Secretary of State Elaine Marshall vs Durham lawyer Kenneth Lewis vs captain in the United States Army Reserve & former state senator Cal Cunningham

vs vs

The first two have declared their intention to run, and the third should soon too. Of course others may get in the race too, but these 3 have either declared or made it obvious that they intend to declare through public statements by campaigning for the office already.

N&O profiles:
http://projects.newsobserver.com/profiles/elaine_marshall
http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/profiles/kenneth_lewis
http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/profiles/cal_cunningham

Facebook groups/fanpages
Elaine Marshall: http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=101700230921
Kenneth Lewis: http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/Kenneth-Lewis/97128081749
Cal Cunningham: http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=106543775883

I look forward to this democratic primary and seeing the debates between these 3+ candidates as spring approaches.

9/9/2009 10:40:30 PM

rumor has it bob etheridge is getting talked to....

9/9/2009 10:43:35 PM

My focus was on people who are definitely going to be in the race, but since you mention him, I'll throw up his info too:

US Congressman Bob Etheridge

N&O profile: http://projects.newsobserver.com/dome/profiles/bob_etheridge
Facebook fanpage: http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/Bob-Etheridge/8063197222

For anyone who remembers my recent "Who is Your US Congressman? What is your District?" thread, you'll see that he represents a part of Raleigh and areas southeast of there. NCSU is in his district.
http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=575443

9/9/2009 10:53:22 PM

It just occurred to me that the top tier of the Democratic primary field is rather like the presidential democratic primary field on a very surface level in that there is a woman, a black man, and a white guy from the south.

I remember hearing something like Secretary of State Elaine Marshall was one of the highest vote-getters in a statewide election in NC, so that should help her name recognition. Kenneth Lewis made a splash by jumping into the race first, and by challenging bank run Burr* to a debate which he initially accepted & then backed out of. And former state senator Cal Cunningham has probably been doing the most campaigning (despite not having officially declared yet) and as a state senator has a natural stepping block up into this senate race, & certainly has the largest online presence & support that is only going to grow the more North Carolinians see photos like this:



*explaining the bank run Burr comment:

9/10/2009 1:54:16 PM

Public Policy Polling results:
Burr vs. Bob Etheridge 41-34
Burr vs. Elaine Marshall 42-31
Burr vs. Dennis Wicker 42-31
Burr vs. Cal Cunningham 42-30
Burr vs. Kevin Foy 43-29
Burr vs. Kenneth Lewis 43-27
Burr vs. Generic Democrat 45-38

Based on Public Policy Polling's analysis its still a name recognition game right now. And they seem to think the numbers are close enough that the race will be won or lost depending on whether reps or dems are more in favor at the time of the election, regardless of the particular politicians on either side.

Here's some info on the two potential contenders that I haven't profiled yet.

Quote :

"Dennis A. Wicker is a North Carolina lawyer and politician from Sanford who served as a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives (1981-1993), and as Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina (1993-2001). As lieutenant governor, he became the first statewide elected official to chair the State Board of Community Colleges, which sets policy for the state’s 58-campus system. Wicker was also a member of the North Carolina State Board of Education and the State Board of Economic Development. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic Party's nomination for Governor of North Carolina in 2000, losing to Mike Easley. The Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center at Central Carolina Community College was named in his honor in 1995 because of his role in securing funding for the center. Wicker is presently the leader of the Government Relations group in the Raleigh office of Schottenstein Zox & Dunn. Wicker is a regular panelist on the television show “NC Spin” discussing various current issues in North Carolina politics."

Quote :

"Kevin C. Foy (born 1956) has been the mayor of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, since 2001 and before that served on the Council. He is Chair of the North Carolina Metropolitan Mayors Coalition, a bi-partisan group of mayors of the state's 26 largest cities. During his time in office, Mayor Foy has focused on policies that have transformed Chapel Hill into a vibrant mid-sized city. These include instituting fare-free transit service (Chapel Hill Transit now carries 7.5 million passengers annually), directing investment into redevelopment of downtown, and preserving the character and natural setting of the community while ensuring that new parks and schools keep pace with growth. Mayor Foy has led the effort to make Chapel Hill a leader in local environmental policy. In June 2009 the U.S. Conference of Mayors awarded Mayor Foy its highest honor, naming Chapel Hill America’s Most Livable City. Kevin C. Foy received his B.A from Kenyon College and his J.D. from North Carolina Central University where he teaches as an assistant professor."

