9/11 victims’ families carry GOP banner in Mass., Fla.

After several military veterans spurred Democrats on to victory in 2006, some family members of Sept. 11 victims are aiming to help Republicans retake lost ground.

Those touched directly by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, haven’t jumped into politics in the same way that Democratic veterans did in the 2006 midterm elections. But now two Republicans who had loved ones among the 3,000 dead are breaking new ground and running for the House.

{mosads}Air Force Lt. Col. Jim Ogonowski and former Navy pilot Marc Flagg are both in Washington this week to meet with the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). Ogonowski is running in this year’s special election in Massachusetts’s 5th district, and Flagg is challenging freshman Rep. Ron Klein (D) in 2008 in Florida’s 22nd district.

Until this point, Sept. 11-connected candidates have been few in number. They include a pair of New York City firefighters who ran long-shot bids against Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) in 2002 — one as a Republican and one as a Green.

But the Massachusetts special election and Klein’s seat could both draw some interest from national Republicans, the former because special elections are often unpredictable and the latter because Klein unseated a 26-year GOP incumbent, Rep. Clay Shaw Jr.

NRCC spokesman Ken Spain said both candidates bring fresh perspectives to the GOP’s effort.
“They truly understand the nature of the post-Sept. 11 world that we live in because of the tragic experiences they have had to endure,” Spain said. “Their motivation for running is fueled not by partisan politics, but by conviction and sacrifice, and those are the qualities that voters long for in a candidate.”

Ogonowski said he has had this election cycle circled on his calendar for more than a decade, marking the end of his military career and the beginning of his political life.

But his connection to the events of Sept. 11 has provided him with valuable publicity early in that quest. On that day, Ogonowski’s brother John piloted American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane that the attackers forced into the World Trade Center.

That fact has been prominent in the media since he declared his candidacy two weeks ago, but Ogonowski doesn’t mention it on his website and is wary of being pigeonholed as a candidate.

“The only time I respond to anything associated with Sept. 11 is when I’ve been asked,” Ogonowski said. “Of course it’s going to be interrelated with other aspects of the campaign … but it will not be the forefront of my campaign. But it is part of who I am today.”

Conversely, it is impossible to visit Flagg’s site and not learn that his parents perished aboard American Flight 77, which was forced into the Pentagon. It is written twice on the front of his website, alongside his ensuing work on aviation security.

Flagg also mentions his parents early in a Web video announcing his candidacy. He said he wouldn’t be a candidate were it not for the events of Sept. 11, and that without national security nothing else matters.

“Nine-eleven changed everything for me; I was quite happy being just a pilot,” Flagg said. “For the last five years, I’ve helped this country. And I’d like to continue to do that because I see us going down a very different road than where we should be going.”

It’s too early to tell whether Ogonowski and Flagg are at the front end of a new trend — Ogonowski thought he was the only Sept. 11 family member running until Flagg was brought to his attention by The Hill — but it’s clear that both face uphill battles.

They may or may not find a lesson in 2006. Despite the dozens of Democratic veteran candidates and the substantial turnover in the 2006 election, only four made it to Congress: Reps. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), Joe Sestak (D-Pa.), Chris Carney (D-Pa.) and Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.).

In addition, both Ogonowski and Flagg are running in districts that have voted for Democrats in the last two presidential elections.

But with Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Mass.) set to retire and assume the chancellorship at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Ogonowski sees a prime opportunity a year earlier than he anticipated making his first run for office.

He also won’t have to face the eighth-term incumbent, whom he considers a friend and had hoped would get a chance to run for Senate in 2008.

“I was the most disappointed Republican in the country when [Sen.] John Kerry (D-Mass.) announced that he wasn’t running for president,” Ogonowski said. “I probably would not have run against [Meehan].”

While Republicans have cleared the way for Ogonowski, Flagg isn’t the first choice of his party. Several state legislators have already passed on a Klein challenge, which will be among the most expensive in the country if the GOP wants the seat back.

Other examples of Sept. 11 family members in national politics are few and far between, and it doesn’t appear any others are running for Congress right now.

Joe Finley, the Republican firefighter who ran against Steve Israel in 2002, took 40 percent of the vote despite raising only about $160,000. The Green Party firefighter, John Keenan, took about 1 percent.

In Arkansas, Deena Burnett, who lost her husband when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania, has been very involved in Republican politics. Burnett has not expressed any interest in running for office, however, and she did not return phone calls from The Hill.

Burnett was one of several Sept. 11 family members to speak at the 2004 Republican National Convention.