News

Race has a certain diverse appeal

U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam faces a gay candidate, a Christian who opposes abortion and a world peace enthusiast.

By JANET ZINK
Published July 6, 2004

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The District 12 U.S. House race may not be the most exciting of this season's political contests, but it's possibly the most diverse.

The front-runner is 29-year-old Republican incumbent Adam Putnam, who's best known for his youth and resemblance to Opie, the red-haired child on The Andy Griffith Show.

His opponent in the primary is Bob Wirengard, a ponytailed supporter of Dennis Kucinich for president.

On the Democratic side, there's Bob Hagenmaier, a suspender-wearing Christian who opposes abortion and gay marriage, and Jeffrey Siemer, who's gay.

"Don't you love America?" Putnam said with a laugh about the pool of candidates.

But competition is competition.

Putnam ran unopposed in 2002, which is the very reason Hagenmaier decided to join the race.

In two of the past three elections, the District 12 incumbent had no challenger, Hagenmaier pointed out.

Not only did Putnam run uncontested in 2002, but in 1998, so did his predecessor Charles Canady.

"Democracy doesn't work unless you have candidates," said Hagenmaier, who retired from his job as a scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture to run for office. "People need a choice."

This time, the people clearly have a choice.

Wirengard, 58, calls himself the "Angry Angel" and says he lives in "Fair Share," Florida, although he has a Tampa street address.

His only other experience with elected office was a failed run for the Hillsborough County Commission against Jim Norman in 2002.

Is he opposed to the war in Iraq?

"Of course," he says.

The largest plank in his platform is the creation of what he calls a "living dividend" of $1,040 a month for every adult, which includes $290 a month for free-market health care.

"The long-range goal is the ending of poverty in the United States of America," Wirengard said. "When we do that it will be the beginning of world peace."

Putnam, the Republican incumbent, has more in common with Hagenmaier, a Democrat, than he does with Wirengard, the man he'll face in the primary for the district that covers most of Polk County, a sliver of Osceola County and a U-shaped portion of southeastern Hillsborough.

Hagenmaier, 65, describes himself as a social conservative, much like Putnam.

One major issue they disagree on: the war in the Middle East.

Hagenmaier, a veteran who lives in Winter Haven in Polk County, said he didn't support invading Iraq.

"Now that we're there, I think we have an obligation to stay there and do something to help them along," he said. "We've started it."

He also accuses Congress of being in the midst of a spending frenzy that, combined with tax cuts that benefit the wealthy, has caused a deficit that threatens programs benefiting education, health care and the environment.

Democrat Jeffrey Siemer, a 35-year-old Lakeland resident and software consultant, also listed deficit spending as his biggest concern.

"There are 40-million Americans without health insurance, but the government can't do anything about it without resources," said Siemer, who was inspired to run for public office after volunteering for the Howard Dean presidential campaign.

All three of Putnam's opponents criticize him for being a party-line voter.

In his first two terms, Putnam has voted along with the Republican majority 98 percent of the time, according to Congressional Quarterly.

He supported the war in Iraq, the overhaul of the Medicare program and the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. He co-sponsored bills to strengthen obscenity laws and to make English the official language of the United States.

But Putnam, a fifth-generation Floridian who is part of a prominent cattle and citrus family, said he's not afraid to break away from Republicans.

"When the party view or the White House views are bad for my district, I've stood up and taken the heat," said Putnam, who lives in Bartow. "Thankfully that hasn't happened very often." His votes to protect the Florida citrus industry from imports and his opposition to drilling off the Florida coast are instances where he stepped outside the conservative box, he said. Putnam seems on the way to establishing himself as at least a minor player in Washington, D.C. The National Journal, a non-partisan Washington-based political magazine, listed him as a Republican to watch in 2003, and this year he was named chairman of the subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census.

Among other things, the subcommittee focuses on streamlining the federal government's information technology systems to save money.

That allows Putnam to have a hand in one of his top priorities - limiting growth of non-defense spending, according to his aides.

But the committee's primary task is cyber security, which Putnam said is "a huge piece of homeland security that is overlooked and underfunded."

"It's a real issue. It's not as glamorous or interesting or sexy to most policy makers as bombs and guns and hijackings, but it could potentially be very devastating," he said.

Although it appears Putnam is being groomed for leadership positions in the Republican party, he said he doesn't have any political ambitions beyond where he is now.

"I'm a House guy. I like the controlled chaos of the House as opposed to the somber funeral-home tone of the Senate," he said. "I feel like I have become fairly effective in the House and that will only get better if I'm allowed to serve additional terms here."

- Janet Zink can be reached at jzink@sptimes.com or 813 661-2441.

ADAM PUTNAM

BORN: July 31, 1974.

PARTY: Republican.

FAMILY: Wife, Melissa; three daughters, Abigail, 3, Elizabeth, 1, and Emma, 9 months.

RESIDENCE: Bartow.

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree, University of Florida.

OCCUPATION: Rancher and citrus grower.

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: State representative, 1996-2000; U.S. House of Representatives, 2000-2004.

TO CONTACT: 863 534-3530 or www.adamputnam.house.gov

BOB WIRENGARD

BORN: Oct. 29, 1945.

PARTY: Republican.

FAMILY: Fiancee, Belinda Morehouse; a daughter, Yana, 35; a son, Peter, 32.

RESIDENCE: Tampa.

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree, Case Western Reserve University; master's of business administration, University of Chicago.

OCCUPATION: Finance.

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Made a failed run for Hillsborough County commissioner in 2002.

TO CONTACT: (813) 758-7595.

JEFFREY SIEMER

BORN: Aug. 2, 1968.

PARTY: Democrat.

FAMILY: Domestic partner, Jerry Dunn.

RESIDENCE: Lakeland.

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree, Northwestern University.

OCCUPATION: Finance.

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: None.

TO CONTACT: 863 409-9588 or www.jeffsiemerforcongress.com

BOB HAGENMEIER

BORN: May 26, 1939.

PARTY: Democrat.

FAMILY: Wife, Lydia; a son, Ernest, 37; a daughter. Cynthia, 32; three grandchildren.

RESIDENCE: Winter Haven.

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree, University of Detroit; doctorate, Purdue University.

OCCUPATION: Scientist.

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: None.

TO CONTACT: 863 299-4474 or www.bobhagenmaier.com

[Last modified July 5, 2004, 23:26:10]