It's always nice to see a group of Democrats wasting their campaign funds running against each other in the primary, long before they get to match up with us...
Posted on 07/29/2002 12:28:49 PM PDT by Jomini
Sam Davis, a hardware store owner and Democratic county commissioner from Elizabeth City, put $150,000 of his own money into his campaign for the 1st District congressional seat.
The contribution dwarfed the $23,000 he received from other donors, according to a report filed this month with the Federal Elections Commission, and left him with about $157,000 in the bank at the end of June.
State Sen. Frank Ballance of Warrenton raised about $107,000 in the three months from April through June and had about $130,000 in the bank at the end of the second quarter. Janice McKenzie Cole, a former U.S. attorney, raised about $92,500 and had $184,000 in the bank. Christine Fitch, a school board member from Wilson, raised about $4,400 and still had most of it in the bank.
Davis touted his bank balance in a press release with the heading, "Davis Leads Ballance!"
Shane Reese, Davis' campaign manager, said Davis gave his campaign the money to show he was serious about the race.
"He really has been sowing oats everywhere, all over the district, and things are going very well," Reese said.
The four Democrats and Republican Greg Dority are seeking to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Eva Clayton of Littleton in the district, which has a 50.1 percent African-American population. More than 73 percent of the voters are registered Democrats.
Ballance said he was concerned about Davis' ability to commit so much of his own money to the race. "I'm concerned that he's got more money than I've got," Ballance said, laughing.
The state NAACP has protested the elimination of the runoff primary for fear that in a majority-minority district, African-American candidates would split the African-American vote in the primary, and a white candidate could end up winning. Ballance, Cole and Fitch are black, and Davis is white.
Ballance, however, said he wasn't worried about voter divisions leading to a Davis win.
"I don't believe the votes are going to be split so he can slide in," Ballance said.
Reese said race was not part of the campaign's calculations.
"From day one, regardless, Mr. Davis hasn't looked at the race issue," Reese said. "His No. 1 priority and his only priority is to represent the people of the 1st District."
In Pasquotank, Perquimans, Chowan, Washington, and Martin counties the Black Caucus has abandoned Ballance and committed to Janice Cole -- she projects to pull about 25%. Wilson County school board member and ECU educator Fitch projected to draw some 10% of the primary vote from primarily Wilson and Pitt counties.
This leaves the door wide open for Sam Davis to emerge from the primary with about a 35% plurality. He would then face GOP conservative candidate Dority in what would no doubt be an epic showdown in November.
Much of eastern North Carolina, both Black and White -- and Republican and Democrat alarmed about the possibility of Frank Ballance going to Congress. Many forces and factions now working in tandem to ensure his defeat.
September 10 to rock the entire state east of I-95 as the Sam Davis agreement reached last week at Wilbur's BBQ destined to propel him to victory in the runoff-less primary.
Albanianism is, as Albanianism does...
J
It's always nice to see a group of Democrats wasting their campaign funds running against each other in the primary, long before they get to match up with us...
I first heard of him here at FR.
The very first local mention I've seen is from the Rocky Mount Telegram website:
Snyder campaigns in area (note: article also quotes Dority)
That article is from 7/26, but doesn't clearly say so.
Jomini - I will post that article separately if you wish.
Please FRmail me if you want to be added to or removed from this North Carolina Ping List.
Say what?
Forces of freedom on the move! Washington, D.C. trembles!
Try to keep up, huh? = )
All this means is that Sam Davis has attracted very little money from anyone else. Hardly a campaign that is catching fire. It takes more than what he has to run a campaign in that area, and he will not win his home area. Cole will win that part, and she will take more white votes than you realize, just as she did when she ran for Judge a few years ago.
There is no postmodern GOP steamroller in eastern NC. There are no GOP strike teams. There will be no epic showdown in November. I don't know what Albanianism is, but whatever it is, it isn't in eastern NC. It will be business as usual, and that part of the state will not be rocked on September 10, at least not by this race.
BTW, where is Wilbur's BBQ? I thought I had been in every greasy spoon east of Raleigh.
And you see, he's white too. This an incredible combination when compared to Frank Ballance or Janice Cole.
No GOP Strike Teams? You scoffed before at the mention of this aspect of the program. You mean you are not impressed that Ashley Stephenson has entered the GOP primary for the right to challenge Marc Basnight? Stephenson the lead plaintiff in the recent GOP lawsuits and brings a new dimension to this race. Basnight will now be forced to spend some of that million dollars he has banked on his own race instead of doling it out to other state senate candidates on the Dem side.
That extra 100K he doesn't give John Kerr just may be the difference in allowing Carolyn Russell to win...
You are wrong about the "postmodern GOP steamroller" down east. It is coming out of nowhere like a powerful left hook to the liver. When this electrifying strike connects it will shut down the Democrat's central nervous system in eastern North Carolina.
The resulting Dem paralysis will result in the election of GOP state House candidates Gorman (Craven), Wobbleton (Martin), Starling/Pate (Wayne), and Klemm/Richardson (Beaufort). These are the swing races now in the state and will result in the winning margin for the Republicans taking back the state House in November.
And to win back the state House the GOP must take three of these four races. So we had all better hope you are mistaken and this 21st century political Cannae comes off as planned.
Because you see, these state lines are a one-time offer. They will be redrawn in 2003-04. If the GOP doesn't win "the pencil" in November -- it's over for another hundred years.
So if you don't mind, we'll give Sam Davis his glory and his dreams -- and hope he'll fill in the last piece of the puzzle. Otherwise November will not be a GOP masterpiece of maneuver -- but instead a Republican victory of annihilation.
As we saw in Hickory over the weekend -- with apologies to Zero Mostel -- "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Quorum."
J
Stephenson is just a candidate, a dedicated conservative, and a great Republican, but a strike team? Give me a break. I hope he does make Basnight spend some money. Toppin couldn't and didn't do that in '00, and you are right that it might make some difference in some races. But Carolyn R. has an uphill fight on the demographics, and there'd be a greater impact if she had 100 K to spend rather than Kerr having 100 K less.
Left hook to the liver? Dem paralysis? Where do you get this stuff? These GOP candidates have chances to win with varying degrees of potential for success, but that's due to the redrawn districts and their own credentials, not to some lightning bolt out of the blue.
And by the way, I'm not predicting Dem success. I believe the GOP will take the House and come mighty close in the Senate, but it will be because of fair and sensible districts, good candidates, and hard work, not some postmodern steamroller mumbo jumbo.
Cute line about what happened in Hickory, but don't you think it was entirely predictable?
I hope your campaign isn't relying on some Albanianistic "flash" that will dramatically reset the table. If it is, then you are done. Even if Sam Davis does win the Dem primary, he will be a heavy favorite over you.
Your article led me to do some online research about who has raised what money in NC.
Why are there no reports filed for Dority for Congress?
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