1 in 1998, Merrill Cook Beat the Jinx of the Utah Second Congressional
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1998 UTAH’S SECOND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT RACE In 1998, Merrill Cook beat the jinx of the Utah second Congressional District: according to one political reporter, incumbents in the second district “have a political life span roughly equivalent to that of a minnow in a shark tank.”1 Before Cook’s reelection in 1998, the last incumbent to win a second term did so in 1990.2 Although Utah is a very Republican state, the second district is less Republican than the state’s other two districts. In 1996, Clinton received 41% of the vote of the Utah second district, while Dole received 47%, and Perot 9%; statewide, Clinton received 33%.3 As pollster Dan Jones said, “it’s the most swing district of any of the three. Democrats still have their best chance there.”4 Since redistricting in 1991, the Democrats had only won the seat in 1992. Since it is a swing district, and because Merrill Cook started raising money late and was seen as vulnerable, the second district attracted party and interest group money. Indeed, one conservative commentator stated that Cook was one of “the nine most endangered Republican incumbents,” and that Republicans had “sent out an SOS for their big-money people to send more campaign funds” to those nine House members.5 The Republican Party included Cook in their Operation Breakout campaign, spending about $200,000 on television advertisements in his behalf. The Democratic Party countered with $270,000 spent on radio advertisements, mailers, and a get-out-the-vote campaign in behalf of Lily Eskelsen. At the same time, Americans for Limited Terms spent $380,000 on television advertisements, mailers, and phone banks, in an 1Lee Davidson, “Cook testing his luck in jinxed 2nd District race,” Deseret News, 21 October 1998, A11. 2The last incumbent to be reelected, Wayne Owens (D) in 1990, ran for the Senate in 1992—and lost. In 1994, Enid Waldholtz (R) beat the incumbent Karen Shepherd (D) in a rematch of the 1992 election. And in 1996, Waldholtz (now Enid Green) declined to run as a result of scandal. Merrill Cook (R) ran and won. 3Nationally, Clinton received 49%. 4Dan Jones, pollster for Merrill Cook and Deseret News, quoted by Mike Carter, “Demographics, as much as politics, defines 2nd District,” Associate Press State & Local Wire, 25 September 1998 (through Lexis-Nexis). 5Robert Novak, on CNN’s “Inside Politics,” 13 August 1998 (through Lexis-Nexis). 1 effort to defeat Representative Cook, or encourage him to sign a term-limits pledge. While the efforts of the parties largely neutralized each other, the term-limits campaign significantly increased the negativity of the campaign, which ultimately reflected poorly Lily Eskelsen, whom they were supporting. THE CANDIDATES Merrill Cook is a well-known entity in Utah politics: prior to 1996, he had run for office six times unsuccessfully, spending about $3 million of his own money.6 He has also led and financed five unsuccessful state ballot initiatives.7 In this process, he has angered many Utah Republicans by breaking ranks and running as an independent when the party failed to nominate him (he founded the Utah Independent Party, running as an independent for governor in 1988 and 1992 and for congress in the second district in 1994). Through his early political activities, Cook established a reputation as a political jester—never seeming to be able to win a race. But this changed in 1996 when Cook ran as a “rehabilitated” Republican against an opponent with even more negative associations than Cook.8 Cook won in 1996, outspending his opponent 2 to 1, mostly from his own pocket.9 In 1998, running as an incumbent, Cook used all the benefits of office. As a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, he helped secure transportation funds for the state. He used the power of the frank, spending more than four times 6John Heilprin, “Fickle 2nd District Draws U.S. Attention,” The Salt Lake Tribune, 12 October 1998, A1. 7Cook put three tax initiatives on the ballot in 1988, one tax initiative in 1990, and a term-limits and runoff election initiative in 1994. 8Cook’s opponent, Ross Anderson, was noted for his support of same-sex marriages and abortion rights, opposition to the death penalty, and for serving as president of the Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (Laurie Sullivan Maddox, “2nd District: Cook Owns 2-1 Spending Lead.,” The Salt Lake Tribune, 26 October 1996, B1). One political observer called the 1996 contest a race between “Dumb and Dumber.” 9According to FEC records (at <http://www.fec.gov/1996/states/ut_01.htm>), Cook spent $1,061,793, of which $865,624 was his own money. 