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Former N.C. Rep. Dan Blue, a 2002 Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, said he will meet with advisors today to decide if he should make another bid for the Senate this year. Blue, 54, who would be running against his former 2002 primary opponent Erskine Bowles, said he would make an announcement about his candidacy before the candidate filing period begins Feb. 9. Both would be vying for the seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C. "I have no particular date to announce, but I know time is running short," Blue said from his residence in Raleigh. Blue, an...

PINK HILL - Say hello to Erskine Bowles version 2.0. The Charlotte investment banker, former Clinton White House chief of staff and 2004 U.S. Senate candidate stopped in the Smith community in northern Duplin County on Thursday to meet and greet voters and supporters. "They're going to promise us a lot of things," said 68-year-old Doris Hatcher, a staunch Democrat from Chinquapin. "I just hope they come through on most of them." Bowles built largely on the same platform he used during his miss at the Senate in 2002 when he ran against Elizabeth Dole. A must-have federal tobacco buyout...

''I have never been so excited about a campaign.'' That was the declaration of Erskine Bowles, once again a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, before the NC Black Leadership Caucus (NCBLC) two weeks ago. Obviously buoyed by early polls that give him a double-digit lead over probable GOP opponent Congressman Richard Burr, Bowles came before NCBLC, at their invitation, with enthusiasm and promises to represent the black community's interests if elected this time. ''I do think we are going to win,'' the Charlotte investment banker and former Clinton White House chief of staff said emphatically. But to do that, Bowles admitted...

Will former NC Speaker of the House Dan Blue once again mount a vigorous campaign against Democratic rival Erskine Bowles for the U.S. Senate? After months of speculation, the answer will come the week of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, Blue told The Carolinian exclusively Tuesday night. ''I think that's an appropriate time to announce my decision,'' Blue said, noting the significance of the state and federal holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader. ''I am closer to a [final] decision.'' What that ''final decision'' is Blue won’t publicly reveal now, but there's no question the Bowles camp is...

Tuesday, September 9, 2003 7:08AM EDT Blue-Bowles contest looms Edwards' Senate seat up for grabs By ROB CHRISTENSEN, Staff Writer With Sen. John Edwards not seeking re-election, North Carolina's Senate Democratic primary next year could, in the immortal words of Yankee great Yogi Berra, be deja vu all over again. Two big-name Democrats, who battled for 11 months during last year's Senate race -- former state House Speaker Dan Blue of Raleigh and former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles of Charlotte -- are considering a rematch No other major Democratic names have surfaced as potential candidates for the...

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH -- Warren Gentry was among the dozens of beach- goers who greeted U.S. Sen. John Edwards warmly here Friday and wished him well on his White House bid. But after the North Carolina Democrat and his entourage had moved down the strand on his annual beach walk, Gentry, a film producer from Raleigh, said he hoped Edwards would soon decide what to do about his Senate seat, which is also on the ballot in 2004. "That's a very important thing for him to do," said Gentry, who voted for Edwards in 1998. "That could be the downside, if...

Today Charlotte banker Jim Hance co-hosts an uptown fund-raiser for Republican Richard Burr's U.S. Senate campaign. On Saturday, Outer Banks restaurateur R.V. Owens hosts another in Nags Head. For Burr, the two men are prize catches. For Democrats, they could be costly defections. Both raised money for last year's Democratic Senate nominee, Erskine Bowles. And both represent what some Democrats say is the risk in U.S. Sen. John Edwards' decision to keep his re-election options open even as he mounts an aggressive campaign for president. Edwards is walking a high-stakes tightrope between a presidential run still trying to get traction...

Pressure is beginning to grow on John Edwards to decide whether he plans to seek re-election to the U.S. Senate next year, as North Carolina Democrats fret that further delays could hamper efforts to hold the Senate seat. Two of the potential Democratic Senate candidates, former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and former state House Speaker Dan Blue, say they cannot afford to wait until the Feb. 27 candidate filing deadline before mounting a campaign for Edwards' seat. Bowles said he ideally would like to launch a Senate campaign next month or, at the latest, by October. He...

July 11, 2002 N.C. Sen. Hopeful Defends Biz Ties ASSOCIATED PRESS RALEIGH, N.C.- Ever since he entered the race for Senate last year, Democrat Erskine Bowles has boldly promoted his business experience. Now his opponents, seeing political advantage in the scandals rocking corporate America, are trying to turn his Wall Street past against him. Democrats and Republicans alike are taking shots at Bowles for his membership on the board of directors at pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co., which has come under scrutiny for accounting practices that inflated revenue. Bowles' opponents also are trying to tie him to the failed investments...