Home District Questions Condit Conduct
M O D E S T O, Calif., July 18 -- In Gary Condit's home district in northern California, many of his constituents still relate to the congressman's conservative Democratic politics.
But after his admission of an affair with missing Federal Bureau of Prisons intern, 24-year-old Chandra Levy, some are beginning to question his personal commitment to family values.
The 18th congressional district, deep in California's heartland, is farm country: conservative, mostly white and small-town America. Condit has built a reputation for himself as a conservative Democrat, specifically over agriculture issues. The district's main town, Modesto, inspired the movie American Graffiti. The region has the highest proportion of families and children in all of California.
Now Modesto is under round-the-clock surveillance by the media.
Journalists are staking out Levy's home, Condit's office, and even the church where Condit's father used to preach. In a town unaccustomed to such attention, the scandal is now giving people second thoughts about their congressman.
"We accepted him as part of the Modesto family," said Virginia Feliciano. "It's not a good example for our children, I'm sorry."
Condit's Seat May Become Competitive
In 30 years representing this community — on the city council, in the state Legislature, and finally in Congress — Condit has never lost an election.
He won his last re-election race, in November, with 67 percent of the vote and his seat was thought to be one of the safest in California. During the upcoming reapportionment, the state's Democratic leadership had even been talking about siphoning off some of Condit's Democratic constituents in order to shore up neighboring districts.
Now they're rethinking that plan, because suddenly the district may be competitive.
"It represents an opportunity for the Republican Party, but it's obvious that Mr. Condit has brought this upon himself," said Jim DeMartini, chairman of the Stanislaus County Republican Central Committee.
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