University Daily Kansan, November 7, 1984
Page 9
Congressman Jim Slattery, D-Topeka, holds up his son, quarters in downtown Topeka before his re-election. Michael, 3, during a gathering at his campaign head- defeated Republican Jim Van Slyke, Topeka.
Slattery sent back for second term
By SUZANNE BROWN
Staff Reporter
TOPEKA — Northeast Kansans sent Rep Jim Slattery back to Congress for a second term last night, as they handed the Topea Democrat an easy victory over Republican Jim Van Slyke.
Van Slyke conceded at 9 p.m., two hours after the polls closed and shortly after Topela television station WIBW had declared that Slattery would win.
With 83 percent of the vote in, Slattery lead Van Slyk., 84,105 to 59,585, or 59 to 41 percent.
Early results indicated that Slattery was leading Van Slyke, and the margin widened as results from areas across the 13-county 2nd District trickled in.
Shortly before 9 p.m. Van Slyke admitted that he was more fortunate to tenure at the county ranch.
totals to come in," he said. "But it looks pretty grim at this point."
A FEW MINUTES later, the 27-year-old Topeka businessman, who has never held public office, phoned Slattery to congratulate him.
Slattery said he hadn't been too worried about the outcome of the election.
"You're always a little anxious," he said, "but we felt pretty confident."
In his victory speech, Slattery told a euphoric crowd of about 159 supporters at his campaign headquarters downtown that he had promised the party they wanted an independent congressman.
"I think it's a reflection of what we can do in office," he said of his broad support in the largely conservative 2nd District. Slattery said some Topeka precincts with heavy Republican registration had voted for him nearly 2-0-1.
Van Slyke said Slattery's status as an incumbent and his expensive campaign, heavily financed by political action groups, the two factors that had spelled his defeat.
THROUGHOUT HIS CAMPAIGN, Slattery has emphasized his fiscal conservatism and non-alignment with hard-line Democrats in Congress.
"If you look at the statistics, a challenger beats an incumbent only about once in 10 cases," he said. "And those users are usually against an incumbent who's made a lot of mistakes. Jim Slattery hasn't."
In his concession speech at the Ramada Inn downtown, Van Slyke congratulated his opponent and praised his character. He told a somber crowd that he had been pleased with the campaign, especially with the series of debates Slattery agreed to have with him.
DURING THE PAST few weeks, the debates produced some of the hottest rhetoric between the candidates, with Van Slyke attacking Slattery's voting record and accusing him of flip-flipping on several issues.
Meyers rolls easily to 3rd District seat
By JOININ EGAN and DAVID LASSITER Staff Reporters
Republican Jan Meyers, buoyed by a heavy voter turnout in Republican stronghold Johnson County, rolled over Democratic candidate Ruth Lazarus to capture the 3rd Congressional District seat.
With 92 percent of the vote in, Meyers had 91,140 votes or 57 percent. Heard received 72%.
Early in the evening, the Meyers camp appeared confident of victory. Only about 90 minutes after the polls had closed, Meyers came under fire from a group of the contests of President Reagan's landslide.
"That is terrific," Meyers said, clutching a piece of paper with initial preclinical reports showing her ahead in Johnson County and in Wyandotte County. "Oh, that is terrific."
THE RACE FOR THE house seat being vacated by Rep. Larry Winn Jr. — considered to be the hottest contest in the state pitted 56-year-old Meyers, a 12-year veteran铲骨队队员 Overland Park, against 41-year Old Reardon, the three-term mayor of Kansas City, Kan.
yevers and Reardon's campaigns were made by heavy spending, totaling about $400,000.
The 3rd District includes Johnson, Wyandotte, Miami and Linn counties. Miami and Linn counties accounted for about 6 percent of the vote.
Challenger John S. Ralph Jr., an independent, never posed a threat to either Meyers or
AT 9:20 P.M., following a projection by the Associated Press that Meyers would win, Winn introduced Meyers as the successor to the seat he had for 18 years. About 300 Meyers attended the event. Meyers at the Doubtree Hotel in Overland Park as she gave her acceptance speech.
Reardon conceded defeat almost an hour after Meverns proclaimed victory.
