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Campaign Is Tale Of 2 Battles

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By BILLY HOUSE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 24, 2008

Updated: 05/24/2008 12:22 am

WASHINGTON - For Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, this year is about two races.

One is her bid to be re-elected as the representative from Florida's 5th Congressional District for a fourth, two-year term.

The other involves her husband, Harvey, and his battle with cancer, in what may be their race as a couple against time.

Taken together, Brown-Waite's life has become an emotional tug-of-war, pitting her duties in Washington and on the campaign stump against her desire to just stay close by her husband, helping him with his medical problems.

How has she been dealing with this tough balancing act?

"Initially, with some guilt," confesses Brown-Waite.

The prognosis for Harvey Waite, a 68-year-old former New York state trooper, is not good.

"He has pancreatic cancer. It is stage IV - the highest," the Brooksville Republican confides, only when pressed about her husband's condition during an interview.

That means "it has metastasized into another organ," she says, in a more-hushed tone.

Yet, Brown-Waite, 64, continues from all outward signs to diligently perform her role this year as the congresswoman from a geographically huge district that includes all of Hernando, Citrus and Sumter counties and parts of Pasco, Polk, Lake, Levy and Marion counties.

She also has been making campaign appearances at public events in her district, in addition to appearing before certain groups, including local Republican committees.

Although reticent to talk to the media about her husband's condition, she sometimes mentions it at these events.

Brown-Waite says: "I do thank people for praying for my husband."

"A lot of people know what he has, because he is receiving treatment locally. And, you know, the 'chemo club' as they're called, know who he is," she said.

National political analysts say they can recall few similar situations.

Most recently, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards revealed in March 2007 that his wife, Elizabeth, was battling a treatable but incurable recurrence of cancer. Still, with her blessing, Edwards pressed his second bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, until dropping out early this year.

Sen. Robert Byrd, a Democrat from West Virginia, ran for re-election in 2006 at a time when his wife of 69 years, Erma, was fighting a long illness. She died March 25 of that year, before voters went to the polls that November.

'I Want You To Win'

"Brown-Waite and her husband were married in 1978, but have known each other since high school in the Albany, N.Y., area. In describing her family, the lawmaker tells people she and Harvey have an adopted daughter, and two biological adult daughters from her first marriage, one of whom is a critical care nurse living in Spring Hill.

The idea of Brown-Waite not running for re-election this year was something she and Harvey discussed.

"We talked about it, and I said to him, 'I'm thinking of not running,'" she said.

But she said Harvey told her "absolutely not" to do that.

"'I want you to run. I want you to win,' he said, 'almost as much as I want to beat this cancer,'" Brown-Waite said.

She said she told him: "I'll run if you fight hard to beat the cancer."

And he is fighting hard, she said.

For Brown-Waite, there have been some absences from Washington. But not so many.

She has missed 103 House roll-call votes since the January 2007 start of this two-year congressional session, out of 1,420 cast in the House through May 7. That's 6.8 percent, above the 4.6 percent average for all House members.

Of her missed roll-call votes, 66 have occurred since the last week in February, when her husband's cancer was diagnosed. But most of her missed votes have been on procedural matters or feel-good resolutions.

And dozens of her House colleagues have missed more votes this session, according to Congresswide comparisons and data tracked by The Washington Post.

Congress Has Kept Her Busy

Voting is only one part of being a member of Congress.

Brown-Waite was a lead Republican sponsor of a bill to update veterans' education benefits, and a sponsor of legislation to strip some funding from states and localities that ban cooperation with federal authorities in apprehending undocumented immigrants.

When the Democratic-led House last fall passed a national disaster catastrophic insurance fund bill, Brown-Waite was credited for her key bipartisan work.

Brown-Waite has also sparked her share of unwanted controversy.

Her assertion in a news release in January that Puerto Ricans and residents of Guam should not get federal rebate checks because they are "foreign citizens" angered Democrats and others. Her office later said she meant "territorial citizens," but foes held a protest rally, and accused her of anti-Hispanic leanings, which she denies.

Residents of Puerto Rico and Guam pay Social Security taxes and other federal levies, though not federal income taxes.

Political opponents by then had already been suggesting that Brown-Waite might be vulnerable to defeat this year.

Much of this stemmed from dire predictions in Washington - including from Republicans themselves - that the party generally is headed for a tough time coming off of its loss of the House majority in 2006, and a deep antipathy toward the president, the war, gas prices, foreclosures and the economy.

Despite talk that at least two strong would-be candidates were considering a challenge to Brown-Waite, none ever emerged.

As a result, Dade City Democrat John Russell - who has already run for the seat twice - filed at the last moment to run again.

The 52-year-old licensed nurse practitioner got 40 percent of the vote against Brown-Waite in 2006. Two years earlier, Russell came in second in the Democratic primary.

Also running as Democrats are perennial-candidates-for-public-office "Grandma" Carol Castegnero, 69, a retired teacher and Lakeland resident, and H. David Werder, 53, a disabled truck driver from Spring Hill.

There's also a challenger from Brown-Waite's own party, retired professor Jim King, 53, of Land O' Lakes.

Her Reputation Is Moderate

But nonpartisan political analysts see none of these hopefuls as serious contenders.

"Ginny Brown-Waite, politically, does not have a crack in her armor," said David Wasserman, an expert on U.S. House elections with the Cook Political Report.

Wasserman explained that Brown-Waite's district is not only solidly Republican, but she also has developed a reputation on Capitol Hill as "more of a consensus builder and a leader of moderate Republicans than a partisan hack."

"At this point, Democrats have far better opportunities in Florida," Wasserman said.

As for her GOP primary challenger, Wasserman said King must overcome Brown-Waite's advantages of incumbency - including name recognition - "and that is not likely to occur before August" when the primary is held.

Nonetheless, King and Russell say they will focus on issues in their campaigns.

Russell lashes out at Brown-Waite for, he says, supporting "all of the Republican policies that have put us in this economic box."

King said he will stress such things as her support of energy policies that, he says, have driven up gasoline prices.

He also said Brown-Waite and all of her colleagues in Congress need to spend more time in Washington because "they have a moral and ethical and constitutional responsibility to find a resolution" to the war.

King and Russell disagree on whether Brown-Waite's husband's illness, and how she is handling it, should be a campaign topic.

"I feel bad for her," King said.

But King also said that he's not going to allow Brown-Waite to go unchallenged if she persists on raising her husband's illness on the stump "as part of her re-election campaign."

"I think she needs to be by his side," King said. "You can't serve two masters. Either you accept family values, and support morally and physically your spouse, or you don't."

Russell said he wouldn't think of raising Harvey Waite's illness.

Brown-Waite said she isn't worried about opponents questioning how she is handling congressional duties, such as showing up to vote.

"I do know that people understand when there's a family emergency," she said.

Through it all, Brown-Waite says she's been promised that she will be told "when it's absolutely imperative that I be there with him."

For now, she said, Harvey is still getting around.

In fact, he went this past week with her to a gathering of a group of retired police officers, "and everybody of course was delighted to see him," she said.

Reporter Billy House can be reached at bhouse@tampatrib.com or (202) 662-7673.

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