-wiki

Even if the worst Democrat is doing as well as Kay Hagan was against Dole in their first match up.

9/12/2009 11:41:07 AM

Apparently Secretary of State Elaine Marshall spoke on campus last week. I would have liked the chance to have gone & asked her a few questions.

If anyone is interested in asking Kenneth Lewis any questions, you can post your questions here in advance, he is doing a live blog on this site later today at 7:00 p.m (he answered all 3 of my questions last time he did a live blog there):
http://bluenc.com/announcing-live-blog-kenneth-lewis-candidate-us-senate

9/22/2009 1:40:23 PM

Please vote against Richard Burr. He is awful.

10/15/2009 12:50:21 PM

Evil would be a better word.

10/15/2009 12:54:50 PM

That's been my general opinion of Burr over the last few months.

Cal Cunningham, if that name doesn't scream senator (or comic book character) then I don't know what does.

10/15/2009 3:06:26 PM

http://www.elon.edu/e-web/elonpoll/103009.xhtml

Quote :

"Elon Poll: Uphill climb for Sen. Richard Burr in re-election campaign With just over a year to go before the 2010 midterm elections, 19 percent of North Carolina residents believe Sen. Richard Burr deserves another term in office, while more than double that amount – 42 percent – feel it’s time for a new person to have a chance, according to the latest Elon University Poll. Twenty-nine percent of respondents said they “don’t know” if he deserves re-election. The poll, conducted Oct. 26-29, surveyed 703 North Carolina residents and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. The sample is of the population in general, with numbers that include both landlines and cellular phones."

It looks like these new guys or gal might get a shot if the numbers stay like this.

10/30/2009 11:04:54 PM

elaine marshall has a snowball's chance in hell of getting the nomination

10/30/2009 11:16:02 PM

Quote :

"Cal Cunningham, if that name doesn't scream senator"

You know who he'll be running against in the primary? John Edwards.

10/31/2009 8:32:01 AM

And then there were two

Secretary of State Elaine Marshall vs Durham lawyer Kenneth Lewis vs captain in the United States Army Reserve & former state senator Cal Cunningham

vs vs

From his facebook supporters group message:

Quote :

"Dear Friends, After giving a serious and thorough look at a race for the U.S. Senate, I have decided not to seek office at this time. This has been a very difficult decision, but I’m sure there will be another day and there are many other ways to serve."

[Edited on November 10, 2009 at 12:14 AM. Reason : .]

11/10/2009 12:12:23 AM

Thanks for the thread Supplanter. This is a good source of info and I will frequent it for updates before the elections.

11/10/2009 12:09:36 PM

Quote :

"elaine marshall has a snowball's chance in hell of getting the nomination"

Really? I would think it's definitely Marshall if it's between those two.

11/10/2009 12:27:33 PM

Marshall is connected enough to the Sleasley/Jim Black/Perdue corruption machine to get the nod.

11/11/2009 12:47:18 AM

If Etheridge doesn't jump into the race then I have a hard time seeing Marshall losing the nomination.


Apparently Kevin Foy is also considering jumping into the race, but once people find out he's from Chapel Hill that'll go downhill quickly

11/11/2009 6:33:13 AM

wait a sec, cal really said that he's not running?

just checked it out and he's really not. wow.

Quote :

"Really? I would think it's definitely Marshall if it's between those two."

that was based on the assumption that either etheridge or cunningham was going to get in. now with cunningham dropping (which i'm shocked about) and if etheridge doesn't get in, i guess it will be marshall, which will most likely mean that burr will win in november.

[Edited on November 11, 2009 at 10:23 AM. Reason : !]

11/11/2009 10:20:38 AM

Quote :

"wait a sec, cal really said that he's not running?"

Either that or the facebook supporter message they sent out was wrong, his posting on bluenc.com was wrong, and he's been lying to me while chatting on facebook.

From the way too early to really matter polling results I posted before Elaine was doing better than Cal who was doing better than Lewis, or Foy. And while none of them are beating Burr, Elaine & Cal were both doing better than Hagan was against Dole at a similar time of year.



