 |
|
 |
 advertisement
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Expect Few Changes Among Capitol Hill Space Policymakers After Election
By Craig Linder
Special to SPACE.com
posted: 07:00 am ET
24 October 2000
|
congress_election WASHINGTON (States News Service) --- Like all of their colleagues, the members of Congress who oversee American space policy face re-election in November. But don't look for much change in their ranks --- most political observers agree that the five key legislators on space policy up for re-election next month will cruise easily to another term. Both the Cook Political Report, an independent newsletter that analyzes campaigns, and Roll Call, a weekly newspaper that covers Capitol Hill, said that the incumbents have benefited from the power of their positions and the often lopsided demographic makeup of their districts to stack the odds against potential challengers. Incumbents in Congress enjoy a host of advantages, from superior name recognition to better access to the all-important fundraising dollars. This may be why the two men on Capitol Hill with the most influence on space policy, Reps. F. James Sensenbrenner and Dana Rohrabacher, face only nominal challenges in their quest for re-election. F. James Sensenbrenner As chairman of the House Science Committee, Sensenbrenner has responsibility over nearly all aspects of the federal government's science program, from NASA to the National Science Foundation.First elected to Congress in 1978, the Republican from Wisconsin's capital city of Madison has never faced a serious threat. In 1998, for instance, he won re-election with an overwhelming 91 percent of the vote. 
This year, Mike Clawson, a businessman from the town of Beaver Dam, is challenging Sensenbrenner. With no previous political experience, Democratic candidate Clawson faces an uphill drive to unseat the popular 10-term congressman. ~ According to filings with the Federal Election Commission at the end of August, Clawson had raised only $978 for November's election compared to Sensenbrenner's $383,743. Dana Rohrabacher The chairman of the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, Rohrabacher may be second only to Sensenbrenner in influencing American space policy. A Republican congressman from Huntington Beach, California, Rohrabacher's oversight includes NASA and the space programs of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Like Sensenbrenner, Rohrabacher faces a challenge from a seemingly underfunded small business owner. Democratic candidate Ted Crisell, a real estate developer, is taking Rohrabacher to task for votes against background checks at gun shows and foreign aid for family planning.But the numbers don't look favorable for Crisell. California's 45th congressional district is heavily Republican and has elected Rohrabacher in each of the past six elections. Crisell must also overcome a wide gap in funding. Crisell has raised only $11,123 for his race, according to June filings with the FEC, while Rohrabacher has taken in $203,946. Ralph Hall The two men on the opposite side of the aisle from Sensenbrenner and Rohrabacher will also likely return to Capitol Hill after November's elections. ~ Rep. Ralph Hall, the most senior Democrat on the Science Committee, has represented the Red River Valley in Texas since 1980. Over the past 20 years, though, Hall has become a unique political creature: a Democrat representing a largely Republican district. 
Hall's political survival is due in large part to his conservative views and his immense popularity within his district. Hall is so well respected by Republicans, in fact, that when he dropped by a House Republican Conference meeting in May, he received a standing ovation from the decidedly partisan group. But attorney Jon Newton, the Republican candidate for Hall's seat, thinks that the Texas congressman is too loyal to his Democratic party and hopes to unseat him in November. In this race, too, the incumbent has a clear lead in building a campaign war chest. Hall had $369,979 in his coffers while Newton had only $81,030, according to the June FEC filings. Bart Gordon Hall's counterpart on the Space subcommittee, Rep. Bart Gordon, also faces the challenge of being a Democrat who represents an increasingly Republican district, his in central Tennessee.But the most senior Democratic member on the Space subcommittee has won re-election each year since 1984, when he filled the House vacancy left by Al Gore's run for Senate.
Gordon, though, faced a number of tough races in the 1990s from competitive challengers. His strongest support comes from the rural parts of his Nashville-area district, which are not growing as quickly as the suburbs of Tennessee's largest city. But this year, the Tennessee Republican Party was unable to recruit a strong candidate to challenge Gordon. Their nominee, David Charles, a neurologist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, has struggled for name recognition and has raised only $38,658 for the race, according to documents filed with the FEC in July. Gordon has taken in $835,714. ~ "Expect Gordon to win re-election handily," Roll Call reports on its website. Bill Frist Tennessee's junior senator and the chairman of the Senate Science, Technology and Space Subcommittee, Republican Sen. Bill Frist faces a challenge from Democratic candidate Jeff Clark, a professor at Middle Tennessee State University.
State Democrats were hampered in their bid to unseat Frist when Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford chose not to enter the race, leaving the party with a slate of second-tier candidates. Clark's lack of name recognition has slowed his progress in the race. Frist was well ahead of Clark in a recent poll, pulling in 62 percent to the Democrat's 23 percent in a survey of 625 likely voters conducted by independent firm Mason-Dixon Polling and Research of Washington. The poll had a 4-percent margin of error. As of July, Clark had accumulated $148,380 for his campaign as compared to Frist's $3,628,918 war chest, according to FEC data.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
