White House clout, "Jessecrats" help Dole defeat Bowles in NC Senate

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[Durham went heavily for Bowles.]

By SCOTT MOONEYHAM : Associated Press Writer Nov 6, 2002 : 3:09 am ET

RALEIGH, N.C. -- In the final days before the election, polls and pundits saw a tightening race between Republican Elizabeth Dole and Democrat Erskine Bowles for a seat in the Senate.

In the end, Dole's celebrity and clout gained over three decades in Washington allowed her to easily beat Bowles in Tuesday's election and become North Carolina's first female senator.

Dole was aided by Democrats from conservative eastern counties -- the "Jessecrats" who for years supported the man she will succeed, Republican Jesse Helms.

With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Dole had 1,194,024 votes, or 54 percent, according to unofficial returns. Bowles had 1,002,040 votes, or 45 percent.

Libertarian Sean Haugh had 32,763 vote, or 1 percent.

Dole, a Cabinet secretary under two presidents and former head of the Red Cross, pledged to devote herself to people in uniform. She also asked Bowles' supporters to give her a chance, saying she will serve Republicans and Democrats alike.

"I'm going to fight for all of these people in the United States Senate. I'm going to fight for them," Dole said at a victory celebration in her hometown of Salisbury, with her husband, former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, at her side.

Dole spoke to the crowd after Bowles telephoned her to concede.

Bowles, a chief of staff in the Clinton White House, appeared almost relieved that the long race was over as he spoke to about 200 supporters in Raleigh.

His loss came 30 years after his father, Hargrove "Skipper" Bowles, became the first Democrat to lose the governor's office to a Republican in the 20th century.

Bowles said he will keep up some form of public service.

"There are lots of ways to perform public service. My dad proved that, how he lived his life after 1972," Bowles said.

Helms said he could tell from the crowds attending campaign rallies for Dole that there was real fervor for his anointed successor.

"They were genuinely supportive of Elizabeth Dole," Helms said. "She's going to make a great senator, I predict."

Preliminary results showed Dole won a string of Piedmont counties where Republicans traditionally do well. But she also outperformed Bowles in several Democratic strongholds in the East, winning counties including Wayne, Wilson, Harnett and Greene.

Helms has long found support in those eastern counties, which have large populations of conservative Democrats nicknamed "Jessecrats." But at times they have spelled trouble for Republicans in statewide races, backing Democrats such as Sen. John Edwards in 1998 and Gov. Mike Easley in 2000.

Bowles did well in urban counties including Durham and Wake and areas along the South Carolina border, and held his own in some mountain counties.

Dole, 66, returned to her home state last year to seek the Senate seat and breezed through the primary against poorly financed and largely unknown opponents.

Bowles, 57, a Charlotte investment banker, defeated a stronger primary field that included candidates known to Democratic Party regulars.

The race became the most expensive Senate contest in the country, as the two spent more than $22 million combined, including money for vituperative television commercials.

Trade policy, and its effects on the state's textile industry, and Social Security became major issues in the campaign, and each proclaimed they were best suited to help the state's struggling economy.

Dole blamed Bowles for not addressing trade violations while he was in the Clinton administration. Bowles criticized Dole for supporting "fast track" trade promotion authority, which would allow the president to more easily negotiate the kinds of trade deals seen as harmful to the state's economy.

Dole pushed for Social Security reforms, including some form of private investments, while Bowles criticized the strategy as risky.

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2002


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