Free Republic

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...

Republican Bill Cobey plans to give his good friend, retired U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, a starring role in his campaign for governor. Cobey, who has already received Helms' endorsement, on Thursday unveiled a television ad featuring the 5-term senator and conservative icon. The humorous ad features Helms praising a self-effacing Cobey. At a news conference, Cobey said Helms' backing means more than most endorsements, which typically carry little weight with voters. "Sen. Helms is the exception to the rule. He is a man people trust," the former congressman and state Republican Party chairman said. Cobey enters the race for the...

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...

Former school board chair Wilhelmenia Rembert will run for Mecklenburg County commissioner this year, she told the Observer Thursday night. Rembert's entry into the 2004 at-large race comes less than three months after her school board re-election bid fell 402 votes short. If she wins in November, the county's balance of power could shift. Republicans now have a 5-4 advantage. With the six districts split evenly between the parties, Democrats will likely need to win two of the three at-large seats to regain control. Rembert, a registered Democrat, said the county's issues fit her interests. "It really would offer me...

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...

Tabor Shows Grassroots Strength With Convincing Victory in GOPUSA Poll Wins Poll of 5th District GOP Voters with 64% of Vote Kernersville, NC -- Showing his growing strength among grassroots Republican activists, conservative, Christian businessman Nathan Tabor was the clear choice in a recent poll on the website GOPUSA.com/NorthCarolina that asked respondents who they supported for the Republican primary in the 5th Congressional District. With over 1200 respondents, Nathan Tabor showed his grassroots strength among Republicans with 64% of respondents saying that Tabor was their choice for the Republican nomination in the 5th District. “ I am extremely gratified that...

Dr. Jerry Falwell, Publisher, National Liberty Journal I'm taking the unusual step of informing our readers about one very special 30-year-old candidate for Congress in North Carolina. His name is Nathan Tabor. Son of an ordained Baptist minister, a committed Christian active in his local church, a dynamic young leader – I am convinced Nathan Tabor is a young champion who can make a true difference for our values in Washington. That’s why I recently committed to Nathan that I will pray for him and personally assist his campaign. While the actual election is one year away, and our ministries...

BANNER ELK, NC (Talon News) -- Last month, Talon News reported on the candidacy of Vernon Robinson, a conservative black Republican running for the 5th Congressional District seat in North Carolina in 2004. In continuing coverage, Talon News recently spoke with candidate Virginia Foxx in an exclusive interview. In a positive, calm manner, Foxx says she realizes criticisms levied against her from other candidates vying for the congressional seat are all a part of the "dirty process" of running for political office. "This is one of the most painful things about politics," Foxx told Talon News. "However, I believe that...

Dear Supporters: My gubernatorial campaign to bring better government to North Carolina is growing each week in support. It is clear that the public approves of our message. We need your ongoing help. If you want to see more done to keep and create jobs, to improve education and roads, and to reduce illegal immigration in North Carolina, then please consider attending or supporting our 'Fish and Fundraiser' event in Stanly County on Thursday Nov. 13, from 6 pm to 8 pm. The address is provided if you would like to pull up a www.MapQuest.com map. Efird's Rocky River Springs...

Democrat in G.O.P. Clothing? Winston-Salem, NC - On Monday, Republican COngressional candidate Ed Powell criticized Jay Helvey for having Erskine Bowles's Finance Committee Chairman, Scott Livengood, as the chairman of the Helvey for Congress campaign. "This is proof-positive of what i suspected all along: Winston-Salem's downtown Democrats aretrying to hijack the Republican Primary with their man, Jay Helvey," Powell said. "It is beyond hypocritical for Helvey to praise Congressman Burr on the campaign trail and then have Erkine Bowles's biggest supporter in the Fifth District as his campaign chairman." Livengood's history with Erskine Bowles is a long one. Livengood contributed...

Below is a list of each state and its "Political Party statistics", meaning that state's current governor, U.S. Senators, U.S. Congressmen, and who they voted for in the 2000 election.  This is useful data in trying to predict future voting trends.   AlabamaGovernor Bob Riley (R)Senator Richard Shelby (R)Senator Jeff Sessions (R)5 Republican Congressmen2 Democrat Congressmen2000 Election: Bush AlaskaGovernor Frank Murkowski (R)Senator Lisa Murkowski (R)Senator Ted Stevens (R)1 Republican Congressman2000 Election: Bush ArizonaGovernor Janet Napolitano (D)Senator John McCain (R)Senator Jon Kyl (R)6 Republican Congressmen2 Democrat Congressmen2000 Election: Bush ArkansasGovernor Mike Huckabee (R)Senator Blanche Lincoln (D)Senator Mark Pryor (D)3 Democrat Congressmen1 Republican Congressman2000 Election:...

