Failed News Reader Going for Two

Apparently, the area Republican candidate bench isn't exactly deep, as evidenced by newsreader Andrea Zinga's announcement that she's going to take a shot at becoming a two-time loser.

Zinga, a Republican, of Coal Valley, Ill., will begin a three-day campaign tour to announce her candidacy at 2 p.m. today at Longview Park in Rock Island. Her tour will conclude Tuesday in Canton.

Zinga is a former local television news anchor who lost to Evans in November 2004 in her first attempt at political office.

“We still have an ineffective congressman,” she said Saturday.

“I said last time that if he got elected again this area would lose jobs during the cycle,” she added. “And that’s what happened. We lost nearly 1,700 jobs at the Rock Island Arsenal.” [Like Andrea, or anyone, could have changed that.]

She said she has received a lot of support during her travels around the district the past 2 ½ years.

“We had a record vote from the base in 2004,” she said. “And there have been a lot of people waiting for me to announce to give both financial and moral backing.”

Charlie Johnston, general consultant to Zinga’s campaign, said that during the last election there were likely about 20,000 under-votes, or people who may have wanted to vote for Zinga but were not ready to make the change. [As far as excuses for getting your ass handed to you, that doesn't pass the laugh test.]

“People don’t like to change,” Zinga said. “They have to have a good reason to change, and the reasons are piling up.” [Not to be rude or anything, but it's not change people don't like Andrea, it's you and your platform.]

Not only has the district lost more jobs, she said, but then there is the issue of the fraud settlement the Evans campaign made with the Federal Elections Commission, or FEC.

In June, Evans agreed to pay a $185,000 fine to settle the FEC’s allegations that he violated campaign finance law. The civil complaint filed in U.S. District Court Rock Island in 2004, contained 17 alleged violations of federal law.

The FEC alleged that hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised and spent illegally during both Evans’ 1998 and 2000 campaigns.

During the 2004 election, Evans won with 61 percent of the votes cast.

Evans spokesman Steve Vetzner said that Evans fought hard against the loss of jobs and the decisions made by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, or BRAC.

“We disagreed with the commission’s recommendations on the Arsenal and thought they were not justified,” he said.

He added that Zinga raised a lot of charges during the last campaign, “and she was soundly defeated at the ballot box. If she wants to try again she’s welcome to it.”

Zinga will be pitted in a March, 2006 primary against fellow GOP candidates Brian “Gilligan” Gilliland, an Aledo, Ill., businessman, and Jim Mowen, a Rock Island real estate developer.

This oughta be good. It should be Evans in a walk, but the usual Republican cash spigot will likely be gushing even more than usual as they perceive Evans being vulnerable due to the huge financial hit their fishing expedition caused his campaign. Mowen will be a vocal presence as well, though he appears to be targeting the hard right fundie base and can be expected to fail. And "Gilligan" will provide comic relief for the whole drama.
Let the games begin!

How do you handicap this race? What dynamics will the race hinge on?
And if you're really feeling lucky, what do you think Evans must do to prevail?