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Plans unseat moran { May 15 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57065-2003May14.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57065-2003May14.html
Hanley Plans Bid To Unseat Moran
By Lisa Rein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 15, 2003; Page B01
Katherine K. Hanley, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, said yesterday that she will challenge fellow Democrat James P. Moran Jr. in Virginia's 8th Congressional District primary next year.
Hanley said she has received "enormously positive feedback" in the two months she has been considering a race against Moran, who this year angered some constituents with remarks that Jews were pushing the nation into a war with Iraq.
"Part of the feedback I've gotten is that many citizens in the 8th District want a representative who can bring people together rather than divide people by groups," said Hanley, 60.
Hers is the first official entry in a campaign to oust the seven-term congressman from his strongly Democratic district of Alexandria, Arlington County and parts of Fairfax.
Hanley, who is finishing her second four-year term as chairman, announced in March that she would not seek reelection, opening the door to a run for Congress. A 20-year veteran of county politics and regional affairs, she could give Moran, 58, his strongest and most expensive challenge to date.
Redistricting two years ago extended the 8th District west into Fairfax, Hanley's home base. Moran lives in Alexandria.
Hanley announced her run yesterday with a few phone calls rather than holding the usual campaign kickoff.
"That will come later," she said. "I don't want to detract from the [local and state] races that are so important in Northern Virginia right now." A new Fairfax board and state legislature will be elected in November, and many Democrats -- including Hanley's good friend Supervisor Gerald E. Connolly (D-Providence), who is looking to succeed her -- face challenges from anti-tax Republicans.
Hanley has hired as her campaign manager Will Drake, political director of the South Carolina Democratic Party.
At least two other Democrats are considering challenging Moran: state Sen. Leslie L. Byrne, who is a former congresswoman, and Washington lawyer Jeremy Bash.
Moran, who has said he intends to seek an eighth term, declined to comment on yesterday's announcement, but his spokesman, Dan Drummond, said the congressman "looks forward to a lively discourse with Mrs. Hanley." With the Democratic primary 13 months away, Drummond called Hanley's announcement "premature" given that "there are other races in the region and throughout the state."
Moran is considered vulnerable by some political analysts, not just because of his recent comments about Jews and the war but also because of allegations of conflict of interest over campaign loans and other matters.
Byrne, 56, who formed an exploratory committee in March, said yesterday that she is "moving forward" on an official campaign. "This isn't about Kate or me. It's about having a change in the 8th District," she said.
Hanley said she filed papers this week with the Federal Election Commission to form a campaign committee. She said she has about $70,000 in her supervisor's campaign treasury that she will have to give to other candidates or return to donors.
Hanley said her service as a local and regional leader makes her an ideal candidate for federal office, where she could work for funding for projects she has championed such as a rail line to Tysons Corner and Dulles International Airport. She also claims familiarity with some federal issues such as homeland security. And she said her roots as a former teacher and School Board member make her a good advocate for President Bush's No Child Left Behind program. "We don't want to turn it into an unfunded federal mandate," she said.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
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