"It hasn't been a good night for Democrats," Reardon told about 75 supporters gathered in the Holiday Inn Towers in Kansas City, Kan.
Despite an earlier declaration by AP that Reardon had lost, Reardon supporters remained optimistic, singing and chanting, "Reardon's the one for me."
BY 10:15 P.M., Meyers apparently had clinched the victory. After a siping among Asti Spumant with campaign workers, Meyers congratulatory phone call from Reardon.
"I'm very grateful for your call, and I'm also very grateful for the fact that you were a candidate," she told Reardon. "I look forward to working with you."
by her campaign and the Kansas City Times and television station KCTV-5 showed with a commanding lead over Reardon
"It came kind of gradually." Meyers said. "We were expecting to win. Our polls had shown all along that we were ahead. And we were in the lead," he adds, "it's a thrill. It's been a very exciting night."
To shore up the victory, Meyers had to make a good showing in heavily Democratic Wyandotte County, she said. Reardon held a 3-to-2 lead over Meyers in Wyandotte, his home county. Meyers had a 2-to-1 edge over Reardon in Johnson County, her home county.
"I WILL SAY that we did very well in Wyandotte County, and that pleases me." Meyers said. "At one time, I thought if we could just get a third of the vote in Wyandotte we be pleased. We've done better than that, but now we're trying to win a win, we feel like we've done well in Wyandotte County. And it shows a real acceptance on the part of the voters there."
The coattail effect of Reagan's landslide added insurance. Meyers said.
With campaigning out of the way, Meyers had time to reflect on what she would do in Washington.
"I'd like to serve for 10 or 12 years, but I don't want to put an arbitrary limitation on it at the beginning," she said. "I look forward to being in Congress. I look forward to providing the same kinds of constituent services that Larry did. I think he's been a very hardworking, diligent Congressman, and that's what I hope to be."
Branson's win no surprise
Results of the 44th district state representative race surprised no one yesterday, least of all Jessie Branson, who was opposed only by write-in candidate Garry Bickler.
"I feel pretty good right now." Branson said at the County Court House last night. "I really wasn't worried about my write-in opponent. But, I kind of thought he'd get more votes than he did."
Branson said that Bickler's efforts had caused her some problems.
Branson, D-Lawrence, won her third term by beating Bicklesler 6,378 to 212 according to the unofficial votes of voters about 2:30 this morning.
Bicksel, a Republican, was not available for comment. He had launched a campaign in the closing weeks of the race to oppose Branson's pro-choice stand on abortion. He did not have the endorsement of the Douglas County Republican Party.
"It created an uncomfortable situation for me," she said. "I had people who supported him calling me and asking me to explain my views."
Branson said she told the callers that she supported the rights of the individual.
"I explained my stand to them," she said. "I also tried to explain that I supported family planning centers because they offer a variety of birth services for women besides birth control."
Branson did not appear at the court house until late in the evening.
"I would have come up earlier but I crashed after coming home from working at polls all day," she said. "If this person hadn't worn a shirt, I might not have woke up until morning."
Winter defeats Seaman for Senate seat
Bv JOHN HANNA
Staff Reporter
Voters in the 2nd State Senate District last night gave incumbent Wint Winton Jr., R-Lawrence, a convincing victory over Lawrence attorney Lawrence Seaman Jr., his Democratic opponent
- As of 1:20 a.m. today, Winter was leading Seaman, 14,959 to 5,952.
Winter celebrated his victory with about 100 supporters at a reception in the Buckmiller Room of the K.S. "Boots" Adams Alumni Center last night. He later visited the Douglas County Courthouse, 11th and Massachusetts streets, to watch election
returns being posted. Seaman spent the evening at home.
Winter said he thought he had scored well in precincts largely populated by KU students. The 2nd Senate District covers Douglas County except for southern Willow Springs and Palmyra townships and Baldwin City.
"It's one of the things that we started out with from the beginning, and we worked hard on campus," Winter said. "I feel very close to 'University.'"
Winter said he had campaigned to attract the vote of KU students.
Seaman gave Winter credit for capturing the student vote.
garner student support," he said.