2 as much as other House representatives from Utah.10 As a member of the Banking and Financial Services Committee, he raised campaign funds from banks, credit unions, and financial service companies.11 Although “many people expected Cook to be a bit of a buffoon,”12 as his campaign manager said, he exceeded this expectation. Lily Eskelsen entered politics when, as she accepted Utah Teacher of the Year award from the Utah Education Association (UEA), she gave a speech decrying a proposed reduction of taxes (that, ironically, was a 1988 Cook initiative). She became active in the UEA (as president from 1990-1996) and is currently on the executive committee of the National Education Association (she took a leave of absence from teaching and the committee to run). In previous years, she was approached by prominent Utah Democrats several times to run for office, but declined—until she was approached to run against Cook.13 CAMPAIGNS AND PLATFORMS Cook’s primary campaign theme was competency. Whereas many people had expected Cook to be a “buffoon,” his campaign emphasized the things he had done: bringing home money for transportation infrastructure, and supporting education and Social Security.14 The Cook campaign assumed that Social Security and education would be issues emphasized by Eskelsen and so he sought to define himself on these issues.15 The Cook campaign also attempted to heal his rift with the Republican Party by having Governor Michael Leavitt endorse him. In 1992, 10Dan Harrie, “Congressional Mail: Cook Is a Big Sender -- Rival Says He's a Big Spender,” The Salt Lake Tribune, 6 August 1998, A1. Cook spent about $168,000, four times more than Chris Cannon (R, UT-3) and fifteen times more than Jim Hansen (R, UT-1). 11Cook raised over one-third of his Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions ($150,537 of $437,460) from finance, insurance, and real estate and services PACs (companies classified according to Standard Industry Codes). Data obtained from FECInfo at <http://www.tray.com/cgi-win/_catptoc.exe?H4UT02106COOK,$MERRILL$A98>. 12Caroline Roemer, campaign manager for Merrill Cook, interview with the author, 24 November 1998. 13Lily Eskelsen, interview with the author, 27 November 1998. 14In an article about a week before the election, reporter Lee Davidson noted that Cook’s “legislative batting average” was 0.000—he “didn’t pass any bills at all.” (Lee Davidson, “Hatch tops Utah hitters; Cook whiffs,” 3 Cook had said some unflattering things about Leavitt when running against him for governor as an independent; Leavitt had also been co-chair of the bipartisan campaign against Cook’s 1988 tax-cutting initiatives.16 According to Dan Jones, Cook’s pollster, the Leavitt ads “definitely had a positive effect.” Voters were not sure if Cook was a true Republican, and the Leavitt ads showed he had been “redeemed” or “sanitized by the Republican Party.”17 In the last two weeks of the race, the Cook campaign ran negative ads against Eskelsen criticizing her stances on various issues.18 At the same time, in mailers, the Cook campaign emphasized that Eskelsen was the usual tax-and-spend liberal, out of touch with Utah voters. The Eskelsen campaign ran against Cook’s record—his record in office and his record before he took office. The general theme was “Merrill Cook—Doing, Saying, and Spending Anything to Get Elected.”19 This message appeared in TV commercials and mailers (sent to women and seniors). The campaign specifically mentioned issues such as education, Social Security, and the environment. In these ads, Cook is shown in an unflattering manner, with what he called a “bad hair day.”20 The Eskelsen campaign was criticized for running negative ads.21 In the last week of the race, the Eskelsen campaign also ran a limited radio ad featuring an endorsement from the League of Conservation Voters (using Robert Redford as the voiceover). Deseret News, 24 October 1998, A1. Cook’s campaign manager stated that she was glad that the article came out so late in the race (Roemer interview). 15Roemer interview. 16Spencer Stokes, executive director of the Utah Republican party, asserted that Eskelsen was “despised by Republican opinion leaders and office holders” such as Leavitt, which led to their (reluctant) support of Cook (interview with the author, 17 November 1998). 17Dan Jones, pollster for Merrill Cook, interview with the author, 13 April 1999. 18Roemer called the negative advertising “issue ads” (Roemer interview) or “comparative campaigning” (quoted by John Heilprin, “Candidates Face the People; Sparring: Cook, Eskelsen trade jabs in evening's most-pointed exchange,” The Salt Lake Tribune, 23 October 1998, A1). 19From Lily for Congress mailer, in possession of the author. 20Merrill Cook, quoted by Bob Bernick, Jr., “End game begins in Eskelsen, Cook race,” Deseret News, 27 October 1998, B1. 21Lee Davidson, “Mudslinging may work elsewhere - not in Utah,” Deseret News, 5 November 1998, A1. Megan Sather, campaign manager for Eskelsen, characterized the strategy as being “scrappy” (interview with the author, 23 November 1998).