In the video he mentions Burr voting against an anti-rape amendment, as well as Burr's stance on domestic abuse as a pre-existing condition. While those seem like issues that any opponent of Burr's might bring up, I think if Elaine is the candidate then those issues might resonate even more powerfully with votes.

In the mean time you've got Lewis and others focused on taking Burr down, rather than in-fighting for the primary election:
http://www.rrdailyherald.com/articles/2009/11/09/news/doc4af81a3de5da3153908555.txt

I think as long as the democrats are smart enough not to go as far left (perceptions-wise) as Foy then they've got a shot. Because who really likes Burr?

From watching that video, and from chatting with him, I am sure that whether Cal is running or not that he will still be working to make sure Burr is voted out of office.

[Edited on November 11, 2009 at 12:04 PM. Reason : .]

11/11/2009 11:54:08 AM

Quote :

"Etheridge bows out of running for N.C. Senate North Carolina Rep. Bob Etheridge has decided against running for the Senate in 2010,according to informed sources, a choice that hands Democrats another setback in their recruiting efforts against Richard Burr (R). Etheridge, who served as state superintendent of public education before getting elected to Congress in the mid-1990s, has been courted for the race by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. He had repeatedly flirted with running for the Senate earlier this decade only to decide against those bids. Etheridge is the second high-profile DSCC recruit in North Carolina to turn down a bid. Earlier this year, state Attorney General Roy Cooper decided against the race despite the urgings of Senate Democrats and the White House. Attorney Cal Cunningham, who also drew some interest from the DSCC, announced earlier this week he also would not run, although it's likely that national party strategists will make another run at him in the wake of the Etheridge decision. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall is also running. Democrats are convinced that Burr can be beaten -- pointing to his relatively low job-approval numbers in a series of polls. But the unwillingness of people such as Cooper and Etheridge to run suggests that Burr may be stronger than he appears on paper. Still, Democrats insist they will find someone serious to challenge him and argue that Sen. Kay Hagan, who ousted Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R) in 2008, was far from the top choice of the party at the start of that election cycle."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/etheridge-bows-out-of-running.html

funny feeling, Cunningham might pull a Hagan

11/13/2009 3:31:20 PM

interesting

11/13/2009 3:38:33 PM

^^I sure hope he does. For whatever reason he already has the support of a lot of the progressive side of the democratic party, and with the DSCC usually holding sway with the moderate/pragmatic/independent leaning side, if they could be united behind Cal Cunningham's campaign, then I think Burr would face a serious challenge instead of being an inevitable shoe-in as an incumbent.

I think Cal's opting out (although he was never officially in, not yet anyways) is in many ways the best move possible at this juncture. The DSCC just wasn't going to pay attention or put any resources into NC any time soon. And Etheridge was just going to waffle around for a long time without ever getting into the race, but while making it harder for those who were in the race to be taken seriously. But by opting out Cal got the attention of the DSCC, which then put pressure on Etheridge to take a public stand which resulted in him opting out, and now the DSCC is actively lobbying Cal.

In one move Cal has removed Etheridge who was only hurting all the dems chances, and got the DSCC to move from indifference to actively lobbying Cal to run. Either that was unintentional good fortune or political genius, I think it was probably a little of both.

Please post on Cal's group wall and ask him to get into the race. I know he actually looks at facebook rather than being one of those candidates that has a volunteer do the "internet stuff" for him, because we chat on facebook sometimes. (I just helped run the Mark Kleinschmidt for Mayor campaign in Chapel Hill as the Campaign Volunteer Coordinator - we won by about 100 votes on Nov 3rd- and Mark & Cal are friends so I had an "in" with Cal, & I know one of Cal's unofficial campaign staffers)
http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=106543775883

If you want to have him as an option to vote for on election day, or if you just want there to be more options out there besides Burr, please ask him to run by posting on his group wall. We need a new voice to replace that of Senator Burr and this is one of the few junctures in a campaign where individuals can make a difference.

11/14/2009 12:07:54 AM

just to be clear, the DSCC always has their hands in senate races. trust me.

11/14/2009 11:22:58 PM

Quote :

"We need a new voice to replace that of Senator Burr "

Sorry my friend..but we independents will be voting for more republican voices in 2010.. to slow down or halt the Obama/Pelosi/Reid craziness.

