Return S.D. Congressional Delegation to Washington

San Diego County’s congressional delegation has had the same faces for the past four years, and there is nothing in the political climate to indicate change is coming this year.

With Reps. Duncan Hunter and Bill Lowery in office for three terms and Reps. Ron Packard and Jim Bates each concluding their second, the county’s delegation cannot be considered a powerhouse. None of the local congressmen has burst through to become a major player in fashioning national legislation; none has yet shown the potential for playing an important role in the leadership of the House.

But because all are relatively young, and because the voter registration advantage their parties enjoy in their districts discourages potentially strong opposition, all could be in Congress for many more years.

Looking at this year’s crop of challengers, we see none to favor over the incumbents and therefore recommend the reelection of Lowery, Packard, Bates and Hunter.

In the 41st Congressional District, which runs from Del Mar down to Point Loma, Republican Lowery meets Democrat Dan Kripke in the November election. Kripke is a psychiatrist and expert in the field of sleep disorders who ran unsuccessfully for the state Senate in 1982. His campaign approach has been to attack Lowery on everything from having his campaign headquarters over a pornographic movie theater to being declared physically unfit for military service during the Vietnam War.

The one Kripke charge with substance has to do with Lowery’s use of a San Diego condominium owned by Jet Air Inc., whose president, George T. Straza, pleaded guilty in 1984 to making false statements to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in connection with a contract to manufacture parts for the space shuttle. In August, Straza was named in a 17-count indictment in connection with Air Force contracts.

Lowery, who interceded with federal officials on behalf of Jet Air after Straza’s guilty plea, used Jet Air’s Shelter Island condominium on trips to the district. Although Lowery paid for the use, it’s arguable whether he paid full value, and he did not show good judgment in staying there.

Lowery is no major force in the House of Representatives, but he did play a leadership role earlier this year in building congressional support for a moratorium on oil drilling off the Southern California coast and worked to secure federal funding for the extension of the San Diego Trolley.

In the 43nd Congressional District, which includes most of North County and part of southwest Orange County, Packard, also a Republican, faces opposition from Democrat Joe Chirra, an attorney, and Libertarian Phyllis Avery, a political researcher. Although Packard’s record in Washington has been quite modest, neither of his opponents has the political experience or has mounted the kind of campaign that will threaten the former dentist and mayor of Carlsbad.

Packard’s most significant contribution so far may be his work on the six-member panel named to investigate the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger and to make recommendations for future manned space flights.

The 44th Congressional District may be experiencing the best race of the four, with former City Councilman Bill Mitchell, a Republican, challenging incumbent Democrat Bates.

Libertarian Dennis Thompson, president of a computer time-sharing company, and Peace and Freedom Party candidate Shirley Isaacson, who lives in Los Angeles, are also on the ballot.

Of all the congressional challengers, Mitchell, who lost his council seat last fall after two terms, has the best name identification. But he has taken the low road in his campaign, sparring with Bates over lie detector and urine tests, and accusing him of being soft on national defense and drug abuse.

But Bates, who has worked to bring federal funds for the San Diego Trolley and for a defensive sewage project along the border, should be returned for a third term representing the solidly Democratic district.

Of the four incumbents, Republican Duncan Hunter in the 45th Congressional District may have the best chance to play a significant role on national issues.

His profile in Washington grew considerably last summer when he introduced legislation that would have ordered the Defense Department to stop drug trafficking along the Mexican border in 45 days.

Much to the surprise of many--and the dismay of the Pentagon--the legislation passed the House overwhelmingly. Although the military aspect was later stripped from the bill, a Hunter amendment requiring mandatory sentences for some drug offenses remained in.

Hunter also played the lead role in securing initial federal funding for a defensive system of pumps and pipelines to keep Tijuana sewage from flowing north across the border.

Hunter is challenged for reelection by Democrat Hewitt Ryan, a physician, and Libertarian Lee Schwartz, an engineering consultant.