By Billy House
Media General News Service
Media General News Service
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WASHINGTON -- Democrats are lining up for the chance to unseat freshman GOP Rep. Gus Bilirakis next fall.
To hear them talk, there's wide recognition in the Tampa Bay area that Bilirakis is ineffective in the 9th District Florida congressional seat he won last year after his father, Mike Bilirakis, decided to retire from the job.
The younger Bilirakis' job performance leaves him vulnerable, they insist, even if the congressman and some political experts inside the Washington Beltway don't necessarily see it that way.
“I think I've made a real impact,” responds Bilirakis, 44, of Palm Harbor, of his first year in office.
“He's a very nice guy,” offer two of those four Democrats.
But former Plant City Mayor John Dicks and William D. “Bill” Mitchell, a Tampa employment lawyer and Navy veteran, are quick to rattle off what they see as Bilirakis' shortcomings.
Bilirakis is wrong on the war, wrong on energy, wrong on health care for kids -- and too much of a rubber stamp for President Bush and Republican Party leaders in Congress, they say.
Dicks, 54, already has traveled to Washington, where he met with and received encouragement from Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. In that role, Van Hollen heads congressional Democrats' recruitment of candidates, to run against Republican incumbents or for open seats. Dicks also has hired local political strategist Ana Cruz and campaign finance specialist Joe Perry.
Meanwhile, Mitchell, 60, who lives in Carrollwood, already has retained the services of Sutter's Mill Fundraising & Strategy, a nationally recognized Democratic campaign fundraising and consulting firm based in Washington.
Two other Democrats have not so honed their messages at this early point in their campaigns. But they, too, want to represent the congressional district that takes in eastern Hillsborough County, northern parts of Pinellas County, including Clearwater, and the coast of Pasco County, including new Port Richey.
Anita de Palma, 66 , of Clearwater, who has just finished four terms as the Florida director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, says she is now in the process of filing candidacy papers with the Federal Election Commission. Her campaign will reflect her being the only woman and lone Hispanic in the race, she says.
And Michael van Hoek, 49, of Valrico, a paramedic and a member of the Hillsborough Democratic Club, explains he's running because of his recent “reawakening” to the need to return the House of Representatives to being “the people's house.”
Now an incumbent, Bilirakis enjoys a range of advantages over challengers that go beyond his family name.
Incumbents in Congress recorded a 91.3 percent re-election rate in 2006, down only slightly from the 97-98 percent range seen in recent years, according to the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University in Washington.
And despite the Republican difficulties last year, Bilirakis carried his race for his father's seat over Democrat Phyllis Busansky 56 percent to 44 percent, outspending the former member of the Hillsborough County Commission $2.6 million to $1.4 million.
Bilirakis recently has started using what amounts to a modern version of an incumbent's taxpayer-paid flyers or brochures – holding “tele-town halls” with constituents.
A message is left on the phones of thousands of district residents inviting them to dial-in to hear Bilirakis speak and even ask him questions. It's all paid for out of Bilirakis' congressional office budget.
Incumbents like Bilirakis also build up good will in their districts by securing special federal funding for favored projects at home. Though he is a freshman lawmaker, Bilirakis has already obtained a number of these items, including $136,000 for the Plant City Police Department for new crime-fighting computer equipment.
An incumbent also can grab media exposure through well-timed legislation or other congressional activities tied to the news of the day.
Bilirakis responded to the arrest of two foreign-born University of South Florida students from Egypt caught with explosives near a Navy installation in South Carolina with legislation that made news in both local and national news outlets. His bill would allow for tracking and more-thorough background checks on foreign students to block any with terrorist ties from participating in the U.S. student visa program.
Details of that legislation and other Bilirakis activities on the House committees on Foreign Affairs, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs also can be found on his “Online Office of Congressman Gus Bilirakis,” a taxpayer-funded Web site. That site is also home to “Bilirakis TV,” and a Bilirakis' blog.
