father’s Locust Caf??© in Harrisburg. The money he earned at the keyboard helped make it possible for him to attend Dickinson Law School and, after a stint in the Army, serve as an assistant district attorney of Dauphin County.
Despite his lifelong romance with politics and music, George Gekas’s true love is the law. The less control over states and individuals that laws permit, he believes, the better. It was State Sen. Gekas who sponsored some of Pennsylvania’s first sunset legislation in the 1970s. In the late ’90s, it was the Gekas Amendment that provided for sunsetting the pro-gun control Brady Bill once streamlined background checks became possible. As second-ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, Gekas raised doubts about the independent counsel law and was the point man in its eventual rescission.
It would appear that no one could dislike this most thoughtful and pleasant man. But rest assured: Because he is a conservative running in significantly changed turf, Gekas (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 85%) does indeed have enemies-the AFL-CIO, for example, which has never forgiven his most recent votes to grant the President fast-track authority in trade and for the less-costly prescription drug package, or the League of Conservative Voters (LCV), which named the Pennsylvanian as one of its "Dirty Dozen." So far, Gekas supporters insist, the extreme environmentalist LCV has spent an estimated $300,000 to try to defeat their man.
The favorite of Big Labor and the extreme environmentalists is Holden (lifetime ACU rating: 9%). Because he is pro-life (as is Gekas) and has a good record with the NRA (albeit not taking the lead on 2nd Amendment issues as his opponent has), former Schuykill County Sheriff Holden is, more often than not, characterized as a conservative or "Blue Dog" Democrat. But he is also a congressman who cast one of his first votes for Bill Clinton’s record-high tax increase in 1993, supports statist campaign finance "reform" measures, opposed repeal of both the punitively anti-business "ergonomics" regulations and the Death Tax.
One thinks of another House member’s withering description of the so-called "Blue Dog" Democrats: "They’re Yellow Dog Democrats who turned blue because they were holding their nose too long."
For conservatives, the choice between these two House members is obvious. And conservatives’ help could be critical. George Gekas has not had a serious challenge since he first came to Congress 20 years ago, so does not have the well-oiled financial machine so many incumbents can count on. He needs the boost conservatives everywhere can give him.
(Gekas for Congress, 2151 Lingleston Rd., Harrisburg, Pa. 17110; 717-652-7231)
North Carolina’s 8th District
Hayes vs. Khouri
One of the worst kept secrets in Raleigh is how the Democrats-who rule both the governorship and both houses of the state legislature-have it in for Rep. Robin Hayes (R.-N.C.) As No. 2 Republican leader in the state house of representatives in the 1990s, Concord businessman Hayes took on the issues that irked Democratic then-Gov. James Hunt and his party leaders: parental consent for abortion, a major income tax cut, caps on punitive damages, and a requirement that public schools teach abstinence as the primary means of avoiding teen pregnancy.
In 1996, Hayes won the Republican nomination for governor over the choice of the moderate GOP "establishment" and waged a hard-hitting, issue-oriented race to try to stop Hunt from winning a fourth term. As much as he gave the governor a challenge to remember, Hayes was beaten 56% to 43%. Two years later, Hayes bounced back to win the 8th District U.S. House district that had been in Democratic hands for the previous 24 years.
First elected to Congress with a nail-biting 51% of the vote and re-elected with 55%, Hayes (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 89%) was an obvious target for the reapportionment knife wielded by Hunt’s successor, Gov. Mike Easley, and the Democratic legislative leaders in Raleigh. They made the 8th District more Democratic by replacing 120,000 rural Democrats who have historically split their tickets to vote for candidates such as Hayes and Sen. Jesse Helms (R.-N.C.) with about 130,000 urban Democrats, who in all likelihood voted for Al Gore two years ago.
To make the situation even more threatening to the conservative incumbent, Democrats smartened up this time in their choice of a nominee. Instead of the anticipated candidate, state legislator Billy Richardson-who had a voting record studded with liberal stands that could easily have been contrasted with Hayes’ positions-8th District Democrats nominated Chris Khouri, a Charlotte lawyer with no record.
Much has been written about the Clinton-Blair-Schroeder "Third Way"-sounding conservative and even accepting some conservative stands, but holding onto the left by delivering on most of its agenda once in power. As successful as it has been nationwide as well as in Great Britain and Germany, "Third Way" politics thrive in the Tarheel State. Gov. Easley is a classic case in point, as, to some degree, is Sen. John Edwards (D.-N.C.). Yale graduate Khouri is the latest in that line of politicians who refuse to sound like down-the-line liberals. As Hayes dryly observed about his opponent, "He’s for Social Security, prescription drugs for everyone and, yes, he’s against crime in America."
But there are cracks in Khouri’s political armor. During the primary, for example, he pasted his opponent for accepting out-of-state donations from political action committees. But upon becoming the nominee, Hayes noted, "He immediately accepted a poll paid for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in Washington, D.C."
Like Easley and Edwards, Khouri proclaims himself a friend of tobacco-a wise stand to take, since, with more than 2,500 workers, the Phillip Morris plant in Concord is the largest single employer in the district. But, if elected, his vote to organize the House under Democratic control would make vehemently anti-tobacco Rep. Henry Waxman (D.-Calif.) chairman of the Health Subcommittee of the House Commerce Committee and thus in a prime position to wage war on tobacco farmers and cigarette manufacturers.
