Free Republic

New challenging the old in race for GOP congressional candidateBy Bill HessHerald/ReviewTuesday's Republican congressional primary election pits a veteran lawmaker against a political newcomer.Jim Kolbe has built a strong political base in Southeastern Arizona over the past 20 years. He is now seeking his 10th two-year term in Congress.Jim Behnke, a former Army Ranger lieutenant colonel, is an ordained pastor of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, who stunned many GOP faithful when he decided to challenge Kolbe.The campaign has been low-key with no formal debates. With a large political war chest, Kolbe has been quietly campaigning. Most of his appearances...

Sunday, September 8, 2002 Danger funnels northward Camino del Diablo, in southwestern Arizona, is so heavily traveled by agents and smugglers that its surface is called "moon dust." Stand by your lands: Vergial Harp, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has a semiautomatic rifle at the ready while traveling in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge southeast of Yuma. The Border Patrol's Alex Chavez drives a dozen border crossers to the Lukeville port of entry, where they will be photographed, fingerprinted and sent packing to Mexico. Flow of drugs, people places lives at riskStory by Mitch Tobin Photos By...

Wednesday, August 7, 2002 Veteran wants soldiers watching border By Hipolito R. Corella / ARIZONA DAILY STAR Jim Behnke looks across the picturesque San Rafael Valley from atop Montezuma Pass and sees the perfect place for the military to taper off a stampede of illegal entrants. Behnke, 68, says it's time for the federal government to put soldiers along the remote hills and canyons that stretch farther than the eye can see from this pass 6,575 feet up the southern tip of the Huachuca Mountains. District 8 candidate calls illegal immigration 'national emergency.' James Behnke Personal: Married, 68, two...