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Tip O'Neill survived with only token opposition. But Majority Leader Jim Wright, who has spent 25 years in Congress and aspires to succeed the Speaker when O'Neill retires, barely beat back a stern challenge in Fort Worth from conservative Republican Jim Bradshaw, who was strongly backed by some wealthy oilmen. But the third man in the Democratic hierarchy, Whip John Brademas, 53, of Indiana, lost his bid for a twelfth term to Businessman John Hiler. The attractive, young (27), conservative Hiler convinced the voters of his district, which includes South Bend, that Brademas, because of his leadership position, had to share the blame for the sorry state of the economy. Said Hiler: "I am the point man of the effort to change the direction of the country."
The chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee is so powerful that the last man who held it, Wilbur Mills, was able to jump into the Washington Tidal Basin with Stripper Fanne Foxe and still win reelection. But his successor, Al Ullman of Oregon, did something even worse in the eyes of many constituents: he proposed a national value-added tax, which to many .voters in his district sounded suspiciously like the state sales tax that they had repeatedly rejected in referendums. In addition, while Ullman clambered up the rungs of power on Capitol Hill, he visited his home folks too infrequently. Despite his late disavowal of the tax proposal, he was narrowly beaten by Denny Smith, 42, son of a former Oregon Governor and the publisher of 15 newspapers. Ullman plans to demand a recount.
Other House leaders suffered similar fates. Public Works Chairman Harold ("Bizz") Johnson, 72, was defeated after eleven terms by California Assemblyman Eugene Chappie of Sacramento. Jim Corman, head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, was defeated by Bobbi Fiedler, whose chief issue was opposition to court-ordered busing to desegregate schools in Los Angeles County. Ohio's Thomas ("Lud") Ashley, who as chairman of an ad hoc energy committee guided much of President Carter's energy program into law, was upset by Attorney Ed Weber of Toledo. But liberal Warhorse Morris Udall, 58, recently stricken by Parkinson's disease, beat back a strong challenge from a conservative real estate millionaire, Richard Huff, 54, in Arizona.
Abscamed into Obscurity. The only fate worse than being a Democratic leader was being filmed by FBI undercover agents while dealing with fictitious sheiks. The two Democrats convicted in the scandal, Michael ("Ozzie") Myers of Pennsylvania and John Jenrette of South Carolina, as well as two awaiting trial, Frank Thompson of New Jersey and Merchant Marine Committee Chairman John Murphy of New York, were defeated. The sole survivor among those indicted: Raymond Lederer of Pennsylvania, whose trial is scheduled for December.