For his part, Hayes talks about his record, including a measure to protect small businessmen from overseas competition (the Dyeing and Finishing Provision of the supplemental appropriations bill) that he and Sen. Helms guided to passage this year.
But against this particular Democrat, the incumbent is in the race of his life. It is difficult to grapple with an opponent without a record who can easily sound conservative when he has to. Since Hayes’ re-election has also been made more difficult by vindictive redistricting meted out to him because he is a strong conservative and has irked the Democratic political powers in North Carolina, don’t his fellow conservatives owe it to Robin Hayes to rally to him strongly in his greatest moment of need?
(Hayes for Congress, P.O. Box 2000, Concord, N. C. 28026; 704-795-2000)
Georgia’s 12th House District
Burns vs. Walker
Sometimes the sons of powerful autocrats lack the leadership skills of their fathers. Unlikely to succeed the elder strongman and maintain dynastic control, other jobs must be found to accommodate them. Rafael Trujillo, for example, made his son Rafael ("Ramfis"), Jr., head of the Dominican Republic’s air corps and sent him to military training in the United States-whereupon the young Trujillo headed for Hollywood to romance a variety of movie stars. Romanian tyrant Nicolae Ceaucescu named son Nicu boss of the Communist Party of Sibu. Nicu, who preferred motorcycles and women to statecraft, was found hiding in the back of a car driven by an unidentified woman as they attempted to flee the country when his father was overthrown in 1989.
In Georgia, few ever expected the namesake son of State Senate Majority Leader Charles Walker to succeed his father in the Senate, much less assume his leadership position that makes him the third-most powerful Democrat in the Peach State after Gov. Roy Barnes and House Speaker Tom Murphy. So, with the senior Walker and fellow legislative Democrats in full control of the congressional redistricting process, the new Augusta-based 12th District was created with Charles (Champ) Walker, Jr. in mind.
The 33-year-old Walker-variously called "Chump," "Little W," or "Walker the Younger" in the Savannah Morning News-nebulously dubs himself an "entrepreneur" or a "motivator," which means he is involved in one of the various businesses owned or controlled by his powerful father. Young Walker, for example, is a past president of Georgia Personnel, which is owned by the Walker Group, of which he says that "There are no other people that I know own stock inside" other than his father.
A recent state audit showed Walker’s businesses, or those owned by relatives, got at least $126,000 out of the $20 million in state grants intended to improve a blighted Augusta neighborhood known as Laney-Walker. According to the Atlanta Constitution Journal, "Walker’s business leases office space to a nonprofit agency that received $500,000 from the $20-million state grant. The five-year-lease is worth $240,000-twice what the Walker Group paid for the property in 2000. Other office space in the neighborhood rents for 25% to 45% less, commercial real estate brokers say. Augusta officials in January sought federal funds to build a $15-million condominium project on property partially owned by Walker’s business. The Walker Group had purchased an abandoned building there shortly before a nonprofit neighborhood improvement corporation began buying up adjacent properties for the project using state money. Walker is vice-chairman of the non-profit."
In addition, the State Ethics Commission hit the elder Walker with an $8,500 fine-the highest fine for ethics violation in state history-for failing to disclose potential conflicts of interest involving a company that he owns that also does business with the state. This, of course, was chump change to Walker, who lives in a $410,000 home, hosts an annual party for 400 during the Masters Golf Tournament, drives a black Mercedes Benz, and keeps a white Rolls Royce in his garage.
For his part, young Walker has mouthed platitudes on the campaign trail about his desire to "raise the minimum wage, get the government more involved in health care, and help the education establishment fight school vouchers." (Savannah Morning News, Aug. 18, 2002) It really didn’t matter what he stood for, however; as the Morning News’s Tom Barton put it, "Walker Senior did his daddy duty during this year’s session of the legislature." One of the items approved was a $100,000 local assistance grant for renovation of the Westside Community Center in Savannah, which is in the 12th District. The Temple Baptist Church, located across the street, is handling the renovation of the center and so apparently will be benefiting from the grant. The Rev. Bennie Mitchell, Jr., pastor of the church, strongly endorsed young Walker in the primary.
It is this kind of political high-handedness that is making people in the 12th District start to think that Walker Family Values aren’t theirs. And that is why the candidacy of conservative Max Burns has begun to catch fire. Like late Superintendent of Public Instruction Max Rafferty of California, Georgia Southern University business administration professor Burns is an academic who meshes a firm philosophy with historical knowledge and a compelling speaking ability to motivate supporters. It was that power that permitted Burns to build and move a corps of conservative volunteers who helped him win the primary over a better-known opponent.
After working his way through Georgia Tech, Burns served as lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves, taught overseas as a Fulbright Scholar, and then earned a Ph.D. from Georgia State. Burns knows what he’s talking about when he discusses education. He believes in having as much local control as possible-and, yes, that includes vouchers-and few if any federal strings attached. Unashamedly pro-life and Reagan-like on pushing tax cuts, Burns was anxious to debate Walker in a televised forum at the Atlanta Press Club. Walker ducked the match-up, however, and Burns thus had two hours to expound on his conservative, free market views and debate an empty podium.
An "empty podium," it appears, is what Max Burns is facing in November-one who seems to be campaigning less on what he intends to do than what his father has already done. In a nutshell, that’s the strongest case of all for Max Burns, for whom issues are a passion and who, running in a district initially hand-carved for his opponent, has nothing to fear now but the doubts of fellow Republicans.
(Burns for Congress, P.O. Box 248, Hephzibah, Ga. 30815; 706-790-1830)
