Jennifer Lawless, assistant professor of political science and public policy, announced publicly Wednesday that she will run for the U.S. House of Representatives. But political analysts warn she faces an uphill battle in her campaign to unseat Rep. Jim Langevin in the 2006 Democratic primary in Rhode Island's 2nd District.
"I believe that Rhode Islanders need someone who will fight for them in Congress," Lawless said in a press release, citing education, health care and jobs as important issues. The Herald first reported she would run for Congress Wednesday morning.
Lawless could not be reached Wednesday for comment.
According to Adam Deitch '05, her campaign manager, Lawless decided to run after Langevin said he would not challenge U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee '75, a moderate Republican, in the 2006 Senate race.
"Congressman Langevin is a three-term Democrat who was polling 13 to 20 points ahead of a Republican senator. Rhode Islanders were looking to him to run against Senator Chafee," Deitch said.
Lawless is running against Langevin because of his unwillingness to take political risks, as well as his anti-abortion stance, Deitch said.
"Who is Langevin accountable to if he's never challenged in an election?" Deitch said.
Lawless is an expert on women in politics and has written several articles and an upcoming book, "It Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don't Run for Office," on the subject. Rhode Island ranks 35th out of 50 states in female representation in its state legislature, according to Lawless' press release, and has no women elected to statewide or federal office.
According to Deitch, the Lawless campaign currently employs three full-time staff members and has two senior policy advisors, Richard Fox and Sean Theriault, professors of political science at Union College and the University of Texas at Austin, respectively. The campaign has begun to raise money from Lawless' friends and acquaintances, Deitch said.
The campaign will focus initially on raising money from Rhode Islanders and will pursue national interest groups only after establishing itself as a serious campaign in-state, according to Deitch.
He said they plan to run a "grassroots" campaign with support from Brown students and faculty, even though Brown's campus lies in the 1st District. "We're looking forward to recruiting a lot of volunteers from Brown," he said.
Lawless does not live in the 2nd District, where she is challenging Langevin for the Democratic nomination. Deitch said she is in the process of moving to the 2nd District from her current home in the 1st District in order to challenge Langevin. The 1st District is represented by Democratic Rep. Patrick Kennedy.
"She's willing to do whatever it takes ... to defeat (Langevin)," Deitch said.
Langevin was elected to the U.S. House in 2000 after serving six years as Rhode Island secretary of state. He is considered a moderate and popular Democrat.
"We want to welcome (Lawless) to Rhode Island, and once she moves to the 2nd District we will welcome her as a constituent," said Kristin Nicholson, Langevin's chief of staff. "We look forward to a vigorous debate on the issues that matter to Rhode Islanders."
Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, a former Rhode Island attorney general who is running for Chafee's Senate seat, said he was surprised by Lawless' candidacy. "It's going to be important (to see how) a person who has only lived in Rhode Island for two years will be viewed," he told The Herald during a campus visit Wednesday night. Langevin and Kennedy will serve as Whitehouse's campaign co-chairs.
Deitch said Lawless will not take a leave of absence during the 2005-2006 academic year. She is scheduled to teach two courses in the fall and one in the spring. Deitch called it a "personal decision" reached in consultation with the Department of Political Science and the dean of the faculty. "She has every intent of fulfilling her duties as a professor of political science at Brown," he said.
Political analysts say Lawless' chances for victory are slim.
"That's a pretty daunting challenge, in going after a sitting congressman who seems to have no problems with his base," said Amy Walter, House editor for the Cook Political Report in Washington. "I just don't see Langevin as particularly vulnerable in a primary. She has to be able to make the case that he has let the 2nd District down in some way."
Darrell West, professor of political science and director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy, was more optimistic. "Jennifer is smart, vivacious and passionate. She's a young Paul Wellstone," he said. "I think she'll do well among young people, because she is a very compassionate person. ... She has a following on campus," West said.
But he added, "It's always an uphill battle taking on a House incumbent," especially one like Langevin, who "is popular and well-known and well-funded."
Stu Rothenberg, editor and publisher of the Washington-based Rothenberg Political Report, agreed that taking on Langevin will be difficult.
"I think it's safe to say it's difficult to take out an incumbent House member. She's going to have to raise a lot of money, find a couple of wedge issues and spend a lot of time campaigning. ... Most college professors I know aren't sitting on a huge wad of cash, so she's probably not going to be able to fund her campaign" herself, he said.
"It looks like one of those Don Quixote-like efforts," Rothenberg added. "Sounds to me like either a true believer thing or it's research for a book."
But Deitch, while admitting it will be difficult to defeat Langevin, said the Lawless campaign hopes to prevail.
"We think Congressman Langevin and other entrenched incumbents need to be challenged regularly. Beyond that, we're hoping to win," he said.
Lawless might learn some lessons in running as an academic from Sandy Maisel, professor of government and director of the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Maisel ran for Congress as a professor in 1978, finishing last in the Democratic primary in Maine's 1st Congressional District.
"I involved a lot of students in my campaign," he said, including having a graduating senior as his campaign manager. He said studying politics was "a very good preparation" for running for office, and said he was proud of his "by-the-book" campaign, which finished only 8 percent - 1,300 votes - behind the victor in a field of four candidates.
"I think I pretty much maximized the number of votes I could have gotten in that election," Maisel said, and added that he discovered he enjoyed teaching much more than campaigning.
"The best piece of advice I took upon myself is, keep it all in perspective," he said.
-with additional reporting by Jonathan Herman
