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County results Edwards: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Faircloth: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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Elections in North Carolina |
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The 1998 United States Senate election in North Carolina was held November 3, 1998. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Lauch Faircloth decided to seek re-election to a second term, but was unseated by Democrat John Edwards, a trial attorney. [1] As of 2022 [update] , this is the last time a Democrat won North Carolina's class 3 Senate seat. Edwards declined to run for reelection in 2004, choosing instead to run for President of the United States.
In the Republican primary, Faircloth easily defeated two minor candidates. [2]
Going into the 1998 campaign, several prominent Democrats declined to run for Senate, including Attorney General Mike Easley, former Mayor of Charlotte Harvey Gantt, and former Glaxo CEO and 1996 Senate candidate Charlie Sanders. [4]
In the Democratic primary, Edwards defeated his closest rival D.G. Martin, former vice chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The race also featured former Charlotte city councilwoman Ella Scarborough and several minor candidates. [3]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | John Edwards | 277,468 | 51.38% | |
Democratic | D. G. Martin | 149,049 | 27.60% | |
Democratic | Ella Scarborough | 55,486 | 10.28% | |
Democratic | Bob Ayers Jr. | 22,477 | 4.16% | |
Democratic | Mike Robinson | 20,178 | 3.74% | |
Democratic | James Carmack | 8,200 | 1.52% | |
Democratic | Gene Gay | 7,173 | 1.33% | |
Total votes | 540,031 | 100.00% |
During the campaign, Edwards fashioned himself as a "people's advocate", while Faircloth accused Edwards of being too friendly towards labor unions. [5] Referring to Edwards as a "tobacco-taxing liberal", Faircloth's campaign ran ads alleging that Edwards' position on tobacco regulation would lead to job losses in the state. [6]
Edwards' campaign refused financial support from political action committees and ran ads criticizing Faircloth's record on Medicare and Social Security. [7] Edwards' victory was partially attributed by some observers to blowback against the Faircloth campaign's use of negative advertising. [8]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | John Edwards | 1,029,237 | 51.15% | |
Republican | Lauch Faircloth (incumbent) | 945,943 | 47.01% | |
Libertarian | Barbara Howe | 36,963 | 1.84% | |
Total votes | 2,012,143 | 100.00% | ||
Democratic gain from Republican |
Johnny Reid Edwards is an American lawyer and former politician who represented North Carolina in the United States Senate from 1999 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the vice presidential nominee under US Senator John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election. He also was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.
Duncan McLauchlin "Lauch" Faircloth was an American politician from North Carolina. He served as a member of the United States Senate for only a single term from 1993 to 1999. He was a Democrat for most of his career in North Carolina politics until he joined the Republican Party in 1991.
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