4th District: Al Wynn
Like Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., seven-term incumbent Rep. Al Wynn was the target of a fierce primary challenge this year from the progressive wing of his party — a group the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., once referred to as “the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.” Lieberman was forced to run as an independent; Wynn narrowly beat his former law clerk, anti-war activist Donna Edwards, because like many other fellow Democrats, he voted for the resolution authorizing President Bush to invade Iraq — a vote he now says he regrets.
Wynn, a former state legislator, is a well-known power broker in the district. His detractors call him the “puppet master” of Prince George’s County.
The 4th, which also contains a chunk of Montgomery County, is majority black and one of the most reliably Democratic in the nation. So Wynn should have no trouble beating Republican challenger Michael Starkman, a Web designer. Like all of Maryland, Wynn’s district would benefit from having a real two-party system, but it’s far from being a reality today.
Wynn has more to fear from his own party. He’s considered a liberal Democrat everywhere else; only in Maryland would he be called a DINO (Democrat in Name Only) for supporting business interests. To his credit, Wynn has also been a staunch supporter of federal employees. In a district that has more government workers than any other in the nation, that’s called serving your constituents.
5th District: Steny Hoyer
Since being unanimously elected House minority whip in 2003, Rep. Steny Hoyer has come a long way from his first congressional campaign when the New York Times described him as “a polished, neatly dressed assistant manager of a fine hotel.” The 13-term incumbent is already one of the most powerful Democrats in Washington, and will become even more so if they take over the House next month after a 12-year hiatus.
With no serious challenger, the 67-year-old “Silver Fox” has spent the last month campaigning for 37 Democrats and shoring up his support within the Democratic Caucus — especially among the more conservative Blue Dog Democrats. Though he claims his party is more united than ever, Hoyer himself sits right on the fault line between establishment Democrats and far-left progressives led by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
If Pelosi becomes speaker, Hoyer will be challenged for the majority leader’s job by her close ally, Rep. John Murtha, D-Penn. When Murtha, then a little-known Vietnam veteran, made national headlines late last year calling for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, Hoyer — whose district includes a large military presence — warned against “a precipitous withdrawal of American forces in Iraq [that] could lead to disaster, spawning a civil war, fostering a haven for terrorists and damaging our nation’s security and credibility.” Anti-war Democrats have yet to detail a clear exit strategy that doesn’t do exactly that.
Even if Democrats take control of the House, the controversial, polarizing Pelosi would still not have a veto-proof majority — and will therefore be forced to reach across the aisle to get anything done during the next two years. That’s something the pragmatic, centrist Hoyer has successfully been doing for years, making him a much better bet for Speaker of the House as well.
8th District: Chris van Hollen
Democratic incumbent Chris van Hollen is so sure he’ll be elected to the 8th congressional seat he took away from Republican Connie Morella four years ago that he’s been out recruiting Democratic candidates for Pelosi’s multi-million-dollar “Red to Blue” program, which he co-chairs, instead of campaigning here at home. In politics, overconfidence is usually the sign of a coming fall; the charismatic van Hollen is making a calculated risk that his star will rise even further if Democrats take back control of the House next month.
Republican Jeff Stein, a genial Rockville attorney who admits he entered the race on a whim, says his Orthodox Jewish community is upset with van Hollen for a letter the incumbent recently sent to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice harshly critical of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. Van Hollen acknowledges sending the letter, but downplays its significance.
Stein hopes the letter will be the last straw for a sizeable number of Jews in Montgomery County who typically vote Democratic. However quixotic, Stein’s candidacy does spotlight the fact that few Democrats are talking about what will happen to Israel if the U.S. abruptly pulls out of Iraq, as anti-war Democrats insist, leaving an increasingly radicalized Iran as one of the major powers in the region. That’s something members of both parties need to figure out, and sooner rather than later.
Part of the Washington DC Examiner’s 2006 election coverage.