Winter also gave partial credit for his victory to his incumbent status. He was appointed to the seat in December 1982 after a year of service that allowed him to move to Washington D.C. with her family.
Seaman has lived in Lawrence for the last 10 years and recently began to practice law in the city.
"He's worked hard during the campaign to
For Winter, being an incumbent gave him name recognition among citizens in his district and a record to run on.
the race it would be very much an uphill fight."
Winter also led Seaman in campaign contributions — $9,083 to $660. Winter outseam Seaman $4,859 to $560.
But Seaman also said he was pleased with his campaign and considered himself the winner, even though fewer voters cast ballots for him.
During the campaign, Seaman criticized Winter's stand on two issues: raising the legal drinking age and the Wolf Creek nuclear power plant.
Seaman said. "I also knew when I entered
Seaman had said that Winter wavered on Wolf Creek because he opposed the plant but did not vote for legislation to prevent the release of chemicals in a method disposing of nuclear wastes was found.
Solbach wins 45th District for 4th term in state House
Bv LAURETTA SCHULTZ
Staff Reporter
Democrat John Solbach won his fourth term as the 45th District state representative last night, defeating Republican Martha Preckett by winning all but three of the 13 precincts voting.
As of 1:20 this morning, Solbach had won 4,367 votes to Parker's 3,002 votes. The 45th District is largely rural but covers the northern, southern and western city limits.
Sobach said that he had expected that margin of victory and that he was pleased with the way the campaign had been run.
"I am very happy with all of this," he said.
"It is gratifying to have the voters show this kind of support for me.
SOLBACH WIFE, PATRICIA, who was keeping tabs on the precincts that reported, said she predicted that her husband would win 61 to 62 percent of the vote.
Parker, who conceded defeat with about half of the precincts reporting, said Solbach's incumbent edge was too much for her to overcome.
"Ours was a very good race. We kept things positive, and I learned a lot."
"The incumbent always does well," Parker said. "He had a lot of support and money behind him. But, I really enjoyed it and I met a lot of people."
Sobach said Parker had given him tougher competition than he had faced before.
"She had a massive door-to-door campaign," he said. "One no one has ever walked the
Sobach said the competition would make him a better legislator.
"OPPOSITION IS GOOD for anyone," he said. "I rebuilt a lot of relationships in the district, broke down some barriers between us and other districts, had a great deal about the changes in my district."
Sobach said the margin of his victory also would help him to be a more effective leader.
"When I can go back to Topeka with a win by this big margin it really helps." he said. "People realize that I'm going to be around for a while, and they need to take me
Sobbach he would need all of the support he could get to put some of his pet animals in.
We need to get the booster tax going
again," he said. "I see it as the closing of a loophole in our tax system."
Parker said she would keep open the option of running again in 1986.
A booster tax limits the amount of federal income tax upper- income residents can exempt from their state income taxes. The booster tax will be $25 per person for the legal resident's session.
"It will be a hard fight," Solbach said, "but I am committed to trying to get it going again."
"I will be keeping my eye on Mr. Solbach or the next two years, I can tell you that."
"I think I know what it would take to win next time," Parker said. "It would take a lot of people and money. Not necessarily in that order."
Senate contest an easy victory for Kassebaum
TOPEKA — Sen. Nancy Kassebaum — the daughter of a Republican Party patriarch who built her own popular following — yesterday was elected to her second term, easily defeating Democrat her mother and four minor-party candidates.
With 82 percent of the vote counted by national Election Service, Kassahmundhien won.
Election day also was a field day for other Kansas incumbents.
In the Kansas' 1st Congressional District, Quinter farmer Darringer Ringer proved no match for the well-entrenched Republican incumbent, Pat Roberts.
DEMOCRAT DAN GLICKMAN had no trouble winning re-election to a fifth term in the 8th District. With 91 percent of the vote in, the popular congressman had 54 percent or 75 percent to 41,866 votes or 25 percent of the population William Krause, a Republican publisher,
In the 5th District with 72 percent of the vote in, Rep. Bob Whittaker, a Republican, had 39,963 votes or 74 percent to 35,008 votes for Cherryvale Democrat John Barnes.
Barnes refused to accept campaign contributions, saying he wanted to prove a person could win election without outside help.
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