Hayworth, Ryun vie with Pryce for conference chair

The decision of House GOP Conference Chairman J.C. Watts (R.-Okla.) to retire from Congress has started one of the most heated contests in memory for a vacant position in the Republican House hierarchy.

Conservative Representatives J.D. Hayworth of Arizona and Jim Ryun of Kansas are vying against the more moderate Deborah Pryce of Ohio to replace Watts in the No. 4 slot in the House Republican leadership.

To the dismay of conservatives, by most accounts the early favorite is Pryce (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 75%). Already last week, her office was claiming commitments from 112 of the 222 GOP House members.

While conceding that Pryce is the front-runner over Hayworth and Ryun-who both have ACU ratings of 99%-several conservative House Republicans told HUMAN EVENTS last week that Pryce's strong position is largely because she is a woman running to fill a position now-occupied by a black. "It's really all affirmative action," said one Republican lawmaker who requested anonymity. "The only black Republican congressman is going, so many of our colleagues instinctively say, `We can't replace him with a white male, we've got to have a woman.' It's unfortunate but it's true. It doesn't matter where she stands on any issues."

Pryce, who now serves as vice chairman of the conference, is the highest-ranking woman in the House Republican leadership. Conference Secretary Barbara Cubin (Wyo.), a solid conservative (ACU rating: 97%), is the favorite to succeed her in that post which has gone to a woman in each session of Congress since the Republicans took over the House in 1994.

Conservatives are uncomfortable with the prospect of Pryce's elevation because of her liberal votes on a number of issues. Just last year, these included school vouchers, the National Endowment for the Arts, human cloning, domestic partner benefits, forcing gay leaders on the Boy Scouts, and abortion. Earlier, the Buckeye State congresswoman broke with the National Rifle Association on several key gun-control votes.

Many pro-life leaders bitterly recall how, when she first sought the Republican nomination for her House seat in 1992, she won support from abortion opponents by calling, herself pro-life. Once she had wrapped up the GOP nomination, however, she reversed field and declared herself pro-choice. She even said she would support the Freedom of Choice Act, which would enshrine the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision in federal legislation.

Pryce's abortion flip flop prompted Ohio pro-life leader Linda S. Reidelbach to run against her as an independent that year. Reidelbach drew nearly 18% of the vote in a campaign focused almost exclusively on Pryce's abortion stance.

The dilemma for conservatives is that two of their ownHayworth and Ryun-are competing for the anti-Pryce votes.

Hayworth, a onetime television sportscaster and a frequent guest on radio and TV talk shows, has released a list of 13 colleagues who are actively lining up votes for him and he says he so far has 41 "solid" votes.

Aware that 25 House Republican incumbents are stepping down this year so there will be a number of new members, Hayworth is also keeping a keen eye on races in open seats. When Hayworth met with me last week, he was joined by one of his whips, Rep. Joe Wilson (R.-S.C.), who brought along fellow South Carolinian Gresham Barrett, a state assemblyman who is the Republican nominee-and almost certain winner-in the race to replace outgoing Rep. Lindsey Graham, who is running for the Senate.

Hayworth said he believes the conference chairman should have "an ability to sell our message without diluting any of it." Along those lines, he recalled how he unseated a Democratic incumbent in his first election while never retreating on conservative principles.

Ryun is also well-liked by colleagues and enjoys a certain celebrity for having set the world record in the mile and competing in three Olympic games. Like Hayworth, he is a solid conservative. But even admirers say Ryun has been a low-key lawmaker so far and has not fully used his potential as a political star. So far Ryun has declined to discuss how many supporters he has lined up.

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Jul 15, 2002
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