Lawless Calls for 'Change' in U.S. House Bid

WESTERLY - Nearly 10 months before the state's Democratic primary, one candidate's fight to represent Rhode Island's Second Congressional District is well underway.

Her name is Jennifer Lawless, and she'd like to you to know what she stands for.

Promising "A Wave of Change for the Ocean State" in her bid to unseat incumbent Rep. James R. Langevin next fall, the 30-year-old Democrat announced her candidacy in June at the Community College of Rhode Island. She is an assistant professor of political science at Brown University and a resident of Cranston.

"People are ready for change," Lawless said during a recent campaign interview at The Sun. "They like the idea of someone new running, a new face ... It's definitely going to be an uphill battle, but the stakes are really high. It's a race that's ultimately winnable."

Lawless - who walked the streets of Westerly during last month's Veteran's Day parade - said she is "pounding the pavement" in her grassroots effort to build name recognition before Langevin's reelection campaign begins next year. Langevin's dipping approval rating among Rhode Islanders could be a boon to her own election effort, she said.

According to a Brown University statewide poll conducted in June 2005, only 48 percent of 470 voters polled said Langevin was going a "good" job. Seventeen percent said he was doing a "fair" job, while 5 percent rated his performance as "poor."

"He has a responsibility to be an outspoken advocate," Lawless said. "I've been talking to people about all the issues, and they don't know what he stands for. They don't know how he voted."

Among the issues Lawless is raising in her campaign: education, the economy, health care and reproductive freedom. On education, Lawless pointed to statistics indicating that one in four Rhode Islanders fail to graduate from high school, while the majority of public school students - particularly those in fourth grade - are performing below the national average in reading and math. "We need a system where kids can read at the end of the day," she said.

On health care, Lawless noted that 11 percent of children living in poverty in the state do not receive Medicaid, even though they are eligible. She would work hard to ensure that all Rhode Islanders have access to affordable heath care if elected, she said.

And on the issue of abortion, Lawless said she would also promote comprehensive sex education programs and oppose any policy that endangers a woman's health, life or freedom.

"He (Langevin) has voted 26 times against (a woman's) right to choose," she said. "...Democrats have a responsibility to stand up for Democratic principals."

Lawless is currently endorsed by the National Women's Political Caucus, the Women's Campaign Fund and the Women Under Forty political action committee.

A critic of the Bush Administration's Iraq policy, Lawless said she opposed Congress's decision authorizing the president to invade the sovereign state. The executive branch should focus its efforts on reducing troop numbers and accelerating the pace of training for Iraqi troops, while doubling the reconstruction effort, she said.

"It was a mistake to go to war...but we need to do what's best for the American and Iraqi people," Lawless said. Langevin expressed similar statements this week.

"The administration needs to outline strategies for non-military action in tandem with strategies for brining our troops home," he said in a prepared statement. "...For Iraq to become stable, the Iraqi government must be able to provide the needs of its people, whether they be security, a legitimate judicial system, reliable utilities, health care or education."

Despite their shared stance, Lawless said Langevin has been successful in previous contests because there has not been adequate electoral competition.

In 2004, Langevin defeated John D. Hamilton in the party primary and swept Republican candidate Chuck C. Barton by more than 106,000 votes. Two years earlier, Langevin ran unopposed in the primary and defeated Republican candidate John O. Matson on Election Day by more than 91,000 votes.

In 2000, Langevin - who was then Rhode Island's secretary of state - faced four Democratic contenders in the primary and won the with only 46.7 percent of the 47,360 ballots cast. He went on to defeat independent candidate Rodney D. Driver and Republican Robert G. Tingle by a relatively wide margin.

Lawless also called Langevin's voting record "incongruent" with the will of the electorate.

"Is he really a Democrat?" she said. "When you look at a lot of issues, it isn't clear. When it's time to debate, Democrats and (unaffiliated) voters will ... realize he's not what they think he is. People are tired of career politicians. They want new ideas."

Lawless criticized the 41-year-old incumbent for voting against Democrat-sponsored amendments to House budget bills on March 17, 2004 and March 21, 2005. She also alleged that the incumbent sided with Republicans in their efforts to take the Terry Schiavo case out of Federal court and keep the now-deceased woman's feeding tube in against the wishes of her family.

Langevin's spokeswoman Joy Fox said this week that although Langevin voted against the March 21 budget amendment with 67 other Democrats, he later voted with Democrats on a final, party alternative.

"He did vote no on the two amendments, but in the end he supported the official Democratic amendment," Fox said. "I'm not sure she (Lawless) really understands the process. I think it's an unfair characterization to say he voted against the party."

The situation was the same in 2004, Fox said, when Langevin voted against a particular Democratic-sponsored amendment, but later voted on a final version with 82 other House Democrats.

Fox also said Lengevin - who is pro-life - voted to support further judicial review of the case in Federal courts, and did not take a position on whether Schiavo's feeding tube should have been removed.

"The Congressman believes in separation of powers, and that the case should not set a precedent in the future," she said. "Again, I'm not sure what angle she (Lawless) is coming at. The things she is choosing to raise questions about are a little more complicated than whether he voted against Democrats."

This article, written by Chris Keegan, appeared on December 10, 2005, in The Westerly Sun.