Topeka lawyer Dan Lykins says he can slip past incumbent Rep. Jim Ryun with a flurry of TV ads in the final days of the campaign.

The sprint to the finish is the only way to beat Ryun’s name recognition as a former Olympic miler, he said.

“My goal is to raise $100,000 to get on television,” said Lykins, the Democratic Party’s nominee. “If I can do that, I’ll win.”

The spots will focus on Ryun’s alleged too-cozy relationship with big business, Lykins said.

“He sold himself to the highest bidder,” Lykins said of his opponent. “He let the foxes in the henhouse. He should be held accountable.”

Ryun, who lives near Lawrence in Jefferson County, said he wouldn’t be surprised if the ads were full of distortions. Ryun said he’s had to spend much of his time during this campaign clarifying his voting record after being unjustly trashed by Lykins.

“The biggest thing I’ve had to do is put water on the fire,” Ryun said. “He’s desperate.”

Neither Lykins nor Ryun faced primary opposition. Art Clack, a Libertarian from Manhattan, joins them on the Nov. 5 general election ballot. They’re running in the 2nd District, which includes western Lawrence and stretches to the border of Nebraska and Oklahoma.

Political opposites

Ryun and Lykins are demographic mirrors of each other. They’re wealthy, white, married, church-going, college-educated men in their mid-50s willing to spend a lot of money to earn a two-year job assignment in Washington, D.C.

They’re also political opposites.

Lykins grew up around politicians, having worked as a child in Atchison on behalf of Adlai Stevenson. Ryun wasn’t a prominent figure in the Kansas Republican Party prior to his 1996 victory.

Ryun is a conservative GOP congressman secure in the backing of pro-business interests; Lykins is a moderate Democrat who makes a good living filing lawsuits against companies as a personal-injury attorney.

To put it bluntly, Lykins isn’t a household name.

Ryun is well-known in Kansas, first gaining popularity for running a sub-four-minute mile in high school and later competing in the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Olympics.

It will be a miracle if Lykins raises $100,000 for a last-ditch advertising blitz. Ryun has a sizable campaign treasury, entering the race with more than $325,000 in the bank.

Lykins has lost campaigns for the Kansas Senate and Kansas attorney general; Ryun has not failed in three elections for Congress.

Ryun is content to avoid confrontation on the campaign trail, while Lykins takes every opportunity to attack the incumbent. Ryun agreed to two debates; Lykins proposed 10.

Smoking-gun issue?

Lykins and Ryun don’t agree that “corporate irresponsibility,” as Lykins puts it, is the central issue of the campaign.

If you embrace Lykins’ perspective, the congressman is guilty of allowing a culture of CEO corruption and greed to flourish. His favorite example involves Ryun and David Wittig, chairman of Westar Energy in Topeka.

Lykins said Wittig received more than $15 million in salary and stock while Westar’s stock declined from $44 a share in 1998 to $12 this year. Meanwhile, Ryun accepted more than $33,000 in campaign contributions from Wittig and other Westar executives since 1997.

“People ask: ‘Are you running against Wittig or Ryun?'” Lykins said. “I’m running against both. They’re in the same bed. Big business loves Jim Ryun.”

Asked about Lykins’ charges, Ryun cried foul.

Ryun said he helped fashion and voted for a bill that would tighten restrictions on accountants and corporate executives.

“My record is really very clear on this. I have faithfully and firmly supported measures to increase confidence in the market…. I’ve also voted for pension reforms for employees so that their hard-earned retirement savings will have greater protection,” Ryun said.

He said Lykins was wrong to suggest a philosophy designed to bolster the state and national economy was something sinister.

“I know my vote is not for sale.” Ryun said. “Maybe he’s been bought and sold by the trial attorneys.”

Fighting terrorism

One subject Ryun and Lykins agree on is that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is a despot who needs to be removed from power.

Ryun, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, said the U.S. military should disarm Hussein if he won’t allow United Nations resolutions to be enforced.

“He has no regard for those resolutions. He’s intent on killing not only his own people but others,” Ryun said.

Lykins takes a more hawkish posture on Saddam.

Lykins would urge the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to assassinate Saddam before the Iraqi leader can develop and deploy nuclear weapons.

“He’s out to get the U.S,” Lykins said.

Both candidates said military action in Afghanistan was necessary after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the East Coast.

In that vein, Lykins said the federal government should do more to help U.S. soldiers and their families. Increased wages for men and women in uniform as well as better survivor benefits are needed, he said.

“As soldiers fight for our liberty in the Middle East,” he said, “many of their families have to survive on food stamps.”

Ryun said the management of homeland defense should be focused in a single House subcommittee that reports to the Armed Services Committee. Currently, dozens of committees are involved in homeland security matters.

“It’s spread so many places you can’t give the best congressional oversight,” he said.

Car, boat in every garage

Lykins has offered a relentless assault of Ryun based on a book partially authored by the congressman. It’s called “America Strong: George W. Bush’s Plan.”

Lykins points to a chapter on Social Security, in which Ryun argues federal law be amended to allow individuals to place some of their Social Security benefits in personal investments.

“Safe-and-sound stocks,” Ryun writes, would improve the quality of life for retirees. If all went well, he added in the book, folks “could own a small boat, buy a new car every few years and travel all over the world.”

Lykins said the prospect of many people running their own portfolios was remote. Opening up the Social Security fund to the whims of Wall Street would threaten the financial future of millions of Americans.

“The market has been bad,” he said.

Ryun said the book was an attempt to “get the president’s message out” on a wide range of policy issues. Allowing people to have greater control over their retirement benefits is a good idea even if the boat and car aren’t part of the picture, he said.

“As the money stays here (in Washington), there is very little return,” he said. “We have to look at other options.”

New political boundary

The 2nd District’s boundary changes with this election cycle. All of Lawrence had been in the 3rd District, represented by Dennis Moore, the only Democrat from Kansas in Congress.

But the reapportionment of districts as required by law led to placement of western Lawrence into the 2nd District. The split between the 2nd and 3rd districts is roughly along Iowa Street, and was opposed by Ryun.

“They have to redraw the lines,” Ryun said. “I had hoped the district would stay pretty much the same.”

Ryun said claims by Lykins and others that he wanted to get rid of the southeast Kansas portion of the district weren’t true.

“There are larger districts in the country,” he said.

Ryun is more vulnerable after redistricting, Lykins said. It changed the political makeup of registered voters in the 2nd District by only fractions of percentage points, but Lykins said it gave him an opportunity to tap into moderate Republicans in Lawrence who view Ryun as too conservative.

“Adding Lawrence is a plus. I have a lot of Republican friends in Lawrence,” he said.

While Lykins attempts to take to television to make a final pitch to voters, Ryun will welcome the opportunity to finally get out of Washington to run full-time for re-election in the final weeks of the campaign.

“I’m really interested in getting the opportunity to talk to people … to make sure they know how I voted.”