Bilirakis says he hasn't even started focusing on fund-raising for a re-election campaign. Even so, his campaign committee's latest filings with the Federal Election Commission show that Bilirakis has already raised $337,462 in contributions since January, and has $268,719 in the bank.
Even without such incumbent advantages, Republicans running in the district already have edge, because their party tops Democrats in voter registration, 183,752 to 152,056.
But the four Democrats who hope to be the party's pick to run against Bilirakis believe he is vulnerable.
Both Dicks and Mitchell have been reminding people that Bilirakis was listed in a national ranking in early January as the second-least powerful members of the House (behind even the five non-voting delegates), 438th overall.
But Brad Fitch, the CEO of Fairfax-based Knowlegis, which operates the Web site (congress.org) that posted that ranking, said Bilirakis suffered from being an incoming freshman with no record yet to assess, and that the ranking was “like judging a baseball player before he's ever had a chance to bat.”
Fitch said updated rankings will be released in late January or early February -- and that lawmakers who have had success passing legislation and getting member items for their home districts will generally fare well.
House records show that Bilirakis has introduced at least 24 bills, resolutions and amendments last year, and has had two provisions he authored addressing public transportation and rail security incorporated into a larger bill signed into law. He's also had other legislative language of his adopted in House-pass measures.
Fitch doesn't know for sure, but predicted that Bilirakis will be headed to a higher ranking.
Dicks and Mitchell are correct that Bilirakis typically votes the same way his party leaders do. Voting data tracked by The Washington Post shows that Bilirakis voted in step with his party leaders 92.5 percent of the time in the more than 1,100 votes taken last year, while the average for other House Republicans was only 84.9 percent.
But by comparison, the area's other freshman member of the House, Tampa Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor, has voted with her party leaders 97.6 percent of the time. The average for Democrats is 92.5 percent.
In an interview, de Palma claimed that Bilirakis has missed a lot of House votes in his first year.
But a check of the vote-tracking data shows Bilirakis has missed just 11 votes out of 1,186, or 0.9 percent, less than the House average of 4.2 percent (or about 50 missed votes). By comparison, Castor has missed 33 votes, or 2.8 percent.
“I will be much better to speak on this (Bilirakis' record) in a week, or so,” rebounded de Palma. “What I do know is that there's a lot of disappointment being expressed by his constituents.”
If that's true, it has not been enough for political and experts such as David Wasserman, the U.S. House editor of The Cook Political Report, a non-partisan newsletter, to list Bilirakis' seat among the 22 now held by congressional Republicans he views as potentially in danger in 2008.
“And there's good reason for that,” said Wasserman.
“In 2006, Bilirakis posted an impressive victory in a (Democrat) targeted district when Republicans were doing terribly in other places,” Wasserman said.
“And it seems that constituents haven't missed a beat between the changeover from Mike to Gus Bilirakis.”
And Democrats tell Wasserman there are better opportunities to pick up seats in elsewhere in Florida.
Democratic resources are more likely to go into trying to unseat GOP Rep. Tom Feeney of Oviedo, who a House ethics panel found in January had taken part in a junket that violated House rules. The panel did not censure Feeney, who agreed to pay the government for the trip's cost.
Party resources are likely to be steered also at defending Democratic seats viewed as potentially vulnerable, such as the one now held by freshman Rep. Tim Mahoney of Venus.
And if veteran GOP Rep. C.W. Bill Young of Largo does not seek re-election -- Young hasn't yet said what he's doing -- winning that district also will be a top priority of both parties.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Southern regional spokeswoman, Kyra Jennings, said the committee has not formally endorsed any Democrat vying to run against Bilirakis.
But she did describe Dicks, the former Plant City mayor, as having “a base of support in the more-conservative area of the district and is building a strong early campaign.”
“Floridians have already grown tired of the ineffective representation and rubberstamp style Gus Bilirakis has shown in his first year in Congress,” Jennings said.
