06/19/02STAN BAILEY
News staff writer
SELMA U.S. Rep. Earl Hilliard and supporters, some from outside Alabama, came to the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge here Tuesday to criticize out-of-state contributions to his runoff opponent, Artur Davis.
"Someone is trying to steal our birthright," said the Rev. Walter Fauntroy, who helped organize the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march in 1965.
"We have a right to elect officials who are neither bossed nor bought, and we are here to protect that right. Money doesn't vote. People vote. And there are some who have sent money by the hundreds of thousands to this district, to elect somebody of their choice. It's not right."
Davis called the accusations hypocritical and an insult to voters in the 7th District, Alabama's only majority-black district.
"To suggest that one black candidate does not stand in the same tradition as other black candidates is offensive," Davis said. "Their efforts to divide this district along racial and religious lines are unacceptable. And the voters will reject it."
The runoff is Tuesday.
Hilliard and Davis have raised nearly equal amounts for the primary, according to Federal Election Commission reports. As of June 5, Hilliard had received $511,058, excluding loans. Davis generated $518,746.
Davis not surprised:
An examination of the contributions showed both candidates drew a majority of their donations from out-of-state. Of the $451,852 itemized for Hilliard, 86.64 percent from out of state. Of the $481,632 itemized for Davis, 77.39 percent came from out of state.
Asked about his own considerable contributions from people outside Alabama, Hilliard said, "About 87 percent of the money that I received came from political action committees, like teachers unions. About 92 percent of my opponent's money came from individuals. And that's the main distinction, because when you vote generally for unions or vote for organizations, it's an issue vote. But when you take money from individuals, then that is an acceptance of their views more than less."
State Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, chairman of the Alabama New South Coalition, held the news conference near a monument to 1965 march leader Hosea Williams.
"People in New York, people in New Jersey, people in California are simply trying to buy this district," said Sanders. "That's just completely unacceptable. We worked too hard. We already paid for it. We paid for it with sweat. We paid for it with blood. We paid for it with sacrifice. So it's not going to be bought with money if we have anything to do with it at all."
Hilliard said a pro-Israel political action committee, an organization of American Jews, is supporting Davis. Sanders said much of the group's opposition to Hilliard stems from his visit to Libya.
"He went to visit a Moslem country in Africa, and they said, `Well, since he did that, we need to get rid of him.' I don't want Jews, I don't want whites, I don't want anybody telling me that I can't visit any country I want in Africa," said Sanders. "There's something wrong with that."
Sanders said hundreds of sizable donations have been made to Davis' campaign, indicating "an organized effort by a limited number of people to be able to determine who the congressperson will be."
"This is an effort I have not seen in my lifetime, where a group of individuals in other states organized in this fashion to try to determine who the congress person is going to be," said Sanders. "We simply have to use everything in our means to repel that."
Davis said he was not surprised by the tone and tenor of the attacks.
"It is the old line political machine trying to rally one last time," he said. "It won't work."