Denis Moynihan helped lead an attempt to shut down the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle.

Now he’s trying to shut down Dennis Moore’s tenure in Congress.

Moynihan, a grass-roots organizer who moved to Lawrence in May, is running a write-in campaign in the 3rd District of the U.S. House.

The campaign, Moynihan admits, is more about making a statement against Moore, the Lenexa Democrat who was first elected in 1998, than promoting himself for the office.

“This could be read as a protest,” Moynihan said. “I’m campaigning against Dennis Moore.”

Moynihan, an unaffiliated voter, is running almost exclusively on one issue  Moore’s support of the resolution allowing President Bush to authorize the use of military force against Iraq. Moynihan said Moore ignored thousands of phone calls from constituents who opposed the resolution.

“Here’s a way Moore and his Democratic Party bosses can get a number and put that in their political calculations,” he said. “Regardless of how it turns out, it will send a clear message to the Democratic party that these people need to be listened to.”

Moore called his decision to vote for the resolution “the hardest vote I’ve passed in four years of Congress.” He said he based his vote, in part, on information he received in classified briefings.

On Monday, Moynihan filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the Department of Defense, Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Council, seeking information on those classified meetings.

Moynihan, 37, announced his candidacy Oct. 19, giving him just 17 days before the election to campaign. By contrast, Adam Taff, the Lake Quivira Republican challenging Moore, announced his candidacy Jan. 16.

Moynihan has been hitting the streets, distributing fliers. He also has been campaigning at peace rallies and parades.

“It’s really going to be word of mouth,” he said.

Activist past

Moynihan is a native of Boston and graduate of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

He said he’s been a full-time activist 12 years. In 1999, he was a spokesman for the Direct Action Network, an organization that organized some of the protests at the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle. More than 300 protesters were arrested, and the activists took credit for a breakdown in WTO negotiations.

He spent much of the 2000 election touring the United States, protesting corporate influence in the election process. He also recently worked to preserve Pacifica, a listener-supported radio network, from corporate control.

Moynihan moved earlier this year to Lawrence to become co-coordinator of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee. The committee is working to free Peltier, an American Indian activist who was convicted of the 1975 murder of two FBI agents. Moynihan took a leave of absence from the committee to run his campaign.

‘Politics as usual’

Moynihan said he opposed war on Iraq for two main reasons  money and morality.

“They’re willing to throw away this huge pile of money on something many people in the world are opposed to and think is wrong,” he said. “We know innocent people will be killed. We’re not supporting Saddam Hussein in any regard, but there has to be another way to solve this problem.”

With many political observers expecting the 3rd District race to be tight  both candidates say they have polls showing they’re ahead  Moynihan said Moore defectors could make a difference.

“To me, and a lot of people, it doesn’t matter whether Taff or Moore are in office,” he said. “It’s going to be politics as usual. This is an opportunity for people to vote their conscience, to do something other than choosing the lesser of two evils.”