Hilliard's political hades

Politics 2002

One of the year's most incendiary U.S. House nomination fights ended last week when five-term Rep. Earl Hilliard lost the Democratic run-off in Alabama's 7th District by a wide margin. In losing 56% to 44% to lawyer Artur Davis, who is also black, Hilliard became the fifth House member to be denied renomination this year and the first black incumbent to fall short.

The Hilliard-Davis contest focused almost exclusively on the incumbent's criticism of Israel, his support of Arab nations (including Libya, where he once traveled over the objections of the State Department), and political funding from the Arab American and Jewish communities. The political icing on the cake for Hilliard was a run-off eve appearance on his behalf by the Rev. Al Sharpton, the radical from New York.

The embattled congressman received $10,000 from House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt (Mo.) and $17,000 in PAC and personal donations from House Democratic Whip Nancy Pelosi (Calif.). The 34-year-old Davis, in turn, collected nearly $794,000-the bulk of which came from Jewish-American organizations and pro-business groups such as the Business and Industry Political Action Committee. No Republican candidate has filed in the heavily Democratic district, so Davis is assured election in the fall.

In the other closely watched primary last week, former Rep. (1994-2000) Mark Sanford rolled to a smashing win in the GOP run-off for governor of South Carolina. Sanford, who made no bones about his Ron Paul-ish, near-libertarian voting record and his desire to abolish the Palmetto State income tax, defeated Lt. Gov. Bob Peeler by a 3-to-2 margin. Republicans are optimistic about Sanford's chances of ousting Democratic Gov. James Hodges in November.

Mr. Gizzi, polical edito of HUMAN EVENTS, welcomes political editor of HUMAN EVENTS, welcomes political intelligence from subscribers on campaigns and issues at the local and state level. Though he cannot reply to all correspondents, we appreciate your contributions.

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