11/15/2009 12:09:05 AM

Dennis Wicker, y'all.

11/15/2009 12:14:27 AM

Quote :

"we independents will be voting for more republican voices in 2010"

whoa, really? how many voices do you have in your head, then? do they all vote for republicans?






... or did you just decide to play a little "my views are the same as all other independents" game? you really might want to check with the rest of them before taking it upon yourself to decide for everyone else. maybe hold a convention.

11/15/2009 12:26:36 AM

^
Keep whistling past the 2010 graveyeard.

11/15/2009 10:29:37 AM

Right now the independent trend is away from incumbents in general. Where they'll be in 2010 will largely be a function of the economy. Voters react to perception, not reality.

11/15/2009 10:46:12 AM

JCASHFAN is right. What you saw in NJ especially is that the person in power is no longer what independents want.

Incumbents across the board are in trouble. Independents are verging on becoming an incredibly powerful voting block, especially as the republican party umbrella gets smaller and smaller and the Dems continue to shoot themselves in the feet.

11/15/2009 10:53:56 AM

Its a shame that most the moderates in congress are democrats.

11/15/2009 11:00:29 AM

Quote :

"Keep whistling past the 2010 graveyeard."

keep predicting the future, Nostradamus.

11/15/2009 11:03:11 AM

^^ Don't worry, MoveOn.org is targeting them for elimination in the primaries. Both parties are polarizing rather rapidly.


Nader / Nugent 2012!!!!!!


The problem is this though, as I posted in another thread, 54% of people think the majority of congressmen shouldn't be returned to office . . . 52% think their congressman should be returned to office. You do the math.

11/15/2009 11:12:18 AM

Lol. Good choice of "don't worry" there. Its moveon.org. So you literally don't have to worry about them "eliminating" democrats from primaries. I don't think both parties are rapidly polarizing.

11/15/2009 11:56:44 AM

so can we expect a barage of negative attack ads from the DSCC this time like with Hagan. Then when Burr inevitably has to respond with attack ads the Democratic canidate will get to keep non negative and Burr will get blasted as being the negative canidate.

11/15/2009 3:02:36 PM

Just like Dole was forced by the DSCC to call Hagan an atheist?

11/15/2009 6:38:28 PM

^^^ They don't have much sway in the South but they could be polarizing in the northeast and Pacific coast. Whether the candidates will be pushed left enough to make a difference is a different matter. Where it might matter is the mountain west.

11/15/2009 7:20:48 PM

Exhibit A:

Quote :

"If President Obama happened to glance at “The Rachel Maddow Show” last Monday, he might have winced. Ms. Maddow pretended to celebrate the passage of a health care overhaul bill in the House, calling it “potentially a huge generational win for the Democratic Party” — but then halted the triumphant music and called it an “electoral defeat.” The Stupak amendment, she said, was “the biggest restriction on abortion rights in a generation.” Then she wondered aloud about the consequences for Democrats “if they don’t get women or anybody who’s pro-choice to ever vote for them again.” She returned to the subject the next four evenings in a row."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/16/business/media/16msnbc.html?_r=1&src=twt&twt=nytimes

Putting aside Maddow's asinine assertion that a lack of federal funding is the equivalent of a restriction, I think it is somewhat telling. Parts of the committed left see themselves in a moral battle with the committed right (who view it in the same manner). This will energize both bases, but has the definite potential to push moderates and independents away.

11/15/2009 8:33:17 PM

http://bluenc.com/announcing-live-blog-us-senate-candidate-elaine-marshall

Quote :

"Announcing Live Blog with U.S. Senate Candidate Elaine Marshall Submitted by Betsy Muse on Sat, 11/14/2009 - 10:05am * Elaine Marshall * Senate 2010 On Wednesday, November 18 at 7:00 p.m we will have a live blog discussion with U.S. Senate candidate, Elaine Marshall. We are lucky that James was able to get this set up in the middle of all the frantic activity surrounding the healthcare debate and the on again, off again candidacies of others. Please mark your calendars and keep your eyes open for some background posts and a question thread."

