Politics with Famous Relish

JUDGING from the mounting costs of political campaigns, one might conclude that democracy, as practiced in the U.S., is fast becoming a millionaire's game. Certainly H. John Heinz III, great-grandson of the founder of H.J. Heinz Co., would not be Pennsylvania's Congressman from the 18th District today were he not the inheritor of 57 varieties of fame and revenue. But Heinz's constituents, from suburbanites to mill workers, seem so happy with his performance that they are expected to return him to office with a stunning margin.

It is not hard to see why. Heinz, 34, has drawn heavily upon his own funds and talents to represent the polyglot residents of his district, which includes the northern and southwestern suburbs of Pittsburgh. In a single year he has built up one of the best political organizations in the western part of the state. A former advance man for Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott, Heinz is already being eyed as a possible successor for Scott's seat.

After an Eastern Establishment education--Exeter, Yale College and the Harvard University Business School--Heinz joined the family business. Within three years he had assumed a top sales job, but he was restless. In 1970 he quit to become a lecturer in business administration. After Representative Robert Corbett's death left a House seat vacant in the spring of 1971, Heinz declared his candidacy.

Launching his $146,000 campaign with a breakfast aboard a river excursion boat, Heinz never let up. He conducted opinion polls on dozens of subjects, blitzed the district with position papers, and wined and feted labor leaders, political pros and volunteer workers. One presumable campaign asset was his attractive wife Marie Teresa Simoes-Ferreira Heinz, 34. Born in Mozambique, she speaks French, Spanish and Portuguese, but can use very direct English when talking politics. She shocked one group by labeling it "a bunch of bigots."

When it was all over, Heinz had beaten his opponent, also a millionaire, 2 to 1. He and his wife set up housekeeping in Washington, D.C., in what had been the Russian embassy during the reign of Czar Nicholas I (it cost the Heinzes $500,000), and plunged into the capital's social life. But Heinz has taken his political responsibilities seriously. A hard worker and self-styled moderate, he has bucked the Republican leadership on some big issues, including the war. Last spring on the floor of the House, he questioned the mining of Haiphong Harbor and the bombing of the North.

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