Correction Changes Number of Lutherans in Congress

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- There are 22 Lutherans in Congress, rather than the 23 earlier reported.  The list of Lutherans in the 105th Congress of the United States has changed due to corrections made by the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA), Washington, D.C.
     LOGA said U.S. Representative Paul E. Gillmor (R-Ohio 5th) had been in the list of Lutherans but is a member of the United Methodist Church.
     One member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is completing the term of another ELCA member.  Lois Capps, 60, won a special election to complete her husband's first term in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Walter Capps -- a religious studies professor for 32 years -- died Oct. 28, 1997, after serving 10 months of his two-year term.
     Lois Capps, Santa Barbara, Calif., is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash., who had a 20-year career in public health nursing.  The Democrat defeated her Republican opponent, Tom J. Bordonaro Jr., by a 12,000-vote margin.  A June 2 primary determined the two will face each other again in November.
     Twelve of the 22 Lutherans in Congress are Democrats, according to LOGA.  Ten are Republicans.
     The five Lutherans in the U.S. Senate are Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), Rod Grams (R-Minn.), Ernest F. "Fritz" Hollings (D-S.C.), and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.).
     The 17 Lutherans in the U.S. House of Representatives are Douglas K. Bereuter (R-Neb. 1st), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio 13th), Lois Capps (D-Calif. 22nd), Norman D. Dicks (D-Wash. 6th), Darlene Hooley (D-Ore. 5th), Ron Kind (D-Wis. 3rd), Tom Latham (R-Iowa 5th), David Minge (D-Minn. 2nd), Mark W. Neumann (R-Wis. 1st), Jim Nussle (R-Iowa 2nd), Michael Oxley (R-Ohio 4th), Collin C. Peterson (D-Minn. 7th), Thomas E. Petri (R-Wis. 6th), Martin Olav Sabo (D-Minn. 5th), John M. Shimkus (R-Ill. 20th), Floyd D. Spence (R-S.C. 2nd), and Charles W. Stenholm (D-Texas 17th).
     All are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, except Senators Burns and Grams and Representatives Bereuter and Shimkus who are members of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod; Representative Neumann is a member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html