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Congress: New Faces of 1992
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20558 |
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CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
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11 / 1992 |
2,726 Words |
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John Gizzi
John Gizzi writes on Congress for Human Events. |
The vast change and probability of new faces in Congress mark 1992 as an election year that will be studied and analyzed for many years to come. Played out against tumultuous economic times and an equally tumultuous presidential election, the "prizes" behind the various political curtains this fall are indeed worthy of competition: 35 U.S. Senate seats (7 of which are open, most of which are highly competitive) and 435 U.S. House seats (a century-high 85 of which have become open due to retirement of incumbents or their ouster in primaries).
To make an analogy, one must go back to 1946, the last big year of change in congressional elections. With 19 incumbent House members beaten in primaries and the largest in primaries and the largest number of sitting lawmakers turned out of both houses of Congress in this century, the November returns of that year resulted in Republicans taking control of Congress from the Democrats for the first time since 1930.
Already, the 1992 primaries have seen 19 House members turned out, along with one U.S. senator. Moreover, seven Senate seats and 85 House seats are open--making 1992 far more competitive than its counterpart of 46 years ago.
And newsworthy candidates? "Campaign '92" is chock-full of them. For example, competing for seats in a Senate that is presently all white, blacks have won major party standards in two states, and, thanks to reapportionment and the Voting Rights Act, the creation of many new "majority-minority" districts is sure to swell the ranks of the 22-member Congressional Black Caucus dramatically.
Similarly, the 10 Hispanic House members will likely have their ranks double, and, in this "Year of the Woman," no less than 11 U.S. Senate nominations (10 Democratic and 1 Republican) are held by female candidates.
Other likely, very watchable lawmakers-to-be include the first Korean American to serve in the House (Republican Jay Kim of California), the nephew of Fidel Castro (Florida Republican Lincoln Diaz-Balart, outspoken enemy of his tyrant-uncle), and the sons of such bright political lights of bygone years a Alabama's George Wallance and 1964 Republican vice presidential nominee William "Mr. American Express" Miller of New York.
Flair and notoriety notwithstanding, the most important query one can now make about the 103rd Congress is, Who will be in charge? Will Republicans
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