Politics

A Few Primary Wrinkles

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

September 13, 2000 / 8:27 AM EDT / CBS

It’s a first for a first lady: a primary election victory. Having easily defeated her Democratic primary opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton is now looking to the fall.

In a spate of late primaries nationwide Tuesday, it was mostly incumbents sailing to victory and looking toward November. But there were some interesting wrinkles:

Green Mountain
Shake-Up
In Vermont, five GOP lawmakers who supported the state’s new law allowing for gay couples to have civil unions were ousted by angry constituents.

One Democrat who opposed the law was also defeated in Tuesday night's primary.

It was the first opportunity voters have had to register their views since the Legislature earlier this year enacted the closest thing in America to gay marriage. The results reflected the deep split in Vermont over the law.

One of the chief authors of the bill, House Judiciary Committee chairman Thomas Little, a Republican, beat back a challenge. Granting marriage benefits to gay couples "is probably something that's going to take a generation to resolve," Little said.

Signs imploring voters to "Take Back Vermont" by ousting those who voted for civil unions have dotted the Vermont landscape.

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The city of Selma, Ala., elected its first black mayor, ousting a reformed segregationist whose tenure reaches back to the civil rights era. Businessman James Perkins defeated Joe Smitherman, a white man first elected in 1964 a few months before civil rights marchers were met at Edmund Pettus Bridge by troopers with tear gas and clubs in a clash that became known as “Bloody Sunday.” Perkins gained 57 percent of the vote.

In New York, Rep. Michael Forbes, who recently switched to the Democratic party, was in a dead heat against a 71-year-old former librarian who raised just $40,000 to his $1.4 million.

Mostly, however, the nine states holding primaries saw few surprises at the ballot box.

For her part, Mrs. Clinton sought to make the most of her easy win.

“Over the next two months, I will continue to work hard each and every day to earn the opportunity to represent the people of New York in the Senate,” Clinton said in a statement.

Mrs. Clinton had 82 percent of the vote to unknown challenger Dr. Mark McMahon's 18 percent, with most of the precincts reporting. Wednesday night, she goes on to her first debate with Republican Rep. Rick Lazio, who was unopposed in his primary.

Elsewhere in the Empire State, Rep. Forbes is awaiting a recount with upstart septuagenarian Regina Seltzer to see if he remains a candidate. He trailed by 39 votes out of the 11,611 cast in unofficial returns.

“This is about the people of this community who have said in no uncertain terms to Mr. Forbes'You're fired,'” Seltzer said.

Forbes left the GOP last year saying the party had become too extremist. But Seltzer said his opposition to abortion and votes to impeach President Clinton proved he was no Democrat.

Only two other incumbents have lost in primary elections this year: Democrat Rep. Marty Martinez of California and GOP Rep. Merrill Cook of Utah.

In Minnesota, department store heir Mark Dayton spent $5 million to win the Democratic Senate nomination and the challenge to first-term GOP Sen. Rod Grams, considered vulnerable.

In Rhode Island, GOP Sen. Lincoln Chafee, appointed last year to fill out the fourth term of his late father John, had no opposition. Rep. Robert Weygand won the Democratic nomination.

Voters in Prescott, Ariz., were near evenly divided over a referendum to overturn a ban of the traditional July Fourth water fights. The ban was enacted after complaints the fun had turned too rowdy. The results were too close to call.

In Wisconsin, a sales tax was approved in Brown County to renovate and expand Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, the only publicly owned team in the NFL.

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