Dear Forum Members: This article ran Friday in the Raleigh N & O. We would like to hear your opinions and response to this piece. Thanks, Staff www.ForFern.com Say what? By DANNY HOOLEY, Staff Writer Q. State Sen. Fern Shubert of Monroe, who is vying for the GOP nomination to run against Gov. Mike Easley next year, said that Easley is making it too easy for illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses. She also said that he has 'rolled out the red carpet' to illegal immigrants, which is 'costing North Carolinians their jobs.' How do you feel about these statements,...

In the North Carolina Senate race, Erskine Bowles (D) "has a double-digit lead" over Rep. Richard Burr (R) "in a hypothetical Senate matchup, according to an independent poll taken last month for a nonpartisan North Carolina business group,"

Senator Fern Shubert’s campaign for Governor takes aim at Easley’s encouragement of illegal immigration. Contact: 1-877-GOV-FERN (468-3376) www.ForFern.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 26, 2003 Senator Fern Shubert has added a stance against Easley’s encouragement of illegal immigration as one of her top campaign issues in the race to become the next Governor of North Carolina. Shubert says Governor Easley’s encouragement of illegal immigration threatens national security and North Carolina’s future. “Why does he want to help people break the law?” Shubert asks. “What we have here is a recipe for disaster!” Senator Shubert said. “The Democrats are raising taxes to...

Tested candidate could help Democrats' efforts to keep Edwards seat.

Fifth District race getting interesting Many political observers in the Triad think that the entrance of Ed Broyhill into the congressional race hurts state Sen. Virginia Foxx the most. She was counting on her base of support outside of Forysth County, and particularly in the northwestern mountain counties, to at least get her into a runoff with one of the many Forysth candidates. But Broyhill has obvious connections, family and personal, in many of those same counties. One of those competing for the nomination,Nathan Tabor of Kernersville, reportedly fired a previous set of consultants because they had proposed a campaign...

Last cycle, much of the action in Senate races took place in the Midwest, with competitive races in Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota and Missouri ultimately deciding which party would control the chamber. This cycle, the South is the scene of many of the significant races, and that’s terrible news for the Democrats, who continue to lose ground in a region that once constituted their party’s bedrock. In addition to Georgia Sen. Zell Miller (D), who has already announced he won’t seek re-election, at least four other Southern Democrats may well retire: Sens. Fritz Hollings (S.C.), John Edwards (N.C.), Bob Graham...

Two influential fund-raisers who helped Democrat Erskine Bowles in his bid for the U.S. Senate last year have agreed to help U.S. Rep. Richard Burr, R-5th raise money for his 2004 Senate campaign. The news, first reported in the Washington political publication Roll Call, puts North Carolina Democrats in a difficult situation that may get tougher as the summer drags on. Incumbent Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, and hasn't decided whether he will run for a second term in the Senate. That means that Bowles and other potential Democratic candidates for the seat are...

It would have been an interesting race, but Democrat Parks Helms just isn't healthy enough to challenge Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory for his job. After months of speculation, the Mecklenburg County commissioner announced Thursday he will not seek the mayor's office this fall. "I would have enjoyed it," Helms said Thursday night. "I told Pat we'll have a great time." McCrory has not made his re-election bid official, but he said Thursday night he is "taking all the steps necessary" to run for an unprecedented fifth two-year term. "I never make my official announcement until filing in July," McCrory said....

RALEIGH - Co-Speaker of the House Richard Morgan is only the second Republican speaker in the past century and the highest-ranking GOP state legislator, but four months into his term, members of his own party are trying to reprimand him at their state convention in Charlotte next weekend. Morgan's critics, angry about the coalition he formed with House Democrats, vow to find Republicans to run against him and his four core supporters in next year's GOP primary. "The `Morgan Five' will definitely have primary opposition," said Rep. Frank Mitchell, R-Iredell. "When you get Republicans angry, they will go after you."...