Charlotte Observer Endorses Kay Hagan in the Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate

Last week, Kay was endorsed by the Winston-Salem Journal.

Dole and Hagan
Clear choices in both parties’ May 6 U.S. Senate primaries
The Charlotte Observer
Published April 20, 2008

Public interest in North Carolina’s May 6 primary elections is rising with a recent surge in voter registration, no doubt largely attributable to the presidential primary race between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. But at least equally as important for N.C. voters are the choices for other federal and state offices.

In the elections for U.S. Senate, both parties offer first-rate candidates.

In the Republican primary, the call is easy to make: incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole of Salisbury.

She is being challenged by Peter Di Lauro of Weldon. He is an ex-Marine, Vietnam veteran and former New York policeman who believes elected officials should serve only one term in the office to which they’re elected. He opposes the war in Iraq and supports an orderly withdrawal.

But he does not have the money or the political record to make a persuasive case against Sen. Dole, who has worked in Washington for more than four decades in the executive branch and for the past six years in the Senate. She succeeded Jesse Helms in 2003 and has taken a less combative approach than Sen. Helms.
She has sponsored legislation recognizing the Lumbee Indian tribe of Eastern North Carolina and was a late but welcome arrival to the list of officials opposing the Navy’s plan for an outlying landing field in an inappropriate spot near the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. After several years of attending to party fundraising duties, lately she has concentrated more on N.C. issues. Elizabeth Dole is the clear choice for renomination to a second term in the Senate.

In the Democratic primary, five candidates are seeking the nomination: State Sen. Kay Hagan of Greensboro, trucker Duskin Lassiter of High Point, former investment banker Jim Neal of Chapel Hill, podiatrist Howard Staley of Moncure and lawyer Marcus Williams of Lumberton.

Mr. Lassiter and Mr. Staley lack the money and political stature to put together a convincing case for the nomination. Mr. Williams has performed outstanding public services in fostering programs serving low-income residents of Robeson County, but it’s Mr. Neal who comes closest to mounting a challenge to Sen. Hagan for the nomination, though he, too, is hampered by lack of money for advertising. He is bright, energetic and would follow a progressive agenda, including an orderly withdrawal from Iraq.

Sen. Hagan’s experience as a lawyer and in five terms in the state Senate have prepared her well to serve in the Senate. As co-chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee she has been responsible for drawing up the state’s $20 billion budget. She has been a vigorous proponent of education and children’s health insurance programs and wants to promote renewable energy in the Senate. She also supports an orderly withdrawal and a political end to the Iraq war. Kay Hagan is uniquely qualified for the Democratic nomination for Senate.

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