How Vulnerable Is
Sander Levin's Seat?
JENNIFER FINER STAFF WRITER
olitical watchdogs say
Sander Levin is looking an
extremely tough election
in the face. Some are pre-
dicting it will be "the race of his
life."
Until two years ago, his races
were won with high vote per-
centages.
This August, Rep. Levin will
square off against Nat Pernick,
a Bingham Farms attorney
whose platform is based on fi-
nancial responsibility, and Karen
Roberts from Center Line, who
did not respond to interview re-
quests. The winner of that race
will face Mr. Pappageorge in the
November election.
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Sander Levin: Hoping for another term.
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But don't talk to the six-term
U.S. House veteran about tough V_
elections. He still remembers los-
ing the 1970 governor's race to
William Milliken — by 1.7 per-
cent.
"I am preparing for another
vigorous race," said Rep. Levin,
who serves on the House Ways
and Means Committee. "I'm con-
fident I will win, but I am not
taking anything for granted."
One of the factors expected to
make this race
so difficult is re-
districting.
Rep. Levin's
district, which
used to include
Southeast Oak-
land County and
part of Northwest Wayne Coun-
ty, shifted. It now consists of por-
tions of Southeast Oakland and
Southwest Macomb counties.
Two years ago, when Rep.
Levin first ran in this new dis-
trict — he beat his Republican
opposition John Pappageorge by
a 7 percent margin, spending just
over $1 million. The same elec-
tion cost Mr. Pappageorge
$190,000.
"Sandy can read the numbers;
he knows he is in trouble," said
Jack Casey, a Bloomfield Hills
political analyst. "His race is as
tough a race as any incumbent is
going to face. He is fighting for
his political life."
Rep. Levin came to Congress
after winning an open seat in
1982 with 67 percent of the vote.
Nat Pernick is hoping to oust Sander
Levin in the primary.
"This district was 70 percent
new last time," Rep. Levin said.
"It is no longer new. I feel I can
win if I work hard at it.
"This is a marginal district. It
is not safe for the Democrats or
the Republicans.
But what's dif-
ferent this time
is I'm better ac-
quainted with
the district."
Robert Naf-
taly, a West
Bloomfield Democratic activist,
agrees demographics will be key,
because the district is almost
evenly split between Democrats
and Republicans.
Some of Rep. Levin's support-
ers maintain his future could be
affected by other factors: the
races for U.S. Senate and the
governor's seat and how popular
President Clinton's policy and ac-
tions are at the time of the elec-
tion.
"My sense is that the winner
of the governor's race and the
winner of the Senate race will be
a good indication of what voters
will do," said Democratic activist
Tina Kramer, of Bloomfield Hills.
"Sandy has to sell himself as a
bipartisan candidate," Mr. Casey
said. "He has got to hold the mid-