Posted by Lilly from ? (160.129.27.22) on Wednesday, August 21, 2002 at 5:26PM :
In Reply to: I loved McKinney & Hilliard! posted by Lilly from ? (160.129.27.22) on Wednesday, August 21, 2002 at 5:14PM :
Ala. congressman ousted in primary
Mideast conflict played big role in fund-raising
ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 25 — Five-term Rep. Earl Hilliard was ousted in a Democratic runoff Tuesday after a nasty campaign against a younger, well-funded challenger who swamped the impoverished Alabama district with commercials questioning the incumbent's stance on the Middle East.
'My opponent had a massive amount of money.'
— REP. EARL HILLIARD (D-ALA.)
THE ASTONISHING victory by Harvard-educated lawyer Artur Davis was tantamount to election because there is no Republican nominee.
Hilliard, who in 1992 became the first black member of Alabama's congressional delegation since Reconstruction, becomes the fifth incumbent congressman to lose at the polls this year.
With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Davis had 52,357 votes, or 56 percent, and Hilliard had 41,049 votes, or 44 percent.
Hilliard blamed his first electoral loss on Davis’ bigger war chest, funded in large part by out-of-state, pro-Israel donors.
"My opponent had a massive amount of money," Hilliard said. "I don't know what that means for the future for other persons who are similarly situated."
Davis said voters were swayed by his focus on economic development, health care and education. "The breadth of this victory is something that humbles me," he told cheering supporters.
Hilliard, 60, was forced into the first runoff of his career after failing to win a majority in the primary earlier this month.
Davis, a 34-year-old former federal prosecutor, aired a series of stinging TV ads in which he criticized Hilliard's repeated ethics scrapes and accused him of being linked to terrorism.
Hilliard has said he supports creation of a Palestinian state and recently opposed a resolution supporting Israel's self-proclaimed war against terrorism. The stance won him support from Arab groups while his opponent had the backing of Jews and pro-Israel groups. Both men are black.
Davis raised more money than Hilliard, much of it from Jews in New York. Hilliard, who visited Libya in 1997, was backed by Arab donors and members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
An anti-Semitic smear sheet criticizing Davis' ties to the Jewish community surfaced during the campaign. Hilliard denied any involvement, suggesting that Davis wrote the leaflet to gain more sympathy with Jewish contributors.
While Mideast politics lured out-of-state money to the race, more typical issues dominated in the far-flung, chronically poor 7th District.
Hilliard portrayed Davis as a Republican in disguise, a serious charge in the heavily Democratic district, which is 62 percent black. One Hilliard TV commercial depicted Davis supporters as white, cigar-smoking fat cats.
Davis accused Hilliard of doing little to help his district while lining his own pockets in Washington. The challenger appeared to benefit from redistricting, which placed more white voters in the district: He carried eight of the district's 12 counties.
© 2002 Associated Press.
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Think Global, Vote Local
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., June 26, 2002
Artur Davis' victory is much more than a primary win, since there is no Republican nominee.
Arab Americans and groups sympathetic to the Palestinian cause donated thousands to Hilliard, who visited Libya in 1997 and supports what he calls a balanced U.S. policy toward the Mideast.
(CBS) Harvard-educated attorney Artur Davis defeated five-term Democratic Rep. Earl Hilliard in a bitter runoff Tuesday after a campaign in which a poor Alabama district became entangled in Mideast politics.
With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Davis had 52,054 votes, or 56 percent, and Hilliard had 40,677 votes, or 44 percent.
Hilliard laid blame for his first electoral loss to Davis' bigger war chest, funded in large part by out-of-state, pro-Israel donors.
"My opponent had a massive amount of money," Hilliard said. "I don't know what that means for the future for other persons who are similarly situated."
Davis said voters were swayed by his focus on economic development, health care and education. "The breadth of this victory is something that humbles me," he told cheering supporters.
He led handily in Hilliard's traditional Birmingham power base; he carried populous Tuscaloosa County by a 3-to-1 margin; and he won as well in Dallas County, which Hilliard carried in the primary.
A runoff victory was tantamount to election because there is no Republican nominee.
Arab Americans and groups sympathetic to the Palestinian cause donated thousands to Hilliard, who visited Libya in 1997 and supports what he calls a balanced U.S. policy toward the Mideast.
Upset by Hilliard's perceived links to Arab causes, Jewish donors and pro-Israel groups lined up behind challenger Davis, a former federal prosecutor.
"Earl Hilliard has a record of supporting terrorist states and favors termination of sanctions against countries that support terrorism," said Josh Block of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Arab Americans supported Hilliard in response to the infusion of money from Jewish donors backing Davis, said Jim Zogby, president of the Washington-based Arab American Institute.
"This is not a test of our clout versus their clout," he said. "This is a test of whether we will stand by people who have stood by us."
While Mideastern politics fueled fund-raising in the Hilliard-Davis campaign, such issues are far removed from daily life in the 7th District, a chronically poor part of the state that stretches from inner-city Birmingham over much of rural west-Alabama.
The district is 62 percent black, and Hilliard, 60, is the only black member of the state's congressional delegation. Davis, 34, is also black.
Redistricting placed more white voters into the 7th, and Davis was the apparent benefactor, carrying eight of the district's 12 counties.
-- Lilly
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