OPEN CONTESTS

October 4, 1998
	Some of the most hotly contested congressional elections involve open seats, where an incumbent is not running for re-election. Correspondent Lee Hochberg reports on Democratic efforts to gain a House seat in Washington state and the Republican campaign to win a long-held Democratic district in Indiana.

Oct. 4, 1998: Election '98: The National Report Oct. 4, 1998: How impeachment is impacting two races. Oct. 4, 1998: A full report and debate on the politics of impeachment. Oct. 4, 1998: How will the budget and other issues impact Election '98? Oct. 4, 1998: A conversation between voters in Denver and Members of Congess.	LEE HOCHBERG: Amidst the marching bands and Cub Scouts at last week's Pumpkin Festival in Versailles, Indiana, a battle was playing out for the future direction of the U.S. Congress. The ninth district congressional seat, held 34 years by a moderate Democrat, is up for grabs. The ninth is a rural district, historically Democratic but culturally conservative. President Clinton was only able to tie his Republican opponents here in '92 and '96, and Republican strategists see an opportunity to pick up a seat. Republican candidate Jean Leising has tried twice before to win this seat. This time, she's energizing her conservative base by hammering key Republican issues like smaller government, the death penalty, and opposition to abortion..
	Congressional race in Indiana.
	JEAN LEISING, Republican candidate: This district has a very, very strong position on the whole right to life issue. In addition, you know, of course, I've been a strong defender of the right to bear arms - again, big rural district -- lots of hunters. BARON HILL, Democratic candidate: But I've been hearing about Social Security a great deal. LEE HOCHBERG: Polls show that her Democratic opponent, Baron Hill, has some catching up to do. Ten days ago, he completed a 400-mile walk through the district. He says the future of Social Security is an important issue to Democrats he met, and he talks about it to energize them. BARON HILL: And for the first time in thirty years we have a budget surplus and we need to fix Social Security once and for all. We have an historic opportunity, ladies and gentlemen. (applause) LEE HOCHBERG: So far, the campaign hasn't been a negative one, but Hill is concerned about a tone he says Democrats and Republicans have set in Washington, DC, over reaction to President Clinton's troubles.
	BARON HILL: If there's honest differences between people in public life, that's fair game. I think it's healthy for the country to talk about issues where we have differences on them. But it just seems to me like the value system in Washington is 'let's create, deliberately create conflict so that we can get one up on somebody else,' and that doesn't serve anybody but the politicians. LEE HOCHBERG: Republican Leising says she not looking to create conflict or be negative. But she does think that what's going on in Washington -- the president's involvement with Monica Lewinsky -- will encourage people to vote Republican. JEAN LEISING: They're going to make sure that their spouses, and their kids, and their friend, and the people they go to church with go to the polls. Nobody is standing out and speaking loudly against the president, other than gee, it would be better for everyone if he resigned and we could move forward. But I think that the reality is one of the ways people can speak -- and they can do it in a very quiet way -- is by going to the polls.
	Congressional race in Washington state.
	LEE HOCHBERG: Two thousand miles to the West, the race for Washington State's third Congressional district seat is also hotly contested by two people with very different ideologies. It's another open seat, and both national parties have targeted it as a key race. BRIAN BAIRD, Democratic candidate: We're going to win. We're going to win. LEE HOCHBERG: Democratic candidate Brian Baird ran for the seat two years ago and barely lost to Republican incumbent Linda Smith. Smith's running for the Senate now, and Democrats hope to capture the seat. Baird's stump speech targets suburban voters with a pro-environment message. He targets loggers by proposing to make college loans available to help retrain them. BRIAN BAIRD: Do you know that part-time students are not eligible for student loans? So a working person who wants to go back and get some skills to improve his or her job and get higher wages and salaries for their family, they don't have access to student loans. LEE HOCHBERG: His words resonate with Democrats at this district gathering, who say they've heard too much about President Clinton's troubles and not enough about local needs
	KAYLEE MILOSEVICH: It impresses me that he's concentrating and keeping his mind on what the people of Southwest Washington need and want. And, I mean, Washington, DC, is 3,000 miles away, you know? LEE HOCHBERG: Baird's Republican opponent is Don Benton, a Washington state legislator. Within minutes of winning the Republican nomination, he began painting a picture of Baird that he hopes will motivate conservative voters to go to the polls. DON BENTON, Republican candidate: Brian Baird is the worst possible pick for the 3rd district. We're going to expose him for the extremist environmentalist, liberal that he is. LEE HOCHBERG: Benton's campaign appeals to Republican core voters with issues like private property rights and smaller government. DON BENTON: The primary issue is taxation and overregulation and government intrusion in peoples' lives. The people I talk to throughout the district are just being crushed by the tax burden. LEE HOCHBERG: The candidates split over core issues like gun control and abortion rights, and are divided on impeachment. With two very different candidates speaking, it's unclear if the people of the district are listening. At the Farmers Market this month in Vancouver, Washington, few shoppers we talked to knew of either candidate. And several said the controversy in the other Washington has left them disaffected from politics, national or local. NORMAN KRASNE: I don't even know if I'm going to even vote. And that's never happened. I've never abstained from any elections, but it's just getting to be a joke, the whole thing. LEE HOCHBERG: Democrat Baird hopes a media campaign, focused on local issues, will energize Democrats, but he is concerned about the disaffection and possible reduced turnout. Republican campaign finance manager Tim Atteberry is counting on that low turnout to elect his candidate. TIM ATTEBERY, Republican finance manager: I think you're going to see the Democrats demoralized by the Lewinsky situation which will lower turnout and will, in turn, help our candidates up and down the ticket. LEE HOCHBERG: In the remaining weeks before the election both sides will try to make their predictions come true.

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