There is a thread up to live questions in if you can't be online at that time, or you can just get on then and ask her questions directly. I don't recall if that site has a waiting period to post after signing up for an an account. I don't think it does, but anyone who signs for up an account now should definitely be able to post questions by tomorrow if not immediately.

I'm glad the candidates are doing a lot to put themselves out there with doing things like this & Elaine being on State's campus for an event back in September, if they are going to challenge an incumbent like Burr, they are going to need to build some serious name recognition.

11/17/2009 2:25:58 PM

If anyone is interested, I have asked all 3 of the people I first mentioned about their stance on gay rights, and here is what they had to say (obviously there are other pressing issues too, but I can usually count on someone else to ask questions about jobs, the economy, the environment, war, and so forth):

Secretary of State Elaine Marshall

Quote :

"Jake asked about equality issues. I oppose discrimination, support abolishing DADT (if people will serve, we should honor them. Period), oppose DOMA because I don't believe this is the duty of the Federal government and believe it puts the Full Faith and Credit concept in jeopardy, and support the concept of ENDA as described by Jake. "

Durham Lawyer Kenneth Lewis

Quote :

"Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell? I’m a firm believer that we should not discriminate against people. That’s part of my core belief structure. We have men and women of all sexual orientations serving in the military. The idea that we would remove an officer or anyone because of his or her sexual orientation is abhorrent to me. Employee Non-Discrimination Act? I have not read the Employee Non-Discrimination Act, but I will repeat that I do not believe we should discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation. Civil Marriage? I understand people and their religious beliefs and I respect that very much and I would not want to do anything that infringes upon someone exercising their religion, but with respect to government actions and as a society of people who have a variety of faiths and non-faiths, I do not believe we should discriminate."

Captain in the United States Army Reserve & former State Senator Cal Cunningham

Quote :

"I'm pro-equality, from fighting to include orientation in the the non discrimination policy of the University back in 1994 to fighting to include trans-gender in 1996, to being for domestic partnerships from the swing State Senate district in 2000, to being in favor of ending DADT (and refusing to chapter anyone out of the Army for allegations while the senior-most prosecutor in Iraq), to supporting the ENDA, etc."

11/19/2009 9:56:34 AM

Someone who should run but won't (at least not this time around) is NC Senator Josh Stein (District 16/Wake County). I think he'll go national eventually, if not gubernatorial.

11/19/2009 3:06:38 PM

I knew someone who worked on his campaign (Alina) and everything I heard about him by way of her was great. From what I've heard I would support that^

11/19/2009 7:08:51 PM

I know Alina. And yeah, he's a fantastic guy. Well liked by peers on both sides of the party lines.

11/20/2009 4:56:32 AM

http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/foy_still_thinking
This article from earlier this month says that Foy "says he hopes to decide by the end of the month whether to enter the U.S. Senate race" so maybe we'll hear a definitive answer from him any day now. I couldn't find an N&O profile on him, or a facebook support group, but here is his wiki page for more background info. I figured I should include some info on him since his decision is expected soon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Foy

Nov 10:
http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/wicker_may_run
Nov 18:
http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/wicker_is_out

Returning to these old poll results, just as a list of potential candidates:

Burr vs. Bob Etheridge 41-34 - Out
Burr vs. Elaine Marshall 42-31 - In
Burr vs. Dennis Wicker 42-31- Out
Burr vs. Cal Cunningham 42-30 - Undecided
Burr vs. Kevin Foy 43-29 -Undecided
Burr vs. Kenneth Lewis 43-27 - In


My expectation is that within the next 2 or 3 weeks the field will have finally settled and it will be the 3 people I first mentioned in early September. I also wouldn't mind seeing some more updated polling numbers.

More recent polling results:

Burr vs. Bob Etheridge 45-35 10 point difference
Burr vs. Elaine Marshall 45-34 11 point difference
Burr vs. Dennis Wicker 45-33 12 point difference
Burr vs. Cal Cunningham 44-31 13 point difference
Burr vs. Kevin Foy 44-32 12 point difference
Burr vs. Kenneth Lewis 45-32 13 point difference

I think Cal not having ever officially entered the race may be hurting him a little bit. A 13 point difference is the same as the difference between Dole and Hagan during the same relative month to that campaign. I'm looking forward to polling numbers from next month once the field has finally settled and cemented.

