CNN - Age no barrier for 82-year-old candidate

Age no barrier for 82-year-old candidate

March 11, 1996
Web posted at: 12:30 a.m. EST

From Correspondent Jim Hill

HUNTINGTON BEACH, California (CNN) -- In Southern California, there's a woman who is running for Congress because she decided that instead of complaining, she'd do something.

So what's so unusual about that? This woman is not only a minority Democrat in a sea of Republicans; she's 82 years old.

On Sally Alexander's 82nd birthday she blew out her candles and kicked off her campaign as the oldest person this year to run for the U.S. House of Representatives.

"Nobody's come forward to say that they're more than 82-years-old," Alexander joked. (34K AIFF sound or 34K WAV sound)

She and her husband, Chauncey, are now officially candidate and campaign manager.

"One congresswoman from Orange County can make a difference in the whole Washington scene," Chauncey Alexander says.

Alexander's rival in the conservative 45th congressional district is surfboard-riding Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher.

"As far as I'm concerned, as far as my constituents are concerned, Sally's age doesn't make any difference. All it means to us is that she's been a liberal Democrat longer than anybody else," Rohrabacher says. (111K AIFF sound or 111K WAV sound)

Alexander has been a Democratic Party activist for a long time. She says she finally decided to run for office to fight the GOP's Contract with America, which she likens to a hit man's "Contract on America."

"I'm very concerned," she says, "I mean really frightened about what the Republican contract on America is trying to do." (85K AIFF sound or 85K WAV sound)

Preserving the federal government's role in Medicare and other social programs is the main plank in her platform. But it's also her main weakness, according to Rohrabacher.

"I don't think that people down here are going to go for it," Rohrabacher says.

It's true that Orange County is a conservative stronghold. You won't find a Democrat anywhere in the county's delegation to Congress, the state legislature, or the local board of supervisors.

But there is discontent. The county's disastrous investments forced it to file for bankruptcy. And there are plenty of older Americans among the county's voters -- some of whom like what they see in Sally Alexander.

"She's got more energy at 82 than a lot of people," says activist Paul Morse

If nothing else, says political analyst Joe Cerrell, Alexander is certainly making a name for herself.

"I'm not predicting an upset," he says, "but I'm saying the eyes of American senior citizens, and maybe outside of America, are going to focus on this campaign."

But lest voters think she's too old, they might take note: If elected, Alexander would still be 10 years younger than the oldest member on Capitol Hill, Sen. Strom Thurmond, who is 93 and considering another term.

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Age no barrier for 82-year-old candidate

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