Few pick fights with incumbents

By Tamara Lytle
Washington Bureau

Published in The Orlando Sentinel, May 9 1998

WASHINGTON -- Most of Florida's congressmen showed the power of incumbency by winning re-election Friday without a single voter going to the polls.

At noon, the deadline passed for filing to run for the U.S. House. Fourteen of Florida's 23 incumbents found out that no one will be on the ballot with them. Another two congressmen face only write-in opposition.

But Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Longwood, was not so lucky. He will have three opponents on the November ballot. Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Palm Bay, and Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, also face opponents.

``I just have a more active district,'' said McCollum.

Ellen Miller, head of Public Campaign, a nonprofit group that advocates campaign finance reform, said the number of uncontested races in Florida was startling and disturbing.

``Competition is at the essence of a democratic electoral system,'' she said. ``In a nutshell, in one delegation, you see that competition simply doesn't exist anymore. Incumbents ... have a clear field in major part because no one can raise the money to oppose them.''

But Rep. John Linder, R-Ga., head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said the lack of opposition was partly because the public is satisfied.

The lack of competition means Florida's congressional delegation will remain dominated by Republicans. Of the 15 Republican incumbents, 11 are unopposed and one faces a write-in opponent. Of the eight Democrats, three are unopposed with one write-in opponent.

Even Florida's contested races have lopsided fund-raising, with incumbents raising many times more than challengers in donations. McCollum, for instance, has more than $750,000 for his race, while one of his challengers, Democrat Al Krulick, has raised less than $10,000.

Dan Sallick, communications director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said he expects no competitive races in Florida this year.

Sallick, a Rollins College graduate, said McCollum has drawn opposition while other lawmakers drew a free ride because ``he's such a polarizing figure there's such a visceral reaction to him people instinctively want to run against him.''

McCollum will run against two familiar faces and one newcomer. Krulick and write-in candidate Clay O. Hill both ran against him two years ago. Charles ``Charlie'' Klein, a Reform Party candidate also will run.

Krulick, 46, is an actor at Disney's MGM Studios and lives in College Park. Klein, 63, is a retired airline employee who lives in Belle Isle. Hill could not be reached for comment.

Krulick and Klein favor abortion rights, while McCollum opposes them.

Krulick said he is running because he thinks McCollum is a captive of special interests, especially banks. ``I can't be bought because no one wants to buy me,'' Krulick said.

``I'm not tied to special interests whatsoever,'' said McCollum, who said the banks, credit unions and other financial institutions that give him money disagree among themselves on many issues. He said he will campaign on his support for reducing the size of government and fighting drugs.

Krulick said he favors eliminating laws banning marijuana and possibly other drugs. ``We need to stop demonizing the drugs and demonizing the users,'' Krulick said.

``That's a big difference of opinion between the two of us,'' McCollum said. ``And I suspect it's a big difference of opinion between my opponent and the voters of the district.''

Weldon's opponent will be David Golding, a Cocoa Beach ship captain who ran against him two years ago as an independent but this year will be the Democratic candidate.

Brown will run against Jacksonville minister Bill Randall, a Republican who grew up in Sanford. That district stretches from Orlando to Jacksonville. Brown is director of minority relations at a cable company and has been involved in the NAACP.

Linder said his GOP party group would give money to Randall, who may be able to capitalize on dissatisfaction within the black community with the Democratic Party.

The filing deadline for the U.S. Senate race also passed on Friday. Democrat Bob Graham will run for re-election against state Sen. Charlie Crist, a Republican from-St. Petersburg.

[Posted 05/08/98 10:56 PM EST]

(The following response was sent to the Sentinel by Al Krulick)

To The Editor:

Tamara Lytle's May 9th article about this year's Congressional races mischaracterizes my views on the issue of drugs, and I would like to set the record straight. I am opposed to the "War on Drugs" because I believe it has been, and will continue to be, a public policy failure. This is what I told her, and this is the core of my position.

I agree with Sentinel columnist Charley Reese, who wrote in a recent column that "Chemical abuse is a health problem, not a crime. It should be treated with education and treatment, not by kicking down people's doors and dragging them off to prison."

America's current drug policy has caused much more damage to our society than the drugs themselves, without bringing about the diminuition of their usage. As Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman suggests, the "War on Drugs" has cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars, produced millions of victims, increased crime, destoyed inner cities, and fostered widespread corruption and violations of human rights -- and all with no success in achieving the stated and unattainable objective of a drug-free America.

My opponent's plan to cut drug use in America 80% by the year 2002 will also be a dismal failure. And its intended employment of the military in questionable forays into South America promises to lead America into a foreign policy quagmire unseen since the days of Vietnam. Once again, quoting Reese, "Exactly how long does an attempt to solve a problem have to fail before we try another way?"

Al Krulick