11/22/2009 1:42:41 AM

A small update. No official announcements from Cal about getting into the race, bt seems like the engines in the Cunningham campaign are firing up again. They sent out a decent sized message today. Here is a part of it:

Quote :

"When Cal took a step back from the Senate race two weeks ago, several things happened. The disappointment from his supporters was palpable, two other formidable politicians announced that they wouldn't run. Then the media came alive with stories that Cal was being asked to reconsider the race by Democrats at the grassroots, state and national levels -- Very encouraging news to those of us who have always believed in this campaign. We now have every reason to believe that Cal is listening to those who want him back in the running. This campaign began at the grassroots, right here with your membership in this group. Now we're ready to take the next logical step: building a community-driven flesh and blood campaign organization. If you'd like to help Cal Cunningham beat Richard Burr next fall, we need to know who you are, where you live, and what you can do to help us build the most powerful community-driven campaign in North Carolina history. Please reply to this message right now! Let us know: 1) the county and city or town you live in 2) your phone number and email address One of us will reply to you shortly by phone for a talk and to share more details. "

11/23/2009 11:10:14 PM

told you so.

11/23/2009 11:17:41 PM

http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/216734.html

Quote :

"RALEIGH -- The husband of North Carolina's secretary of state died in his Raleigh home Saturday morning after a yearlong battle with cancer. A spokesman for Secretary of State Elaine Marshall said William H. Holdford, 77, died with Marshall and other family members by his side. Spokesman George Jeter said Holdford had multiple forms of cancer. "

Losing a loved one, especially while working in a position that is in the public eye and in the middle of a campaign, has got to be incredibly hard... and happening so close to a holiday weekend and her birthday. All politics aside, that just sucks all around, and my thoughts go out to her & her family.


The N&O is also running this story this weekend in their politics section online just a little below the aforementioned story:
http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/216447.html

Quote :

"Money's not on Marshall Christensen: Secretary of State Elaine Marshall must be feeling like the Rodney Dangerfield of Tar Heel politics these days. She can't get any respect."

Stay classy N&O.


On a separate note, it is the end of the month, I wonder if we'll hear anything out of Foy about whether or not he plans to run for senate in the coming week now that he’s had the holiday weekend to mull it over and talk to family, since he said he hoped to decide by the end of November.

11/29/2009 6:10:47 PM

^^more signs pointing that direction with two stories that were posted today

http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2009/12/cunningham_to_r.php

Quote :

"Cunningham To Run Against Burr December 1, 2009 10:23 AM By Reid Wilson Two independent sources tell Hotline OnCall that ex-state Sen. Cal Cunningham (D) is set to announce he will run against Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), reconsidering his earlier decision to drop out of the race. Already, several big-name candidates have declined to challenge Burr, who is running for a second term. Cunningham, an atty and U.S. Army Reserve captain from Lexington, will give Burr a solid, if not top-tier, challenger in '10. Cunningham will announce his decision in the coming weeks, according to one source. The DSCC had been courting Cunningham all year, and the party stepped up its efforts to get him in the race once Rep. Bobby Etheridge (D) declined to run. After initially declining to run, Cunningham will be portrayed as the next Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC), who also started off her race against then-Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R) by saying no to a bid. Hagan only jumped into the race late in Fall '07, a year before she defeated Dole. Sec/State Elaine Marshall (D) is already in the race against Burr, though few see her as able to give the incumbent a serious challenge. But strategists on both sides agree that Burr is no Dole, who was widely seen as unprepared for an unexpectedly difficult race. Burr has been stockpiling money -- he had almost $3.5M in the bank at the end of Sept. -- and has already assembled the beginnings of a campaign team. Burr won his '04 election over ex-WH CoS Erskine Bowles (D) by a 52%-47% margin. UPDATE: A Dem flack passes along a funny statement the NRSC put out 11/10, when Cunningham said he would not run: "Once again the DSCC and national Democrats have suffered a serious setback in their efforts to land a top-tier Senate candidate in North Carolina," NRSC spokesperson Colin Reed said at the time. So how does the NRSC feel now that Dems have apparently scored their "top-tier" recruit? Comms director Brian Walsh responds: "At this late stage in the process, this has become a much greater problem for national Democrats than it is for us. After nearly a dozen recruiting failures the establishment might have finally found a candidate they like but they now face two big problems - 1) a three-way primary against two opponents who have already been working hard to shore up the support of key Democrat primary voting blocs; 2) a candidate who has no demonstrated record of raising the money needed for this race and even worse, is coming in against candidates who already have a head start.""

