Posted on 02/14/2003 2:12:10 PM PST by JohnnyZ
For most voters, the names of Republicans considering running for the 5th Congressional District seat are familiar ones: Gray, Brunstetter, Robinson, Snyder, maybe even Hege.
But after U.S. Rep. Richard Burr's announcement Monday that he won't run for re-election and will move toward a run for the U.S. Senate, what's striking is how many Republicans are sizing up the 2004 congressional race.
They are setting the stage for a very competitive primary in a very Republican 5th District.
"There are lots of people interested in succeeding Richard Burr. An open seat does not come along very often," said Lyons Gray, a former state legislator from Winston-Salem who says he is assessing a run for the seat.
"I do think there's going to be a large primary," said Pete Brunstetter, the chairman of the Forsyth County commissioners, who said he is exploring the prospects for a million-dollar campaign as well. "I think you're going to have a lot of good candidates."
Some candidates are already organizing. Vernon Robinson, a member of the Winston-Salem City Council, is lining up county chairmen, talking about replacing the income tax with a national sales tax and abolishing affirmative action in college admissions, employment and contracting.
"We're trying to put it together as quickly as possible," Robinson said yesterday. "I think it's going well. And when we have county chairmen in X number of counties, we'll go public."
In some cases, even candidates who live outside the district are considering campaigns in the 5th, since congressional candidates aren't required to live in their districts.
"A congressional seat doesn't come open every day," said Jim Snyder, a Lexington lawyer who mounted an unsuccessful Senate race last year and is now considering runs for the Senate, governor or House - even though Davidson County isn't in the 5th.
"About one-fourth of the congressmen, I'm informed, do not live in their districts. Davidson County has been part of the 5th. And I live about 10 minutes outside the 5th," Snyder said.
Although its outlines have changed with each plan passed by the General Assembly over the past 12 years, the 5th District remains heavily Republican.
The district is almost 91 percent white. It is 46 percent Republican in a state where analysts consider a district Republican if it is just 35 percent Republican by registration.
The 12-county district is anchored by Forsyth County, which accounts for 28 percent of its population. But Brunstetter warned that if too many candidates from Forsyth enter the race, they could well split the vote and dilute Forsyth's influence.
A day after Burr's announcement, those who said yesterday that they are considering a race in the 5th include:
• Brunstetter, 46, a corporate lawyer at Kilpatrick Stockton who has been a Forsyth County commissioner since 1991 and is the board's chairman.
"Obviously, we're at a stage nationally where you need leadership that's ready to hit the deck running. Given the national-security crisis ... and also the economic problems we're facing, you really can't afford a learning curve," Brunstetter said. "There's no harder way to learn public service and politics than at the local level."
• Gray, 60, who spent 12 years in the N.C. House, headed the House Finance Committee and shepherded through $1.4 billion in tax cuts when Republicans controlled the House from 1995 to 1998.
Gray has run for the congressional seat twice before, and he came close to unseating Democrat Steve Neal even before black and heavily Democratic voters were carved out of the 5th to create the 12th District.
Gray said he wants to continue discussing a campaign with family and potential supporters.
"I am looking at it over the next few weeks to evaluate whether I'll become a candidate," he said.
• Davidson County Sheriff Gerald Hege, 54, said he has had thoughts about higher office.
"I'm keeping my options open," Hege said. "I think that particular area would be a perfect district for me because of the name recognition, and it does have a conservative base.... Right now, I'm just satisfied where I'm at. I'm just watching this thing unfold."
• Ed Powell, 60, a lawyer, former legislator and former commissioner of motor vehicles, says he is seriously considering a race. He points to his work in Raleigh as a lobbyist for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., N.C. Citizens for Business and Industry, and Ford Motor Co.
"I have the experience of working with both sides of the aisle to get the job done," Powell said. "It's nice to make a noise in Congress, but it's something different to get the job done."
• Robinson, 47, who is in his second term as a City Council member, ran statewide races as a candidate for state superintendent of schools in 1992 and 1996 - and he says he won primaries in the 5th in both of those races.
Robinson, who runs a foundation that provides private-school scholarships for poor children, says he can raise $1 million for a congressional campaign.
"That's what I do - I raise money," he said.
• Snyder, 57, is a lawyer and author in Lexington who won support from religious conservatives in an unsuccessful bid against Elizabeth Dole in the GOP race for U.S. Senate last year. He said he is weighing a second run for the Senate, as well as bids for Congress or governor.
"During the Senate campaign, we campaigned seriously in this heavily Republican area. So we're looking very seriously at a congressional campaign," Snyder said. "Our organization's very heavy in the 5th District."
• Nathan Tabor, 29, is a vice president for a family-owned business in Kernersville that makes Revival Soy, a soy-based nutrition supplement. Tabor's family gave $150,000 this year for the state to start its own version of the Amber Alert system to locate missing children.
"I am strongly seeking a run for Congress. We'll be making a formal announcement soon," Tabor said yesterday.
• David Rice can be reached in Raleigh at (919) 833-9056 or at drice@wsjournal.com
• Journal reporter Patrick Wilson contributed to this story.
Vernon Robinson, a member of the Winston-Salem City Council, is lining up county chairmen, talking about replacing the income tax with a national sales tax and abolishing affirmative action in college admissions, employment and contracting.
Music to my ears!!!
Which lists: vrobinson@triad.rr.com
Also there is his enduring site as an alderman, where he lists ALL his contact info, though I think the idea is it's for his constituents: http://www.libertyforall.net/vernon/ but most of it's still under construction.
Maybe we need to FReep the RNC and NRCC? I'm not sure Tom Davis would be too thrilled with electing a conservative in this district, though . . .
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.