2002 elections - What do they mean for you?

By Michelle Artz and Sheila M. Roit, MPP, RN

The upcoming election is a critical one for nurses. On August 1, nurses achieved a legislative victory when the "Nurse Reinvestment Act" (NRA) was signed into law. Its passage was the result of strong lobbying on the part of ANA and individual nurses. However, the success of this legislation was equally the result of nurse-friendly legislators having been elected to office and having fulfilled their campaign promises by focusing on the concerns of their nurse constituents.

While the NRA is now law, it still needs funding. This is why the upcoming elections are crucial for nurses. It's important that more nurse-friendly candidates be elected to Congress to ensure that the NRA be funded appropriately and that other pressing concerns of the nursing profession, such as mandatory overtime, be addressed.

What is unclear is how the events of the past year will impact the upcoming elections. Polling, particularly the "right direction/wrong track" polling, is beginning to indicate that the playing field may shift in favor of the Democratic Party.

Specifically, while the Ipsos-Reid/Cook Political Report in January 2002 revealed that 68 percent of those polled said the country was going in the right direction with 29 percent saying it was on the wrong track, the August 2002 poll showed that only 47 percent felt that the country was going in the right direction with 47 percent saying it was on the wrong track.

These polls could be indicative of a shift in control over the U.S. House of Representatives, currently controlled by the Republicans, and a strengthening of control for the Democrats in the Senate, who currently have a one-person margin.

In the Senate, there are eight races that have no clear front-runners and bear watching over the next month. They are in Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Texas. ANA-PAC has endorsed candidates in four of these races.

* In Arkansas, incumbent Tim Hutchinson (R), one of the Senate sponsors of the "Nurse Reinvestment Act," faces stiff competition from Attorney General Mark Pryor, son of former Sen. David Pryor who previously held the seat.

* Colorado will see a re-match of incumbent Wayne Allard (R) and Tom Strickland (D). Both Allard and Strickland are accusing each other through negative attack ads of taking money from Qwest and Global Crossings, companies caught up in the scrutiny on accounting irregularities.

* In New Jersey, Sen. Bob Torricelli (D) is in a tight race with wealthy businessman Doug Forrester (R). Torricelli's recent formal rebuke by the Senate Ethics Committee may have hurt his campaign, but the damage is reparable. He is a prolific fundraiser and is expected to saturate the air waves in October.

* Texas has an open seat and there is no front-runner.

* ANA-PAC has endorsed Sen. Paul Wellstone (D) of Minnesota. In his first election, Wellstone made a pledge that he would serve no more than 12 years. Since then, he has risen to power within the party and the Senate, and last fall, announced he would go back on his pledge and run for re-election. He faces the former mayor of St. Paul in a very tight race. He was endorsed because of his good relationship with the Minnesota Nurses Association and because he recently held field hearings on the nursing shortage.

* ANA-PAC has endorsed Sen. Jean Carnahan (D) of Missouri, who was appointed in 2000 after her husband won the election posthumously. Gov. Mel Carnahan and their son were killed in a plane crash weeks before the general election. While there is still a "sympathy vote" for Carnahan, the current race will be the first to be won or lost on her record and her ability as a campaigner. ANA-PAC is endorsing her based on her past work. During her tenure as first lady of Missouri, she advocated for childhood immunization and created an annual arts festival for children. She was the co-founder of Children in the Workplace, a project to develop employer-supported, onsite day care centers for working families. She also frequently spoke on behalf of victims of domestic violence and for those who struggle with cancer, osteoporosis, mental health and drug problems. She raised funds for the Rape and Abuse Crisis Center and helped build homes for Habitat for Humanity.

* ANA-PAC has endorsed New Hampshire's Gov. Jeanne Shaheen who will face the winner of the Republican primary. Gov. Shaheen has been very supportive of nursing issues, and acted in June to allow certified registered nurse anesthetists in New Hampshire to administer anesthesia without direct physician supervision.

* ANA-PAC and the South Dakota Nurses Association are supporting Sen. Tim Johnson (D) in his race against U.S. Rep. John Thune (R). While ANA-PAC has endorsed both candidates in the past, it chose Johnson in the current race because his record on nursing issues is superior to Thune's record. Rep. Thune has not cosponsored any ANA legislation and has voted consistently against ANA positions on ergonomics and the patients' bill of rights.

To find out who else has been endorsed by ANA-PAC or to learn how you might help with a campaign, contact Sheila M. Roit, MPP, RN, at (202) 651-7090 or sroit@ana.org.

Michelle Artz and Sheila M. Roit are political action specialists in ANA's Department of Government Affairs.