In 2006, Dole Spends Nearly as Much Time in Other States as in North Carolina

October 6, 2008

GREENSBORO, NC- Last week the Winston-Salem Journal documented Senator Elizabeth Dole’s travel back to North Carolina over the past 5.5 years, revealing that in 2006, she spent a paltry 13 days in the Tar Heel State. At the same time, she was chairing the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is in charge of helping elect fellow Republicans to the Senate. In that position Dole campaigned in a dozen other states, and in 2006, she spent roughly the same amount of time in other states as she did in the state she was elected to represent.

“Not only did Elizabeth Dole spend just 13 days in North Carolina in 2006, and only 13% of her total time as a U.S. Senator has been spent in the state she claims to represent, but now we find out that she was gallivanting around the country just as much, if not more, helping Republicans get a Senate seat instead of helping working families get ahead,” said Hagan Campaign Communications Director Colleen Flanagan. “North Carolinians deserve much more than a senator who is elected, and hardly seen or heard from again, until the next election. In 2002, people thought electing Elizabeth Dole to the Senate would bring great things for North Carolina. Now we know the only thing she brought was a change of clothes for her rare overnights in the state.”

According to Brian Nick, who was Dole’s spokesperson during her time at the NRSC, and is now her Senate Chief of Staff, Dole campaigned in a dozen states as chair of the NRSC, including California, Minnesota, Montana, Tennessee, Washington, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Ohio, New Jersey and Virginia. Of the 12 states Dole visited, the Republican Senate candidate won only in Tennessee. Dole foresaked North Carolina while trying to elect Republicans, and instead, she was successful in handing control of the chamber over the Democrats. Additionally, in deciding to chair the NRSC, Dole gave up her seat on the Senate Agriculture Committee. She explained her decision by saying “it builds relationships…that helps you in the future.”

In writing about her tenure as NRSC chair, Raleigh News & Observer reporter Rob Christensen wrote that it, “tarnished Dole’s image in Washington and meant that she has rarely been seen in North Carolina the past two years.” When asked about her time away from the state in the midst of her chairmanship, Dole said, “I’m doing everything possible to make sure I’m in the state as much as possible.” However, a Greensboro News & Record editorial noted, “During the two-week Easter break [in 2006], she managed a single public appearance in Winston-Salem,” and had no other public events in North Carolina.

Bill Peaslee, chief of staff for the North Carolina Republican Party, said he believed that Dole was helping North Carolina by working to keep the Senate in Republican hands. “Elizabeth Dole doesn’t have to be in North Carolina to be serving North Carolina’s interests,” Peaslee said.

“We think most North Carolinians would strongly disagree,” said Flanagan.

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