Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • 13

DETROIT FKKE PRESS WWW.FRKEI'.CdM RIVERS I Lmvmakcr poised to defy the odds in race against Dingell the Science Committee. Her expe-; rience and power does not ap-' proach Dingell's. But counting her out would be a mistake, said Craig RulT, a political analyst with Public Sector Consultants in Lansing. "There is no more effective member of the congressional delegation that John Dingell in terms of bringing money to the state," Ruff said. "But Lynn Rivers has a reputation for overcoming odds, and she has gender going for her.

mental stance has earned endorsements from the Brady Campaign, the National Abortion Rights Action League, the Sierra Club and EMILY's List which raised more than $74,000 for her campaign gay rights groups and others. Dingell is the ranking Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee and stands to become chairman if the Democrats win the house in November, increasing the clout that has helped his district and Michigan. Rivers sits on the Education and Workforce Committee and enough to beat Dingell is an open question. Her campaign ads that began airing last month emphasize her real-life experiences as a wife and mother, her struggle with mental illness and poverty, and her quest for an education. Rivers' campaign manager Martha McKenna said the ads are designed to introduce her to voters in the new district as someone like them.

"She shares their values because she shares their life experiences," McKenna Rivers' strong pro-abortion rights, gun control and environ People who live in her west-side Ann Arbor neighborhood say she is still unpretentious. She lives in the same small frame house she has rented for the last 15 years. "There are politicians who have few other dimensions to their lives," said Carol Hollen-shead, a neighbor for more than 10 years and director of U-M's Center for the Education of Women. "That's not true of Lynn. She is serious about her role as a mother, a neighbor and friend to many people." Whether her personal story and come-from-behind history is "It's a wonderful choice for vot John Dingoll and Lynn Rivers are to debate at 10 a.m.

Saturday at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center, 15001 Michigan Dearborn. It is sponsored by the AARP, but no tickets are left. The debate Is to be broadcast by WCMU-FM (09.1) and Webcast at wemu.org. WEMU also is to host listener call-in programs with Dingell from 9-10 a.m. Wednesday and Rivers from 9-10 a.m.

Thursday. Listeners with questions should call 888-299-8910. For information, contact: (734) 946-8988 or Rep. Lynn Rivers www.rivcrs4congress.com (734) 484-36G3 ers. Contort MAKYANNE GEORGE or The most minutes on the only nationwide GSM network.

More Minutes. Nationwide. 600 WHENEVER MINUTES' UNLIMITED WEEKENDS FREE LONG DISTANCE AND ROAMING $39.99 A MONTH From 1A House. Rivers is counting on her record on abortion rights, gun control and the environment, as well her own success story, to sway voters. The two Democrats Rivers from Ann Arbor and Dingell from Dearborn were dropped into the same sprawling district when majority Republican state lawmakers redrew the boundaries to reflect population changes and created the new 15th District.

Many thought Rivers, 45, who represented a district that included her Washtenaw County base and large portions of western Wayne County, would withdraw in deference to Dingell, 76. That's what 10 other members of Congress around the nation did when they were tossed into a district with another incumbent from their own party. The new 15th District includes half of Dearborn and all of Monroe County, longtime strongholds for Dingell. Rivers retains her strongholds in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Inkster but loses parts of western Wayne. "Everyone said, 'You can't run against him, Rivers said in a recent interview.

"The biggest hurdle was to convince people I could run against an icon." Rivers said the way the district was redrawn helped convince her she could win. "I looked at the map and saw that 55 percent of the Democrats in the new district came from my old district," Rivers said. "People have said this race is about working people, but my old district is a mix of academicians and working people." Polls last month showed Dingell with a 10 percentage-point lead. But one of River's biggest financial backers, EMILY's List, a national organization that helps pro-abortion rights Democratic women win office, released a poll this week showing the race a dead heat. As of Thursday, Rivers had raised $1.4 million, with $494,000 cash left on hand, compared to $2.4 million raised by Dingell with $761,960 on hand, according to Federal Election Commission records.

How it all began Lynn Nancy Carruthers was born Dec. 19, 1956, in Au Gres, a small town on Saginaw Bay. Her father, Robert, was a mailman; her mother, Ladeema, was a homemaker. The family operated a small diner called the Pump. Working in the diner, Rivers saw patrons engaged in animated discussions about current events over coffee.

She copied the idea as a con-gresswoman and has conducted 300 coffee hours since her election in 1995, to find out what's on the mind of her constituents. Her first campaign was in 1973, her junior year of high school. By her senior year, she was pregnant at 18 with her first child and married Joe Rivers after graduation. The couple moved to Traverse City where Lynn worked as a short-order cook in restaurants and managed an Arthur Treacher's fast food restaurant. Joe delivered pizzas and sold roofing door to door.

By the time Rivers was 21, the couple had two daughters, Bridgitte, now 26, and Jeanne, now 23. They often didn't have health insurance. "When the bill arrives at the end of the month, I know what it's like to wonder what other bill you're not going to pay in order to pay the hospital," Rivers said. "That voice needs to be there in Congress," she said. In 1980, the family moved to Ann Arbor where Joe got a job as a boilermaker with the University of Michigan.

Lynn sold Tupper-ware and worked in a gourmet bake shop and catering business. By 1984, Joe was working at the Ford plant in Ypsilanti and joined the UAW. That same year Lynn, then 28, enrolled atU-M. Bridgitte, who was in first grade at Bryant Elementary School, was having difficulty learning to read. Frustrated with her attempts to get her daughter's teacher to try a new approach, Rivers ran for the Ann Arbor school board.

In a field of 11 candidates, she was the top vote-getter. She served eight years, the last three as president. "I didn't turn up at school board meetings thinking it would lead to Congress," Rivers said. "I learned early on that if you're not engaged in the decision-making process, no one is considering your views." Tanya Israel, who served with Rivers on the school board and is volunteering for the Rivers campaign, remembers her as a tenacious advocate for the underdog and a champion of equal rights for women and blacks in education. Israel said she is not surprised that she has taken on Dingell.

"When she believes in something, she will go after it with everything she's got," Israel said. By 1992, Rivers had earned a bachelor of arts from the University of Michigan and a law degree from Wayne State University. That year she also won election to the state House representing Ann Arbor, a seat she held for two years. She also had battled manic depression for more than a decade. The family's struggle to pay for her treatment which consumed half of their take-home pay helps her perspective on mental health issues, she says.

"There is talk all over the country about the need for parity in mental health coverage," she said. "My experience gives me a unique authority." First successful run When veteran Congressman Bill Ford decided to retire in 1994 after 15 terms, Rivers decided to run for his seat. She had no endorsements from unions, Democratic Party officials or elected officials outside Ann Arbor. Ford's assistant, Dave Geiss, was the heir apparent among party hierarchy. Rivers recalls a meeting in Lansing of party officials in which Frank Garrison, then president of the AFLCIO, challenged her candidacy, suggesting women's groups in Washington had "got her all worked up." "My spine stiffened and my cheeks flushed," Rivers said.

"People always say, 'Don't run, you can't My life is about hanging in there." In her campaign, Rivers described herself as a "short, fat mother of two with an auto worker husband who drives a pickup." Rivers won 57 percent of the vote in a three-way primary and took the general. She was re-elected easily in 1996, 1998 and 2000. Along the way, she divorced in 1999, shed 65 pounds and switched her trademark black oversized glasses for more stylish ones. Today she presents a polished appearance with short auburn hair, mauve acrylic nails and silk shantung suits, but still buys some clothes at thrift shops. FREE PHONE Get a Motorola 1 93 for FREE after a $50 mail-in rebate.

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