wfn.org | Number of Lutherans in Congress Unchanged

[Brenda Williams <BRENDAW@elca.org>]

Reply-To: ElcaNews <ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG>
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

June 1, 1998

NUMBER OF LUTHERANS IN CONGRESS UNCHANGED
98-20-124-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The number of Lutherans in the 105th Congress of
the United States remains unchanged.  One member of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America is completing the term of another ELCA member.
Lois Capps, 60, won a special election to complete her husband's first term
in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Walter Capps -- a religious studies
professor for 32 years -- died Oct. 28, 1997, after finishing 10 months of
his two-year term.
     Lois Capps, Santa Barbara, Calif., is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran
University, Tacoma, Wash., who had a 20-year career in public health
nursing.  The Democrat defeated her Republican opponent, Tom J. Bordonaro
Jr., by a 12,000-vote margin.  Both are candidates in California's June 2
primary election for the next term.
     Twelve of the 23 Lutherans in Congress are Democrats, according to
the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs, Washington, D.C.  Eleven are
Republicans.
     The five Lutherans in the U.S. Senate are Conrad Burns (R-Mont.),
Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), Rod Grams (R-Minn.), Ernest F. "Fritz" Hollings
(D-S.C.), and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.).
     The 18 Lutherans in the U.S. House of Representatives are Douglas K.
Bereuter (R-Neb. 1st), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio 13th), Lois Capps (D-Calif.
22nd), Norman D. Dicks (D-Wash. 6th), Paul Gillmor (R-Ohio 5th), Darlene
Hooley (D-Ore. 5th), Ron Kind (D-Wis. 3rd), Tom Latham (R-Iowa 5th), David
Minge (D-Minn. 2nd), Mark W. Neumann (R-Wis. 1st), Jim Nussle (R-Iowa 2nd),
Michael Oxley (R-Ohio 4th), Collin C. Peterson (D-Minn. 7th), Thomas E.
Petri (R-Wis. 6th), Martin Olav Sabo (D-Minn. 5th), John (M). Shimkus (R-Ill. 20th),
Floyd D. Spence (R-S.C. 2nd), and Charles W. Stenholm (D-Texas
17th).
     All are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, except
Senators Burns and Grams and Representatives Bereuter and Shimkus who are
members of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod; Representative Neumann is a
member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html