and

http://www.politico.com/blogs/scorecard/1209/In_switch_Cunningham_planning_to_run_against_Burr.html?showall

Quote :

"December 01, 2009 Categories: * North Carolina In switch, Cunningham planning to take on Burr Former North Carolina state senator Cal Cunningham, who Democratic strategists view as an up-and-coming candidate, is making plans to run against Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), according to a senior Democratic operative, reversing his earlier decision to stay out of the Senate race. Democrats believe Cunningham, as a young, former elected official with a military background, would be the strongest potential Democrat to challenge Burr."

[Edited on December 1, 2009 at 2:46 PM. Reason : .]

12/1/2009 2:44:17 PM

and i called it

12/1/2009 2:46:02 PM

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/senate/nc-sen-democrats-get-cunningha.html

NC-Sen: Democrats get Cunningham

Iraq war veteran and former state Sen. Cal Cunningham (D) will challenge Richard Burr (R) in 2010, reversing his earlier decision to opt out of the race and giving national Democrats a candidate they believe can oust the freshman North Carolina senator.

Cunningham is expected to make his intentions official early next week, according to informed sources, and will join a Democratic primary field that already includes Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and attorney Ken Lewis.

After months of weighing a bid, Cunningham took himself out of consideration just a few weeks ago as it seemed clear that Rep. Bob Etheridge would -- finally -- seek the seat. (Etheridge has been rumored as a Senate candidate forever.) But, Etheridge took a pass and national Democrats immediately re-focused their attention on Cunningham whose profile they believe is the right one to take advantage of a softness in Burr's numbers.

First elected in 2004 over former White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles, Burr has largely stayed in the background of the Senate and his poll numbers reflect that status with many voters having little sense of him and his accomplishments.

That said, Democrats struggled mightily to find a serious candidate to challenge him with state Attorney General Roy Cooper and Etheridge shying away from the contest.

Democrats are hoping that Cunningham's candidate arc mirrors that of now Sen. Kay Hagan (N.C.). Like Cunningham, Hagan was a state legislator who initially turned down the chance to challenge a sitting Republican Senator before changing her mind. Hagan went on to defeat Sen. Elizabeth Dole (N.C.) easily in 2008.

The comparison extends only so far, however. Dole had done little to mind the store in the Tarheel State and she proved an inflexible and ineffectual campaigner running in a very difficult year to be a Republican.

Burr, likely alarmed by Dole's loss, is paying far closer attention to the state and has the benefit of running in what is shaping up to be a far better national political environment for Republicans.

Still, assuming Cunningham has secured commitments from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for fundraising help and independent expenditure spending, this is a race that is likely to come down to the wire -- an improvement on where national Democrats stood in the state just a few weeks ago.

12/3/2009 2:52:56 PM

Foy is out. Not that he was ever really in, but he announced today on his twitter feed that:

Quote :

"I decided not to run for the U.S. Senate seat next year - but I very much appreciate all the support and encouragement I've received."

So it looks like it is lining up exactly with the original 3 posted at the top of this thread, which still offers decent variety as far as primary options go.


In other campaign news, Lewis picked up an endorsement today(here is a pared down version of the e-mail they sent out):

Gulley's reasoning for supporting us is exactly why our campaign is gaining momentum across the State.

Quote :

"Wanted to pass on some very exciting news from yesterday: former Durham Mayor and State Senator, Wib Gulley, announced his decision to endorse Ken Lewis in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. "I have always looked for candidates and public officials who want to do more than just fill a position or offer more of the same in politics. And that really is the point for all of us when we think about who North Carolina should elect as its US Senator next year. We need to do so much more than just elect another person to this important federal position. It's true that our state and nation confront difficult economic and international issues, but we also need to choose a person who can help reinvigorate our democracy and build confidence in our federal government. In short, we need Ken Lewis.""

[Edited on December 4, 2009 at 4:42 PM. Reason : .]

12/4/2009 4:28:24 PM