Reporter Billy House can be reached at bhouse@mediageneral.com.com or at (202) 662-7673.
To hear them talk, there's wide recognition in the Tampa Bay area that Bilirakis is ineffective in the 9th District Florida congressional seat he won last year after his father, Mike Bilirakis, decided to retire from the job.
The younger Bilirakis' job performance leaves him vulnerable, they insist, even if the congressman and some political experts inside the Washington Beltway don't necessarily see it that way.
“I think I've made a real impact,” responds Bilirakis, 44, of Palm Harbor, of his first year in office.
“He's a very nice guy,” offer two of those four Democrats.
But former Plant City Mayor John Dicks and William D. “Bill” Mitchell, a Tampa employment lawyer and Navy veteran, are quick to rattle off what they see as Bilirakis' shortcomings.
Bilirakis is wrong on the war, wrong on energy, wrong on health care for kids -- and too much of a rubber stamp for President Bush and Republican Party leaders in Congress, they say.
Dicks, 54, already has traveled to Washington, where he met with and received encouragement from Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. In that role, Van Hollen heads congressional Democrats' recruitment of candidates, to run against Republican incumbents or for open seats. Dicks also has hired local political strategist Ana Cruz and campaign finance specialist Joe Perry.
Meanwhile, Mitchell, 60, who lives in Carrollwood, already has retained the services of Sutter's Mill Fundraising & Strategy, a nationally recognized Democratic campaign fundraising and consulting firm based in Washington.
Two other Democrats have not so honed their messages at this early point in their campaigns. But they, too, want to represent the congressional district that takes in eastern Hillsborough County, northern parts of Pinellas County, including Clearwater, and the coast of Pasco County, including new Port Richey.
Anita de Palma, 66 , of Clearwater, who has just finished four terms as the Florida director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, says she is now in the process of filing candidacy papers with the Federal Election Commission. Her campaign will reflect her being the only woman and lone Hispanic in the race, she says.
And Michael van Hoek, 49, of Valrico, a paramedic and a member of the Hillsborough Democratic Club, explains he's running because of his recent “reawakening” to the need to return the House of Representatives to being “the people's house.”
Now an incumbent, Bilirakis enjoys a range of advantages over challengers that go beyond his family name.
Incumbents in Congress recorded a 91.3 percent re-election rate in 2006, down only slightly from the 97-98 percent range seen in recent years, according to the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University in Washington.
And despite the Republican difficulties last year, Bilirakis carried his race for his father's seat over Democrat Phyllis Busansky 56 percent to 44 percent, outspending the former member of the Hillsborough County Commission $2.6 million to $1.4 million.
Bilirakis recently has started using what amounts to a modern version of an incumbent's taxpayer-paid flyers or brochures – holding “tele-town halls” with constituents.
A message is left on the phones of thousands of district residents inviting them to dial-in to hear Bilirakis speak and even ask him questions. It's all paid for out of Bilirakis' congressional office budget.
Incumbents like Bilirakis also build up good will in their districts by securing special federal funding for favored projects at home. Though he is a freshman lawmaker, Bilirakis has already obtained a number of these items, including $136,000 for the Plant City Police Department for new crime-fighting computer equipment.
An incumbent also can grab media exposure through well-timed legislation or other congressional activities tied to the news of the day.
Bilirakis responded to the arrest of two foreign-born University of South Florida students from Egypt caught with explosives near a Navy installation in South Carolina with legislation that made news in both local and national news outlets. His bill would allow for tracking and more-thorough background checks on foreign students to block any with terrorist ties from participating in the U.S. student visa program.
Details of that legislation and other Bilirakis activities on the House committees on Foreign Affairs, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs also can be found on his “Online Office of Congressman Gus Bilirakis,” a taxpayer-funded Web site. That site is also home to “Bilirakis TV,” and a Bilirakis' blog.
