Illinois’s 14th U.S. House District
Hultgren vs. Foster
More than two years after the special election that made Bill Foster the first Democratic House member from Illinois’s 14th District in more than 70 years, the “chattering class” still talks about it. Former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R.-Ill.) had resigned from office and area Republicans then went through a nasty, divisive primary. It was shaping up as a big Democratic year in the Prairie State, with passion for favorite son Barack Obama sky-high.
The beneficiary of this situation was Obama Democrat Bill Foster, a scientist who had neither held nor sought office before. In what was billed nationally as a “dress rehearsal” for the fall campaigns, Foster won the special election with 53% of the vote.
In November, as Obama swept the state, Foster won a full term over the same opponent.
And now it is 2010 and the atmospherics are much different. Although some polls still show President Obama popular in his home state, his policies and the Democratic Party are not. The ongoing trial of disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich has put in doubt the prospects of Democratic efforts to keep current Gov. Pat Quinn in Springfield and hold onto Obama’s former Senate seat.
And Foster? He’s no longer the scientist and political innocent of ’08, but an incumbent with a liberal voting record (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 8.5%) to defend. And, along with supporting the Democrat-backed healthcare bill, Foster has voted for the Obama budget that has grossly enlarged the deficit, the Wall Street bailouts, and the costly stimulus package.
And perhaps the biggest difference between 2010 and ’08 is that, this year, Republicans conducted a gentlemanly primary. Once State Sen. Randy Hultgren was declared the winner, his opponent embraced him and vowed to do all he could to help him unseat Foster.
A former state representative and DuPage County Board member, the 44-year-old Hultgren has been one of the premier conservative forces in the Illinois legislature. Whether the issue has been the pro-life cause, the 2nd Amendment, or battling the big-spending agenda of Gov. Quinn and State House Speaker Mike Madigan, voters can almost always count on Hultgren’s being in the forefront of the fight and at one volume: loud.
In many ways, Randy Hultgren plays the same role in the Illinois legislature that Republican Representatives Mike Pence (Ind.) and Paul Ryan (Wis.) play in the U.S. House. By supporting Hultgren for Congress, conservatives will be saying to Pence and Ryan and their allies in Congress: “Help is on the way.”
(Hultgren for Congress, 1118 East Main St., Saint Charles, Ill. 60174; 630-549-0139; 630-549-0139; [email protected])
California’s 47th U.S. House District
Tran vs. Sanchez
“I felt as though I was on Schindler’s List,” recalled Van Tran, bringing to life the memory that never dims of trying to leave Saigon in 1975 as the invaders from Communist North Vietnam marched in for the takeover.
Like the Jews in Europe for whom being on the list in the movie meant a chance at survival, being on a list of names held by the U.S. Army and the soon-to-be-closed American embassy in Saigon meant a chance for a possibly bright future for many South Vietnamese who wanted to flee.
Ten-year-old Van’s name was on the list, as were the names of his parents. Jetting out of Saigon on a military transport plane, they arrived in the Philippines and, like so many of their fellow countrymen, settled in a part of California’s Orange County that would soon become known as “Little Saigon.”
For the Trans, life was good in their adopted home. Van’s father continued the teaching career he had pursued in South Vietnam and his mother became the first dentist in the Vietnamese community. As young Van went through school, his passion for politics grew. As he says, “I was one of the Reagan youth.”
While at the University of California (Irvine), he was active in the College Republicans and the conservative Young Americans for Freedom. He served as an intern for Rep. Robert Dornan (R.-Calif.), worked in Dornan’s California office and on the staff of State Sen. (now U.S. Rep.) Ed Royce—both conservative stalwarts.
After earning his law degree and spending a few years in private practice and community work, Tran was finally convinced that he should run for office himself. In his maiden race, he was the top vote-getter for a seat on the Garden Grove City Council. In ’04, he became the Golden State’s first-ever state assemblyman of South Vietnamese heritage. To no one’s surprise, Tran compiled a solidly conservative voting record and was unafraid to defy liberal GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on numerous tax and spending issues.
Now Tran is his party’s nominee against liberal Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez, who first went to Congress in 1996 by unseating his old boss Dornan in a much-disputed outcome. To call Tran and Sanchez (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 9.49%) polar opposites is no exaggeration. Whether the issue is TARP money for bailouts, stimulus money, “cash for clunkers,” or tax dollars for Planned Parenthood, Sanchez will be voting the Obama-Pelosi line without hesitation.
“Van is a man of destiny,” California GOP National Committeeman Shawn Steel said of Tran back when he first won a legislative seat. “He’ll be the first Vietnamese-American congressman!” Steel was proven wrong when Louisiana Republican Joseph Cao achieved that distinction in ’08. But Steel can still be right that Van is a man of destiny if conservatives help Van Tran take that next important step to Washington in his already exciting life.
(Van Tran for Congress, 3337 South Bristol, #49, Santa Ana, Calif. 92704; 714-907-3442; JoinVanTran.com)
South Carolina’s 2nd U.S. House District
Wilson vs. Miller
Even before what is known throughout South Carolina’s 2nd District (Columbia) and among conservatives nationally as “9/9,” Joe Wilson was a Democratic target.
Two years ago, Republican Rep. Wilson (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 93%) got a jolt when a political newcomer, Democratic nominee Rob Miller, got 46% of the vote against him. That was the most any Democrat had drawn against five-termer Wilson or his revered GOP predecessor, Rep. (1970-2001) Floyd Spence, since Spence’s unusually close re-election in the so-called “Watergate Year” of 1974.
Former U.S. Marine Miller was suddenly taken seriously by state and national Democrats and geared up for a rematch with Wilson.
And then “9/9” occurred. On Sept. 9, 2009, Wilson made headlines worldwide when, during a televised address to Congress by Barack Obama, Wilson interrupted the President with a shout of “You lie!” The outburst, Wilson later explained, was prompted by Obama’s telling the audience that the healthcare bill he was pushing had safeguards against illegal immigrants’ acquiring subsidized healthcare. Having worked intensely on this issue, Wilson later explained, he knew that was untrue and hence shouted out the now-famous two words.
But Wilson is also a gentleman. He promptly called the White House, reached Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and apologized.
The next day, he apologized publicly for the outburst. And that, many felt, should have been that.
But it wasn’t—not by any means. Democrat Miller became a cause célèbre over night, and Wilson a premier target of the left. Move.on org and the anti-war Act Blue raised contributions totaling in the six-figures for Miller, with money coming from all 50 states. Almost every major labor union—from the AFL-CIO’s Committee on Political Education (COPE) to the Communications Workers of America to the Service Employees International Union—and extreme environmentalists such as the Council for a
Livable World and Friends of the Earth—weighed in for “the guy running against Joe Wilson.”
“And what’s strange about this,” mused Wilson, “is that a candidate who is running as a ‘centrist’ and claims to be for the military and against big spending by government is supported by every major left-of-center group to come down the pike.”
When Franklin Roosevelt addressed a rally in New York City as he sought re-election in 1940, supporters put a banner up on the stage that read: “We Love You For the Enemies You Have Made.” For conservatives in 2010, that says it all about Joe Wilson and is why he must be re-elected.
(Wilson for Congress, P.O. Box 2145, West Columbia, S.C., 29171; www.joemeansjobs.com)
