Iraq Vet Loses House Bid

A Republican former state lawmaker has claimed a seat in Congress by narrowly defeating an Iraq war veteran who drew national attention to the race with his military service and a series of harsh attacks on President Bush.

But Democrats said they, too, had reason to celebrate, pointing to the close race as a sign of promise heading into next year's midterm elections.

With all precincts reporting, Jean Schmidt had 52 percent, or 57,974 votes, compared with Democrat Paul Hackett's 48 percent, or 54,401 votes. Schmidt's margin of victory amounted to about 3,500 votes out of more than 112,000 cast.

Democrats had viewed the race as a bellwether for 2006, saying even a strong showing by Hackett in such a heavily Republican district would give them a lift.

"There's no safe Republican district. You can run, but you cannot hide," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Schmidt, 53, will replace Republican Rob Portman, who stepped down this year after being named U.S. trade representative by Bush. Portman held the seat for 12 years, consistently winning with more than 70 percent of the vote in the Cincinnati-area district.

Hackett, 43, a lawyer and Marine reservist who recently completed a seven-month tour, was vying to become the first combat veteran of the Iraq war to serve in Congress.

"This was a success. We should all be proud," Hackett told cheering supporters. "The voters of the 2nd District won because we gave them a choice."

The impact of voter dissatisfaction with the Iraq war in the surprisingly close race was being debated by Republican and Democratic strategists, reports CBS News Senior Political Editor Dotty Lynch.

Carl Forti, communications director for the National Republican Campaign Committee said it played no role.

"Hackett never criticized President Bush or the war in his campaign in the district – just when he talked to the national media." In fact, Forti states that Hackett ran as a Republican and used positive images of President Bush in his final round of TV ads.

Hackett – who called the president a "chicken hawk for not going to Vietnam" and criticized the president's war policy and his "Bring 'em on" statement – admitted that he ran the positive image of the president praising military service.

"I want to win," he told The New York Times. The plainspoken vet told USA Today: "I've said that I don't like the son of a bitch that lives in the White House but I'd put my life on the line for him."

Democratic strategists said it was overall voter dissatisfaction that worked for Hackett.

"Voters were angry about things in general," said Bill Burton, communications director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The DCCC ran $200,000 of TV ads tying Schmitt to the scandals that have plagued the Republican Party in the state.

Democratic grassroots activists pumped significant money and resources into the district. Act Blue, a Democratic Internet bundling site, raised almost $500,000 for the Hackett campaign. Jim Dean, the brother of DNC Chair Howard Dean, campaigned actively for Hackett and wrote in a Democracy for America email that "unlike Republicans in Washington, Hackett has the experience to bring the war in Iraq to a swift and secure resolution."

And the Democratic National Committee today boasted that it sent 28 staffers to the district and sent organizing and fundraising emails on Hackett's behalf, including one that went to lists of Democrats Abroad who oppose the Bush foreign policy and his handling of Iraq. .

Republican Forti said the close race was basically a fluke of a low turnout special election and that in 2006 the district will be back to Republican as usual.

But the Democrats and their grassroots allies are energized and claim this is just the beginning of a big comeback in 2006. Democrats are still divided about how much to press the issue of Iraq specifically and say Hackett's military service may have made him uniquely able to criticize the policy.

In other races Tuesday, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and former deputy mayor Freman Hendrix emerged from a 12-candidate mayoral primary to advance to November's general election. With 95 percent of the precincts reporting, Hendrix had 44 percent of the vote and Kilpatrick had 34 percent — easily outdistancing their rivals.

In another race in Detroit, Motown legend Martha Reeves was one of 18 City Council candidates to advance to the general election. Reeves, 64, was the lead singer of Martha and the Vandellas and had hit singles that included "Dancing in the Street," "Jimmy Mack" and "Nowhere to Run."