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http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/3235636.htm

NRA helps oust Rep. Sawyer

 By Stephen Dyer

 AKRON BEACON JOURNAL

 May 10, 2002

 After he read the fluorescent pumpkin-colored mailing, Steven Eitel knew
who
would get his vote in Tuesday's Democratic primary for the 17th
Congressional
District: Tim Ryan. No question.

 The National Rifle Association had done its job.

 "I'm tired of people taking away my right to own firearms," said Eitel, an
architect from Akron who is an NRA member.

 The organization, which gave $5,000 to Ryan's campaign, put out 20,000
mailings to 17th District voters in Summit, Portage, Trumbull and Mahoning
counties a week before the election that saw the state senator from Niles
crush U.S. Rep. Tom Sawyer, D-Akron, by more than 9,000 votes.

 The mailing said "it is critically important that you vote for State
Senator
Tim Ryan." The statement was underlined. Two sentences later, in bold
lettering, the mailing declared that Sawyer "has a long history of betraying
gun owners and sportsmen and that's why he is rated an `F' by the NRA
Political Victory Fund."

 In a race that had a large number of undecided voters in the final days,
the
mailing might have turned more than a few people over to Ryan's side,
especially in the Mahoning Valley part of the district. All five candidates
from that area support concealed-carry legislation; Sawyer favors gun
control.

 "I was so glad (Ryan) was running against Sawyer," Eitel said.

 NRA Director of Federal Affairs Charles H. Cunningham said the mailing
served only to distinguish between the two leading candidates. "There was a
clear contrast between the two candidates," he said. "I was impressed by the
margin and what our constituency did."

 Dan Lucas, Sawyer's chief of staff, said he is sure the NRA mailing made a
difference, but not as much as Sawyer's vote for the North American Free
Trade Agreement in the union-strong Mahoning Valley. "The big issue was
NAFTA," he said. "The NRA has been opposed to him for a decade."

 Lucas said it was interesting that the NRA would suggest that Sawyer
opposes
hunting, given that the congressman went duck hunting last fall.

 Now that Sawyer is out of the 17th District race, independent candidate
Warren Davis, the director of United Auto Workers District 2, is pushing his
candidacy as the only one with true Akron roots. Davis was raised and worked
his first job in Akron. He also has worked extensively in the Mahoning
Valley
with its GM Lordstown Assembly Plant.

 "I know this district better than anyone else," he said, venting at the
suggestion that Akron will become a forgotten sister in the 17th District
race. "I remember when Akron was vibrant. I look at it now, and it's a
disgrace.

 "All the policies of the Democrats and Republicans have destroyed Akron. My
people work in this district."

 Ryan and Davis will face felon and U.S. Rep. James A Traficant Jr.,
D-Poland, who is running as an independent, and term-limited state Rep. Ann
Womer Benjamin, R-Aurora, in November.


  http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/3235636.htm