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Moseley-Braun loses to Republican Fitzgerald
Democratic senator had troubled campaign(AllPolitics, November 3) -- Republican state Sen. Peter Fitzgerald has defeated Illinois incumbent Democratic Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, the first black female senator. Although Moseley-Braun had been in trouble for most of her re-election campaign, the results Tuesday night were closer than expected. Visibly exhausted and still battling the remnants of a bout with pneumonia she suffered in September, Moseley-Braun campaigned right up until the end despite trailing nearly 10 points in the polls. A conservative multimillionaire, the 38-year-old Fitzgerald made only a few public appearances in the waning days of his campaign. Analysts said this was a calculated political strategy. "After six years of scandal and controversy, Carol Moseley-Braun resorts to fabrication, continuing a barrage of negative ads," one Fitzgerald ad claimed. "He is in (a) kind of a candidate-protection program," Democratic consultant David Axelrod said. "They've created a new identity for him on television while he stays out of sight."
Fitzgerald never spoke during his TV ads. He answered a Chicago Tribune editorial board's questionnaire, but asked the newspaper, which has endorsed him, not to print the answers on its Web site, because, he says, Moseley-Braun would distort them. "She picks out these little things, distorts it and then puts it in as a citation on her distorted attack ads," Fitzgerald said. There was a glimmer of hope for the first-term senator when polls showed she began to close Fitzgerald's double-digit lead late in the week before election day. President Bill Clinton did a fund-raiser for her, and the first lady appeared at an education event with her. "We need Carol Moseley-Braun in there holding their feet to the fire to make sure we get those teachers in this school and other schools in Illinois," Hillary Rodham Clinton said. Despite the fund-raising help, money remained an issue, and changing the focus of the campaign was hard for Moseley-Braun because Fitzgerald heavily outspent her. "I mean, you can buy an election," Moseley-Braun said. "With enough money, I can make myself Ivana Trump." Moseley-Braun's term was marked by controversy, including trips to Nigeria to visit the late dictator Sani Abacha, campaign finance questions and a blowup in which she compared columnist George Will to a Ku Klux Klansman. "I mean this very sincerely from the bottom of my heart: He can take his hood and put it back on again, as far as I'm concerned," Moseley-Braun told WFLD. "That was terrible. I lost my temper, that's exactly what happened," she said later. "She's contributed greatly to her own problems because she's had a series of controversies that have built on each other to the point where her negatives today are nearing 50 percent, and it's very hard for anyone to win an election with those kind of negatives," said Axelrod. Moseley-Braun ran an ad acknowledging mistakes, hoping to turn the debate towards issues. "I know I've made mistakes and disappointed some people, but I want you to know that I've always tried to do what's best for Illinois," she said in the ad. In one of their debates, Moseley-Braun tried to attack Fitzgerald's stance on abortion; Fitzgerald opposes it except to save the life of the mother, with no exceptions for rape or incest. "Believe me when I tell you, the idea of carrying somebody's, some rapist's child, is anathema to most women," Moseley-Braun told Fitzgerald in the debate. Moseley-Braun was elected in 1992, when many women were active and angry, many of them over the Senate Judiciary Committee's treatment of Anita Hill. Moseley-Braun ran unopposed in her Democratic primary this year. Fitzgerald won the Republican primary against state Comptroller Loleta Didrickson despite last-minute appeals from Republican moderates who said that nominating a pro-gun, anti-abortion conservative could ruin any chances of defeating Moseley-Braun. OVERVIEW:
• Offices where party control switched • Dems poured big bucks into final get-out-the-vote drive • Turnout approaches 38 percent • Minorities see ups, downs in results • Clinton happy with midterm election results • How voters see Lewinsky scandal SENATE RACES:
• Schumer topples D'Amato in New York Senate race • Edwards unseats Faircloth in tight North Carolina race • Moseley-Braun loses to Republican Fitzgerald • Democratic Boxer wins fight for Senate seat • Washington's Murray heads back to the Senate • Incumbent Hollings wins close race in South Carolina • Bunning ekes out win against Baesler • Reid defends Democratic Senate seat in Nevada • Coverdell outdistances Democratic Senate opponent • Campbell wins Colorado • Lincoln defeats Boozman, Dems retain Arkansas Senate seat • Gov. Voinovich wins Senate race in Ohio, defeats Democrat Boyle • Democrat Bayh easily defeats Helmke in Indiana • Analysis: Moderation sweeps the Senate HOUSE RACES:
• Democrat Inslee bests incumbent White for Washington House seat • Affair doesn't dampen support for Idaho's Chenoweth • Democrats hold on to Colorado's 2nd district • Sanchez trumps Dornan again in California House race • Udall wins Redmond's New Mexico House seat • Tradeoff in the bluegrass: Parties switch Kentucky House seats • Familiar faces still around the House • Baldwin breaks barrier, becomes first openly lesbian House member • Second time the charm for Hoeffel in Pennsylvania House race • Berkley takes Las Vegas House seat for Democrats • Open Mississippi House seat goes to Democrat Shows • House leader Bonior fends off GOP challenge in Michigan • Snowbarger's Kansas district picked up by Democrat Moore • Green pulls Republican upset in Wisconsin • Simpson keeps Idaho's 2nd district in GOP hands • Toomey takes Pennsylvania's 15th District for GOP • Democrats to make historic gains in House • Republican Sherwood wins open seat in Pennsylvania's 10th House district • Hawaii rehires Abercrombie in House race • Swing Connecticut district chooses Democrat Maloney again • Republican Ryan beats Spottswood in Wisconsin's 1st district • Illinois Rep. Evans bests Baker in closely watched contest • Republican Baker fends off tough challenge in Louisiana House race • Iowa's Boswell fends off Republican n House race • Chabot holds off Democratic challenge • Strickland retains Ohio's 6th district • Bellwether Kentucky, Indiana House races split GOVERNORS' RACES:
• Owens first GOP Colorado governor in more than two decades • Moderates inherit the governor's mansions • Former wrestler takes stunning win in Minnesota • Guinn edges Democrat rival to pick up Nevada • Knowles wins rare 2nd term in Alaska • GOP Geringer keeps Wyoming • Easy victory for Oregon Gov. Kitzhaber • Ryan picks up Illinois governorship • Democrat Davis wins heralded California governorship • Cellucci stays as Massachusetts governor • Conservative Johanns wins Nebraska governorship • Gov. Ridge wins big in Pennsylvania • Kempthorne wins landslide in Idaho • Democrat wins Iowa for first time in 30 years • Thompson wins record 4th term in Wisconsin • Taft wins close governor race in Ohio • Keating remains Oklahoma governor • GOP Gov. Janklow keeps South Dakota seat • New Mexico Gov. Johnson retains post • GOP Gov. Almond keeps Rhode Island seat • Gov. Engler easily wins re-election in Michigan • Barnes edges GOP rival for Georgia's top spot • Gov. Huckabee wins re-election in Arkansas • Arizona GOP Hull stays in office • Independent King keeps Maine seat • Kansas Gov. Graves easily wins re-election • Rowland wins re-election in Connecticut • Glendening retains office in Maryland • Siegelmen unseats incumbent James in Alabama • Sundquist stays as Tennessee governor • Texas Gov. George W. Bush wins in landslide • Hodges wins South Carolina governor race • Dean easily keeps Vermont governor seat • Jeb Bush wins big in Florida • Democrat Shaheen retains New Hampshire seat, gets third of GOP vote BALLOT RACES:
• Prop. 3 failure places California presidential primary in limbo • Medical marijuana popular at polls • Anti-affirmative action ballot measure • Washington state voters tie minimum wage to inflation • California OKs Indian gambling expansion • South Carolina removes ban on interracial marriage • Michigan voters soundly reject physician-assisted suicide • Plan to boost Calif. cigarette tax too close to call | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
