Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Denna Halitz on rematch with Nancy Lindselli: 'If I lose, I lose'

CHRISTEN-KERR, East Des. -- It's been four years since Denna Halitz was forced out of the Federal Senate.

The popular senator from the Vandershutes, a fertile, agricultural region in the southeast corner of the state, was knocked off in an intra-party battle with Nancy Lindselli, a hardliner former senator from Birch Hollow.

At the time, Lindselli cast Halitz as too moderate for the Conservative Party.

Halitz was more connected to Mavocke than her home state, Lindselli charged, and too compromising with the NAT and President Brenton Menuhaeo.

After a knife-edge race, the fiery Lindselli was declared the winner of the CNS primary.

Halitz continued the race as an Independent, but in the general election, both she and Lindselli split the centre-right vote and lost to Donna Rae Cobb, a moderate Nationalist from Hansboro.

The two former senators played the blame game after the election.

Halitz argued she would have coasted to re-election and the CNS would have held on to a key Senate seat had Lindselli not challenged her in the primary.

Lindselli called Halitz a "sore loser" for continuing in the race as an Independent after losing the CNS nomination.

Fast forward four years to present day, and the two Conservative women are going head-to-head again.

Both are seeking the Conservative Party's nod to take on NAT incumbent Allison Sweeten, who narrowly defeated Lindselli in 2012.

But this time, the contest is less heated, at least on Halitz's part.

In a wide-ranging interview on East Deschire Public Radio, Denna Halitz reflected on her failed 2014 bid for re-election.

"I think in 2014, I was so desperate to win, so desperate to hold on to my seat, that I sort of stooped to the level of my opponent. She flung attacks against me, so I flung them right back. She was insulting on the campaign trail, and I fired back with my own zingers. I think that was a mistake. I fought fire with fire, and I realized afterwards that that strategy was probably not the most effective," Halitz said.

"And more importantly, it was also not who I am. I'm not a bitter, vindictive person who hurls insults casually. I'm a level-headed, calm, thoughtful person who wants to have a civil discussion about the problems facing our country," she added.

This time around, Denna Halitz insists her campaign is focused on listening instead of trading barbs.

"I've been traveling all around East Deschire, talking to people all across our state, asking them, 'what's important to you?' 'What's important to your family?' 'What challenges are you facing in your small business?' 'What problems are you having with health care?' 'What can the government do or not do to make things easier?'"

"And people have been very open and frank with me. They say, 'Denna, wheat prices are too low,' or 'government subsidies are not covering the cost of the farm.' They tell me that they can't sleep at night because they are worried about paying for college tuition for their kids, or paying medical bills or paying the mortgage. And I've just been listening to all these everyday, average East Deschireans, trying to understand and empathize and let them know, if I'm elected, I will try to help you, because that's what a senator does."

"We don't senators to Mavocke to just insult the president, or to be obstinate because they don't like the administration or the majority party. We send our senators there to fix things, to make solutions, to help their constituents and be a voice for their state. And that's the kind of senator I want to be for East Deschire."

She's less concerned with winning this time, Halitz said.

"This time, since I'm not an incumbent, I'm not desperate to hang on to my seat. I'm not desperate to hold the seat for the party. I don't care about being in the majority. I'm just running because I want to run and because I care about our state and the people."

"I'm in it to win, but if I lose, I lose. Life will go on. There is more to life than being a senator."

For her part, Nancy Lindselli has been relatively quiet compared to her previous campaigns.

She has criticized Halitz in TV ads and campaign flyers for being too moderate and for not standing up for East Deschire's concerns in Mavocke.

But Lindselli's attacks have been much softer than those of her past runs for office.

Lindselli panned Halitz for "trying to appear to take the high moral ground." And the former scoffed at Halitz's recent "new age, hippie, peace-love persona."

"I find it hard to believe that Denna Halitz is all of a sudden transformed into this positive role-model. I find it hard to believe that she's all of a sudden above all the attack ads and the dirt-throwing. I've ran against her before, I know just how dirty she can get," Lindselli told a Hansboro TV station.

But Lindselli maintained that the real problem in this election cycle is the NAT incumbent, Allison Sweeten.

"Allison Sweeten is far more dangerous and harmful for East Deschire than Denna is. I think Denna is a good person, I think she does really, truly care about East Deschire. Allison Sweeten only cares about Allison Sweeten. And the Nationalist Party. And the abortion industry. And the radical environmentalists who want to destroy our farmers and our agriculture and our way of life here in East Deschire."

Sweeten has done little campaigning so far, and frequently portrays herself as a centrist, despite having a solidly liberal voting record on social issues like abortion and gay rights.

A spokeswoman for the senator said Sweeten will stay focused on serving East Deschire while her two Conservative opponents "continue their cat fight from 2014."

Polls have shown Halitz would easily defeat Sweeten in a general election match up, while Lindselli would trail the incumbent slightly.

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