Five-term congressman ousted in Alabama

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., June 26 (UPI) -- Local politics became international in Alabama Tuesday, with five-term U.S. Rep. Earl Hilliard losing a Democratic Party runoff to a candidate who received an infusion of donations from pro-Israel lobbies.

Artur Davis, a former federal prosecutor, defeated Hilliard by about 12 percent of the vote in the runoff. While there will be an election for the Congressional seat in November, Davis is assured of winning since there is no Republican candidate on the ballot. Davis pulled in about 56 percent of the vote Tuesday, while Hilliard took in 44 percent.

Some Jewish groups believed that Hilliard, who calls his approach to the Middle East "balanced," espoused a pro-Arab stance and so donated heavily to the Davis campaign. As a result, Davis had more money to work with, even though Arab-Americans responded with donations of their own to Hilliard.

Davis showed wide-based support in Alabama's 7th Congressional District, winning the vote in eight of the 12 counties the seat represents. He did particularly well in Birmingham, which had been a base of power for Hilliard, who was first elected to Congress in 1992.

Tuesday's race was a rematch of the top two vote getters in the 2000 primary. In that election Hilliard took 58 percent of the vote, compared with 34 percent for Davis.

Elsewhere in Alabama, State Auditor Susan Parker defeated Montgomery attorney Julian McPhillips by a 65 percent to 35 percent margin to become the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Jeff Sessions. During the campaign, McPhillips, a conservative, had labeled Parker a "feminist."

In Alabama's 1st Congressional District, Republican Jo Bonner and Democrat Judy McCain-Belk won their respective party's nominations for the seat being vacated by Sonny Callahan.

Libertarian Dick Coffee will also be on the ballot in November.

In South Carolina, former U.S. Rep Mark Sanford defeated Lt. Gov. Bob Peeler in a Republican runoff election. Sanford will face Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges in November.

Utah House Speaker Rob Bishop won the Republican nomination to succeed veteran Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, over House Majority Leader Kevin Garn.

Bishop captured 59.87 percent of the vote in the state's 1st District to Garn's 40.13 percent in an area that is heavily Republican and had sent Hansen to Congress for 10 consecutive terms.

Bishop will face the likely Democratic nominee Dave Thomas in November. Thomas, an advertising executive and Mormon bishop, pulled 52.13 percent of the vote to the 47.87 percent that went to Donald Dunne, a former member of the Clinton White House staff who left the administration to join the Clinton campaign effort in 1996.

The other race decided Tuesday was the Republican nomination in District 2. State Rep. John Swallow was poised for a narrow win over business consultant Tim Bridgewater by a margin of 52.19 percent to 47.81 percent.

Come November, GOP candidate Swallow will have a tough task winning the seat that represents much of eastern Utah from popular freshman Democrat Tim Matheson, the son of former Gov. Scott Matheson, who ran unopposed in the primary; Matheson had led Swallow in a Deseret News/KSL poll this week 44-31 percent.