The New York Times - October 22, 1986
Robin Toner

With $4,000 and an all-volunteer organization made up mostly of conservative Christians, he won the Republican nomination in Indiana's Second Congressional District. His top issues included AIDS and abortion.

"People are dying from abortion, and people are dying from AIDS," Mr. Lynch said in an interview this week. "Something needs to be done right now." He advocates barring AIDS victims from schools, for instance.

In the primary, he defeated a Muncie businessman who had strong support in the party's establishment. In the general election, he is waging an uphill battle against Representative Philip R. Sharp, the Democratic incumbent. Mr. Lynch has raised about $62,000 since the primary, a spokesman said, which is not much for a Congressional race.

Scant Aid From National Party

He has not received much help from the national party; he feels he deserves more. His campaign chairman, John R. Price, asserts that the "old Republicans" do not want to see candidates like Mr. Lynch win.

The young minister's campaign reflects some of the growing pains of a key movement in the Republican Party: the mobilization of Christian conservatives as party activists and candidates. It is a movement that presents the party with both opportunities and risks, in the view of many people familiar with the situation.

It has already led to some tension beween newly energized Christian activists and longtime members of the party establishment. The party's ability to manage these tensions could be critical over the next two years, as it seeks to preserve the electoral gains forged by President Reagan, according to people in political circles. In this election season, Indiana offers a case study of the process.

Gordon K. Durnil, chairman of the Indiana Republican Party, presides over a highly successful party that controls both houses of the State Legislature, the governorship and both United States Senate seats.

Welcoming Fundamentalists

The state chairman said party leaders worked hard in recent years to make fundamentalists feel welcome, as they have with other new arrivals. "We are now political leaders managing coalitions," said Mr. Durnil. "We're no longer this little inbred country club set."

But many party regulars were caught off guard this year by the primary victory of Mr. Lynch, assistant pastor of the Beech Grove Independent Nazarene Church, south of Indianapolis. His previous political activity was largely limited to the anti-abortion movement.

It was not the only Congressional upset in Indiana in which conservative Christians played a crucial role. In the Fifth Congressional District, most of the Republican county chairmen backed State Treasurer Julian Ridlen in his effort to succeed the retiring Republican incumbent. But the nomination was won by State Senator Jim Butcher, who is heavily supported by conservative Christians; the Rev. Pat Robertson, the television evangelist, appeared at fund-raising events in Mr. Butcher's primary campaign.

Stress on Legislative Experience

Mr. Butcher, however, emphasized this week that he was a lawyer with eight years of legislative experience. He drew a distinction between himself and political newcomers such as Mr. Lynch. "I am a Christian, and I'm involved in politics," Mr. Butcher said, "but it's not like all of a sudden I got into politics. I've paid my dues. This is a natural progression."

Indeed, the party appeared to close ranks quickly around Mr. Butcher. Stuart Rothenberg, who is director of the political division of the conservative Institute for Government and Politics and co-author of the book "The Evangelical Voter," says Mr. Butcher is the "successful model" for candidates who come out of a religious background.

Voters, Mr. Rothenberg said, are uneasy with candidates perceived only as outgrowths of religious movements.

Rougher Road for Pastor

The course has been rockier for Mr. Lynch. The National Republican Congressional Committee did not put much emphasis on his district this year, as it has in years past. It gave Mr. Lynch $1,000, a small proportion of what it could provide in money and services under the law.

Mr. Price, the chairman of the Lynch campaign, asserted that the committee's treatment of Mr. Lynch amounted to "Christian-bashing." In an interview in his law office this week, Mr. Price argued that "there's no other discernible reason" for the national committee not to make a heavier commitment to the Lynch campaign.

A spokesman for the committee responded, "It's not fair to characterize the committee as making a decision based on someone's religious preference."

Mr. Price, a longtime activist from the party's conservative wing, asserts that candidates like Mr. Lynch are "the new Republicans," with clear-cut positions on the issues.

Christian Consultant's Warning

As an example, he cites Mr. Lynch's stance on acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Mr. Lynch has campaigned heavily on the threat of AIDS.

Gary Jarmin, a political consultant to Christian Voice, a conservative lobbying organization, argues that the party can pay a price for appearing to slight candidates like Mr. Lynch.

Mr. Jarmin said: "Let's say Lynch doesn't win this race, and '88 comes, and you nominate someone you consider a very viable candidate that the establishment's pleased with. You come to us, and say, 'Look, we need you conservative Christians to help us knock off Sharp.' Why should we help you?"

Mr. Durnil, the Republican chairman, said he believed that over the years the party built up a relationship with religious activists that would last. He said he believes the party had been strengthened by their emergence, and he discounted the notion that they could cost the party the support of younger, more liberal voters.

However, John B. Livengood, the Democratic state chairman, asserts that Republican leaders are concerned about the heightened visibility of fundamentalists like Mr. Lynch in their party.

"I think the leadership in the Republican Party is, in public, trying to put the best face on it," he said. "And in private, they're hoping they can outlast it."

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