Low-Key Campaign Waged by Rep. Jerry Lewis for 7th Term

As he did in June when he faced his first primary challenge in a decade, Republican Jerry Lewis has taken a low-key approach to his campaign for a seventh term in the 35th Congressional District.

He faces a challenge from Democrat Barry Norton, a businessman from Montclair. Also on the ballot is Libertarian Jerry Johnson, a data processing coordinator from Redlands.

Norton, a political novice, had raised only $2,392 for his campaign by mid-July, when he filed his last report, while Lewis had $334,566 on hand at that time.

The solidly Republican district includes most of San Bernardino County and the communities of Palmdale, Redman, Hi-Vista and Wilson in Los Angeles County. Of the 359,353 registered voters, 51.86% are Republicans and 37.62% are Democrats. Less than 1% of the voters are Libertarians.

In the primary, Lewis, 56, easily defeated Mark Blankenship, 29, a land developer and lawyer, who served as an intern in Lewis’ office during his college years.

Blankenship waged a high-profile campaign, spending money on mailers and radio and television advertisements in an attempt to get across his message that the district needed a fresh face in Congress.

But Lewis’ longstanding tenure and name recognition with voters helped him win the primary with 79% of the vote to Blankenship’s 21%.

In 1988, Lewis beat Democrat Paul Sweeney, with 70.4% of the vote to his opponent’s 27.7%.

Lewis, a Redlands resident, was elected to Congress in 1978 after serving 10 years in the state Assembly. A former insurance executive, he sits on the House Appropriations Committee and is chairman of the House Republican Conference.

For the most part, Lewis’ voting record is strictly along party lines. For example, he voted against a bill that would have required employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to employees who have serious illnesses in their families, and in favor of a constitutional amendment to make desecration of the United States flag a crime.

Lewis has also proposed selling bonds to combat drug trafficking and sponsored legislation to authorize production of American eagle gold coins.

Norton refused to return calls in regard to his positions on issues.