The House: Pipeline and Out of Line

Peoria's pick

Ever since he first went to Congress 26 years ago, Republican Congressman Robert Michel has played well in Peoria, the largest town in his 18th Congressional District in central Illinois. Now Peoria seems to be having its doubts. Long a pocket of prosperity in America's heartland, the region is reeling from depressed farm prices and 16% unemployment. The Pabst brewery and the Hiram Walker distillery have left town, and giant Caterpillar Tractor alone has laid off 8,000 workers. So Michel, 59, the House minority leader and President Reagan's high-profile point man on Capitol Hill, is in an unexpectedly tight race with a relative unknown, Democrat G. Douglas Stephens. Michel has paraded through town on an elephant, courted Kiwanis and even imported Hollywood stars. "He's not running scared," says an aide, "but he sure is running harder than ever before."

Small wonder. Michel is widely blamed in his home town for failing to change Reagan's mind about U.S. sanctions against the Soviet gas pipeline. This Reagan decision cost Caterpillar an $85 million contract for pipelaying equipment and shifted future contracts to its leading rival, Japan's Komatsu. Michel later broke publicly with the President on this issue, but he has not otherwise sought to distance himself from the Administration. Says Michel: "Ronald Reagan is not a problem for me or for the country."

Stephens, 31, a lawyer with ties to organized labor, claims that Michel's responsibilities as a G.O.P. leader put him at odds with his factory and farm constituency. He also criticizes Michel's heavy contributions from political action committees that "read like the FORTUNE 500 list." Stephens, trying to overcome low name recognition, has raised about $120,000 so far, to Michel's $490,000. The House Republican leader ranks first in Illinois and third nationally among House candidates in PAC contributions.

Despite a redistricting move last year by the state legislature that increased the district's potential Democratic vote from 38% to 46%, Michel is still the favorite. He argues that his own stature as a national leader, while admittedly the source of some political trouble for him now, will prove an advantage to his constituency in the long run, especially when the recession ends. He says he is "tickled to death" about Reagan's scheduled appearance this week at a campaign gala at the Peoria Civic Center, also featuring Charlton Heston and Pat Boone. Scoffed an aide to Stephens, on whose behalf such Democrats as Walter Mondale and John Glenn have made campaign appearances: "They must be running scared if they have to bring in the Gipper, Moses and Mr. Clean all together." But while Michel is not expected to carry home town Peoria, businessmen and farmers elsewhere in the district should provide enough votes to make him a 14-term Congressman.

Scout's honor