Article Last Updated:
Saturday, October 26, 2002 - 2:56:25 AM MST

Senator, family die in plane crash
Wellstone's death has

By Richard Simon
Los Angeles Times and Stephanie Simon

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., a leading liberal voice in Congress who was locked in a tight re-election campaign, was killed in a plane crash in his home state Friday, along with his wife, daughter and five others.

His death 11 days before the Nov. 5 election -- coming as Democrats thought he was gaining the upper hand in the race -- could have major repercussions on the battle for the Senate. Democrats currently have a one-seat majority, and the Minnesota race is one of a handful expected to determine which party controls the Senate next year.

State law allows the Democrats to substitute a name on the ballot up to four days before the election. Former Vice President Walter F. Mondale, who previously represented Minnesota in the Senate, is a prominent name under consideration.

Wellstone, 58, was on his way to the funeral of a state lawmaker's father when the twin-engine plane went down in a light snow in northern Minnesota. The cause of the crash, including the possibility of icing on the wings, was under investigation. All eight people on board died, including three staff members and two pilots.

"As adults, we don't have a lot of heroes. But he was my hero," said Charlie Bulman, one of thousands of Wellstone supporters who gathered on the steps of the state Capitol in St. Paul on a drizzly, windy Friday night to mourn the senator.

Wellstone, in one of his last votes, opposed the Senate resolution passed earlier this month authorizing President Bush to use military force against Iraq. As was typical during much of his Senate tenure, Wellstone found himself very much in the minority on the issue; the resolution passed, 77 to 23.

But Wellstone was well-liked by partisan friend and foe alike, and widely respected for his commitment to his political beliefs.

Bush took note of that in paying tribute to Wellstone, calling him a "man of deep convictions, a plain-spoken fellow who did his best for his state and for his country."

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, pausing from his own re-election campaign, broke down in tears as he spoke of Wellstone, a frequent comrade-in-arms for liberal causes.

"Paul Wellstone was my closest friend in the Senate," Harkin said after composing himself. "He was the most principled public servant I've ever known. ... It didn't matter a bit if his was the only vote for or against something."

In a typical comment from conservative colleagues, Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, said that while he and Wellstone "differed philosophically and politically, I greatly admired and respected his energy and his commitment to public policy and the people of Minnesota."

He added: "Paul was honest, cheerful and had a wonderful sense of humor."

Another of Capitol Hill's most consistent liberals, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., called Wellstone "more than just another Democrat. He was a Democrat in the mold of the Kennedys and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He made me proud to be called a liberal."

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., called Wellstone "the soul of the Senate." And Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, an independent, said the state had "suffered a deep and penetrating loss."

Wellstone's wife, Sheila, was 58; their daughter, Marcia, 33. The couple had two other children, sons David and Mark, and six grandchildren.

Wellstone was facing a strong challenge from Republican Norm Coleman, a former mayor of St. Paul in a race that has been watched nationally since the campaign's start.

Democrats control the Senate, 50 to 49, with one independent. With 34 seats at stake in the Nov. 5 election, a net party turnover of just one seat would flip control to the Republicans.

Political analyst, Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia, said he anticipates Democrats will hold Wellstone's seat. "As long as the state Democratic party nominates a respectable candidate, that nominee will now be favored to take the seat. ... An intense wave of sympathy may well help all Democrats in Minnesota on Nov. 5," he said.

Like many analysts, Sabato noted the similarity of Wellstone's death to a plane crash in Missouri late in the 2000 campaign.

Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan died in that crash less than a month before Election Day as he campaigned for the Senate against then-incumbent John Ashcroft. Carnahan's name remained on the ballot and he won. His wife, Jean, was appointed to serve in his place.

Unlike Missouri, however, Minnesota state law apparently will require Democrats to substitute Wellstone's name on the ballot.

Ventura can appoint a successor until a new senator is elected, but he declined to say if he plans to do so. Ventura, who is not seeking re-election, did say he would not appoint himself.

Any appointment would basically be moot, since whoever wins the election would be sworn into the seat almost immediately, according to a spokesman for the Minnesota Secretary of State.

Wellstone was a 5-foot-5 college wrestling champion who once called himself a "rock-the-boat politician." The son of Russian immigrants, the former college professor -- who was once arrested in a bank for demonstrating over farm foreclosures -- upset a heavily financed incumbent, Republican Rudy Boschwitz, to win election to the Senate in 1990.

Mother Jones magazine called Wellstone "the first 1960s radical elected to the U.S. Senate."

Wellstone also was an advocate for the mentally ill. He and Sen. Pete V. Domenici, R-N.M., both with close relatives with mental disorders, have worked together to try to expand health insurance coverage for mental illness.

In February, he disclosed that he has a mild form of multiple sclerosis, but pledged to continue his bid for a third term.

On Friday, there was no indication of trouble aboard Wellstone's plane before it crashed, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Greg Martin.

The twin-engine turboprop, which had taken off from St. Paul, was about five miles east of its destination, a small airfield in Eveleth, Minn. Eveleth is a town of about4,000 residents in the rugged Iron Range country, 60 miles north of Duluth.

The last contact with the Beech A-100 was a routine communication about 9:20 a.m. Eveleth does not have a control tower, so the pilots would have been making a visual final approach to the airport for a landing at their own discretion.

"The plane called in on the (local radio frequency) and (the pilot) said he was inbound for Runway 2-7," said JoAnn Sipola, who works at Taconite Aviation Inc., a maintenance facility at the airport.

She said that a few moments later, air traffic controllers in Duluth called and said the plane had disappeared from radar. At their request, Gary Ulman, who owns the maintenance facility, got in his own private plane and flew east looking for possible wreckage.

"He told me it had crashed and burned," Sipola said. "The tail section was identifiable, but that's about all."

(Optional add end)

The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates all aircraft accidents, sent a team of investigators to the scene. Reflecting Wellstone's prominence, NTSB acting chairwoman Carol Carmody planned to accompany the team and act as its official spokeswoman.

Investigators will examine the plane's wreckage for signs of mechanical problems, analyze the weather at the time of the crash, scrutinize radar data and delve into the backgrounds and actions of the pilots. The plane is believed to have been equipped with a cockpit voice recorder, an NTSB official said.

The Beech A-100 that Wellstone was flying in was built in 1989 and was registered to Beech Transportation of Eden Praire, Minn. Records indicate no prior mishaps and no history of unusual problems.

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