AllPolitics - Congressional Races - California District 9

Ronald Dellums (D)

District 9 (Alameda County--Oakland; Berkeley)

BORN: Nov. 24, 1935, Oakland

EDUCATION: San Francisco State College, B.A., 1960; U of California, Berkeley, M.S.W., 1962

FAMILY: Wife, Leola ("Roscoe") Higgs; three children

RELIGION: Protestant

MILITARY: Marines, 1954-56

OCCUPATION: Psychiatric social worker

POLITICAL CAREER: Berkeley City Council, 1967-70; U.S. House 1970-

ADDRESS: P.O. Box 29164, Oakland 94604. Tel.: 510-893-3950

Dellums was swept into office as a '60s radical and, after 26 years in the House, has become an Establishment defender of minority causes. His constituents seem to have mellowed only slightly in that time. And Dellums, with a perfect 100 rating from both the liberal Americans for Democratic Action and the afl-cio, has not let them down.

THE ISSUES

Budget NO

Medicare NO

Defense YES

Abortion NO

Guns YES

Gays NO

Bosnia NO

NAFTA NO

Welfare NO

Medical Leave YES

(For an explanation of these issues, click on THE ISSUES above.)

QUOTE OF NOTE: [On defense spending] "How much more money can it conceivably take to be 'ready' in a world in which the U.S. already spends as much as all other nations combined?"

Deborah Wright (R)

District 9

BORN: Nov. 19, 1950, Oklahoma City, Okla.

EDUCATION: Los Angeles City College, A.A., 1971; California State U at Long Beach, B.A., 1972

FAMILY: Husband, Durwin; one child

RELIGION: Christian

MILITARY: None

OCCUPATION: Education-foundation administrator; systems engineer; social-services administrator

POLITICAL CAREER: Republican nominee for U.S. House, 1994

ADDRESS: P.O. Box 11346, Oakland 94611. Tel.: 510- 339-0774

Wright is not only a Republican running in a traditionally Democratic district, she is also running against a 26-year veteran of the House. Hoping voters believe the U.S. is in decline, she is proposing a "Revitalization of America" platform: use government to increase the district's private enterprise with tax and regulatory incentives for small businesses.

THE ISSUES

Budget YES

Medicare YES

Defense NO

Abortion YES

Guns NO

Gays YES

Bosnia NO

NAFTA NO

Welfare YES

Medical Leave NO

(For an explanation of these issues, click on THE ISSUES above.)

QUOTE OF NOTE: "Our civil rights are under attack. I believe that criminals and mentally unstable people should not have guns, but I oppose any general attempt to bridge the right to own guns."