ELECTION '90 RUNNING HARD L o. Rep. Sander Levin: Running as if it were close. Walter 0. Briggs IV: An uphill battle. A sure bet and an underdog are running hard to win Congressional races in the 17th and 18th Districts. PHIL JACOBS Assistant Editor O ne candidate has little or no opposition, and the other has an uphill struggle. Two politicians, two separate general election races and two separate places in political time are on the agenda. Yet when the polls open on Nov. 6, 17th District voters will most as- suredly put the familiar name of Sander Levin back in Congress for a fifth term. The scenario is different over in the 18th District, where Republican William Broomfield has for over 30 years been a household name. The opponent is a po- litical newcomer who has never held public office and who proudly wears sneakers as he knocks on thousands of doors through the district. Walter Briggs IV comes from a family that in this area of the country is best known as the former owners of the Detroit Tigers. But this Mr. Briggs doesn't want baseball to be the only game for which his family is known. So, like the Tigers, he is hoping to come out of nowhere to upset Mr. Broomfield. Mr. Briggs, however, doesn't have a Cecil Fielder impact, at least not to the point where he could defeat a congressman who has at times won almost 80 percent of the registered vote. Rep. Broomfield, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, defeated challenger Gary Kohut in both 1986 and 1988 by margins of over 50 percent. But the odds don't seem to outwardly discourage Mr. Briggs. The 33-year-old Birmingham resident and CPA is fighting the uphill battle by knocking on thousands of doors throughout the 18th District. He admits that his chances of defeating an incumbent are not great, but he also says in the same breath that this campaign is only the beginning for his goal, to wind up on Capitol Hill. "I'm running because I reached a point where there were so many issues that were concerning me, and I "We don't want Mr. Levin to spend the entire campaign time on his brother's Senate campaign." — Jim Alexander just couldn't hold it back any more," he said. "These issues we all read about like the huge deficit, education and the need to improve the environment are issues that probably will affect my chil- dren more than me. And I want to make sure that my children's future is secure." Mr. Briggs runs his cam- paign from a backlot office of a Troy office park. A card- board box with spare change is on a table near the office front door. A sign says that the change helps pay to keep the lights on. Next to the box is campaign literature and Briggs for Congress buttons with a picture of a dinosaur with a universal circle and cross hatch through it. The dinosaur is in reference to Mr. Broomfield's many years in office. He has served in Congress since 1956. Mr. Briggs scoops a hand- ful of change and spare dollar bills into his pocket and drives a visitor over to a Denny's where over coffee and juice, he talks about this dream of his. The clatter of dirty dishes and beeping microwaves acts as background music for idealistic positions on fed- eral budget audits and Mid- dle East stands. The candidate, a clean-cut go-getter, said his sensitivity to the security of Israel was heightened after he married his wife, Andrea Gilles Briggs, who is Jewish. "I think the United States needs to be straight about its role in the Mideast," he said. "We're playing a game that puts Israel in jeopardy by constantly arming the enemies of Israel. Arming them for peace is a short- term solution." Mr. Briggs calls a Pales- tinian homeland on the West Bank or on Gaza an im- possibility, something, he said, that cannot even be con- sidered if Israel is to remain secure. He also calls himself staunchly pro-choice. Mr. Briggs said he knows he needs to at least debate one-on-one with his oppo- ment if he is to have a chance. So far, a debate has not been arranged. THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 47