Bilirakis says he hasn't even started focusing on fund-raising for a re-election campaign. Even so, his campaign committee's latest filings with the Federal Election Commission show that Bilirakis has already raised $337,462 in contributions since January, and has $268,719 in the bank.
Even without such incumbent advantages, Republicans running in the district already have edge, because their party tops Democrats in voter registration, 183,752 to 152,056.
But the four Democrats who hope to be the party's pick to run against Bilirakis believe he is vulnerable.
Both Dicks and Mitchell have been reminding people that Bilirakis was listed in a national ranking in early January as the second-least powerful members of the House (behind even the five non-voting delegates), 438th overall.
But Brad Fitch, the CEO of Fairfax-based Knowlegis, which operates the Web site (congress.org) that posted that ranking, said Bilirakis suffered from being an incoming freshman with no record yet to assess, and that the ranking was “like judging a baseball player before he's ever had a chance to bat.”
Fitch said updated rankings will be released in late January or early February -- and that lawmakers who have had success passing legislation and getting member items for their home districts will generally fare well.
House records show that Bilirakis has introduced at least 24 bills, resolutions and amendments last year, and has had two provisions he authored addressing public transportation and rail security incorporated into a larger bill signed into law. He's also had other legislative language of his adopted in House-pass measures.
Fitch doesn't know for sure, but predicted that Bilirakis will be headed to a higher ranking.
Dicks and Mitchell are correct that Bilirakis typically votes the same way his party leaders do. Voting data tracked by The Washington Post shows that Bilirakis voted in step with his party leaders 92.5 percent of the time in the more than 1,100 votes taken last year, while the average for other House Republicans was only 84.9 percent.
But by comparison, the area's other freshman member of the House, Tampa Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor, has voted with her party leaders 97.6 percent of the time. The average for Democrats is 92.5 percent.
In an interview, de Palma claimed that Bilirakis has missed a lot of House votes in his first year.
But a check of the vote-tracking data shows Bilirakis has missed just 11 votes out of 1,186, or 0.9 percent, less than the House average of 4.2 percent (or about 50 missed votes). By comparison, Castor has missed 33 votes, or 2.8 percent.
“I will be much better to speak on this (Bilirakis' record) in a week, or so,” rebounded de Palma. “What I do know is that there's a lot of disappointment being expressed by his constituents.”
If that's true, it has not been enough for political and experts such as David Wasserman, the U.S. House editor of The Cook Political Report, a non-partisan newsletter, to list Bilirakis' seat among the 22 now held by congressional Republicans he views as potentially in danger in 2008.
“And there's good reason for that,” said Wasserman.
“In 2006, Bilirakis posted an impressive victory in a (Democrat) targeted district when Republicans were doing terribly in other places,” Wasserman said.
“And it seems that constituents haven't missed a beat between the changeover from Mike to Gus Bilirakis.”
And Democrats tell Wasserman there are better opportunities to pick up seats in elsewhere in Florida.
Democratic resources are more likely to go into trying to unseat GOP Rep. Tom Feeney of Oviedo, who a House ethics panel found in January had taken part in a junket that violated House rules. The panel did not censure Feeney, who agreed to pay the government for the trip's cost.
Party resources are likely to be steered also at defending Democratic seats viewed as potentially vulnerable, such as the one now held by freshman Rep. Tim Mahoney of Venus.
And if veteran GOP Rep. C.W. Bill Young of Largo does not seek re-election -- Young hasn't yet said what he's doing -- winning that district also will be a top priority of both parties.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Southern regional spokeswoman, Kyra Jennings, said the committee has not formally endorsed any Democrat vying to run against Bilirakis.
But she did describe Dicks, the former Plant City mayor, as having “a base of support in the more-conservative area of the district and is building a strong early campaign.”
“Floridians have already grown tired of the ineffective representation and rubberstamp style Gus Bilirakis has shown in his first year in Congress,” Jennings said.
Reporter Billy House can be reached at bhouse@mediageneral.com.com or at (202) 662-7673.