How sports guys did at the ballot box

Johnson, a 42-year-old Democrat with conservative social views, defeated two-term
incumbent Heather Fargo in a run-off election. He put some pizazz into his campaign with support from Shaquille O'Neal, Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley.

Johnson wants to raise the profile of his hometown and bemoans his city's image beside
that of Los Angeles and San Francisco. He pledged to end a "tired, bureaucratic, uninspired, unresponsive" City Hall.

Shuler, a Heisman Trophy runner-up at Tennessee who played quarterback for the Washington Redskins and New Orleans Saints, won his first bid for re-election to
Congress. The North Carolina Democrat, whose district is in the state's western mountains, defeated Carl Mumpower, who had irritated local Republican officials by saying he would support efforts to impeach President Bush.

"I did what I said I would do and I think the people saw that," Shuler said.

Wyche coached in the NFL with Cincinnati and Tampa Bay and made it to the Super Bowl
with the Bengals after the 1988 season. He ran as a Republican and commandingly won a seat on the Pickens County Council in South Carolina, an area that includes Clemson
University. A former quarterback at nearby Furman, Wyche is an assistant football coach
at Pickens High School and a broadcaster.

Mesi had a 36-0 record as a fighter and once had to stop fighting for two years because
of bleeding in his brain. The Democrat had the support of Buffalo Sabres owner B. Thomas Golisano in his attempt to win a state Senate seat but lost to Republican Michael Ranzenhofer.

Joining Shuler in re-election to the House was Rep. Baron Hill of Indiana, a former Furman basketball player. He defeated former Rep. Mike Sodrel, a Republican and trucking company owner. The two have faced off in four consecutive elections.

Norm Dicks, an ex-linebacker at the University of Washington, succeeded in his House re-election bid. Jason Chaffetz, a former BYU kicker who once had 10 extra points in a game, claimed a congressional seat in Utah after beating the incumbent in the Republican primary.

Sports was on the sidelines for the U.S. Senate races. The only senators with jock
connections -- Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky, a Hall of Fame pitcher, and Sen. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, owner of the Milwaukee Bucks -- were not up for election.

Joey Browner, a former Pro Bowl safety with the Minnesota Vikings, lost as a write-in for the City Council in the Minneapolis suburb of Eagan.

In state legislative races, Peter Boulware, a former star linebacker at Florida State who went on to the Baltimore Ravens, was vying for a seat in Florida and trailing by 403 votes. Boulware, a Republican, appeared headed for a recount.

Bob Heaton, who played with Larry Bird on the Indiana State team that went to the 1979 Final Four, lost a close race in Indiana.

Two ex-college football players were re-elected in the Oklahoma Legislature -- Todd Thomsen, a former punter and kicker for Oklahoma, and Tad Jones, a former backup quarterback at Tulsa. Anton Gunn, once an offensive lineman at South Carolina, won a seat in the South Carolina Legislature.

In Hawaii, Mufi Hannemann, a 6-foot-7 former Harvard basketball player, gained a second term as Honolulu mayor.