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The N'igan Daily voter (
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,. ..
John
Hansen
Party:.
Democrat
Incumbent:
Yes
Occupation:
St ate
representative
Residence:
Dexter
Scott
Wojack
Party: .
Republican
Incumbent:
No
Occupation:
Newspaper:
carrier
Residence:
Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor is divided into
two state House districts
CAMP
EDI AL
DIAG
S UTHO
CA P S
5 DISTRICT
Hansen,
Wojack
Abraham in bitter contest with
list education as
highest priority
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By Hanna LoPatin
Daily Staff Reporter
Democrat John Hansen admits that
two years ago he knew little about what
to expect when he was elected to the
Michigan House of Representatives in
the 52nd District.
Now, Hansen says he not only knows
the workings of the Legislature inside
and out, but his colleagues regard him as
an authority on education issues.
In his bid for a second term in the
House, Hansen faces Republican candi-
date Scott Wojack, a 31-year-old recent
graduate of Eastern Michican University
and newspaper carrier.
Both HIansen and Wojack put educa-
tion at the top of their list of issues.
"That's where I've spent my life: said
Hansen, who served as superintendent of'
the Dexter school system for 14 years
before joining the Legislature in 1998.
Falling into the semi-standard party
division lines. Wojack supports school
vouchers while Hansen is against them.
'It would allow alternative models of'
education to be tested out;' Wojack said.
And Wojack has_ many alternative
models that he wants to try out, such as
requiring every sixth-grader to be bilin-
gual by 2008, "by broadening teacher
certification."
W\'ojack also said he wants to shorten
primarly education. "Our educational sys-
tem has served its purpose in the industri-
al age," he said. "This is the information
age ... We don't need 12 years anymore.
We could do it in 10 or eight." Wojack
proposes internships and work-study pro-
grams to fill up the last two year5.
There is some agreement between the
two candidates on the education issue.
"That movement (to make high school
8 or 10 years) is underway on its own,'
Hansen said, pointing to dual enrollment
of high school and college.
Hansen said he agrees with Wojack's
internship proposal, but added, "It's like-
ly to happen in an evolutionarv manner"
Environmental issues also get a high
priority in both candidates' agendas.
Simulating a program currently in
progress in Illinois, Wojack said he hopes
to provide "the ability for homeowners
and businesses to move off the power
grid and become self-sufficient in the
energy generation."
A big issue for Hansen is putting a cap
on urban sprawl. I le supports a state pro-
gram that lets farmers sell their develop-
ing rights to the state to ensure the land
vill not be redeveloped.
Perhaps the biggest difference betwcen
the two candidates is experience, but
Wojack said his lack of political experi-
ence shouldn't matter. "I meet the ace
qualifications. I'm a citizen and I live,' he
said. "I bring lots of vision. I'm talking
about ideas that you don't normally heat.,'
Meanwhile, Hansen is kkell-known in
the area and has developed strong con-
nections with the University - his alma
mater - by providing a desk in his office
for a University student.
Although he noted that the 52nd
District is a historically Democratic area.
Hansen is not discounting his competi-
tion and said that inexperience is not nec-
essarily a drawback for Wojack.
By Jeremy W. Peters
Daiix Staff Reporter
The Senate race between incumbent ,
Spence Abraham and Democratic chal-
lenger Debbie Stabenow has been char-
acterized by its spiteful tone.
The attacks have been constant: On
the airwaves, in the debates and in the
press, they have only increased as the
race has become more competitive and
will likely grow more intense in the
days remaining before the election.
With the race as tight as it is - the
most recent poll has Abraham and
Stabenow in a statistical tie - the bit-
terness should come as no surprise.
"I hope that people will look at the
substantial number of positive ads
we've run," said Abraham, who was
first elected to the Senate in 1994. "I
have no control over the ads the other
side runs or some of the ones these out-
side groups have run and I wish there
were fewer of these necative ads."
Stabenow, a Lansing congresswoman,
said she also wishes there were fewer
attack ads but blames the campaign's
tone on Abraham and what she calls his
association with special interests.
"We see in the ads that my opponent is
being heavily funded by the insurance
lobby ... because I've taken them on,"
Stabenow said. "Same thing with the
pharmaceutical companies - 've taken
them on ... and they've spent over S2
million supporting my opponent.'
Stabenow's argument that her oppo-
nent is- beholden to special interest
groups has been turned around on her
"Debbie Stabenow and her campaign
have been bankrolled by nothing but
special interest money," Abraham said.
"The dominant number of television
ads run on her behalf have not been
paid for by her campaign but by liberal
special interest groups
Stabenow retorts that the groups sup-
porting her are innocuous compared to
those supporting the senator.
"It's a question of whose side we're
on. I'm happy to have the Sierra Club,
the League of Conservation Voters,
(National Abortion Rights Action
League) supporting me - even the
AFL-CIO" she said. "It's a very different
set of groups that supports each of us."
Much of the race has focused on the
candidates' political philosophies.
Abraham accuses Stabenow of being a
big-spending liberal, while she accus-
es him of fighting for big business and
the wealthy.
In terms of their political stances, the
two differ starkly.
"I would say I'm an independent
conservative," Abraham said. "That
means breaking with the Republicans
on a lot of major issues over the past six
years. But my basic political philosophy
is that I'm a conservative."
Abraham defined "conservative" as
promoting tax ? cuts, free trade and
strengthening the military.
Stabenow characterizes herself as a
centrist.
"I come to the political process with
a basic, common sense of trying to get
things done," she said. "I believe in
individual rights and human rights ... in
a woman's right to choose."
The issues that have defined the race
are much like those in presidential cam-
paign: Medicare and Social Security
reform, tax cuts and prescription drug
benefits.
One of the major issues Abraham has
pushed throughout the campaign is his
version of the so-called "Social
Security lockbox."
"Right now the system is structured
in a way that the people in college ...
are not going to have any money left for
their benefits. And I've been up front
protecting that money they send to
Washington from being spent on other
programs. I'm the guy that wrote it and
it's in effect," he said.
Stabenow's bread-and-butter issue is
health care, specifically a Patient's Bill
of Rights.
"This is a fundamental issue of my
campaign for U.S. Senate. It clearly
demonstrates whose side I'm on and
whose side the junior senator is on,"
she said.
Stabenow's version of the bill would
allow doctors to have more say in treat-
ment options and restricts the limita-
tions insurance providers often place on
patients.
This handshake at the final debat
Spence Abraham last month was
. yAj J S- . K" i-"" ' .f fd:.'" { a ' 'f ...
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Spence
Abraham
Party:
Republican
Incumbent:
Yes
Occupation:
U.S. senator
Residence:
Auburn Hills
Debbie
Stabenow
Party:
Democrat
Incumbent:
No
Occupation:
U.S.
representative
Residence:
Lansing
_
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