1998 United States Senate election in North Carolina

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1998 United States Senate election in North Carolina
Flag of North Carolina.svg
←  1992 November 3, 1998 2004  →
  John Edwards 1996.jpg Lauch Faircloth (R-NC) (crop).jpg
Nominee John Edwards Lauch Faircloth
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote1,029,237945,943
Percentage51.15%47.01%
1998 United States Senate election in North Carolina results by county map.svg
County results
Edwards:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Faircloth:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%
U.S. senator before election

Lauch Faircloth
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

John Edwards
Democratic

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 2025, 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. Eventually, he was chosen as the Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States by John Kerry. They would lose to incumbents George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, and Edwards later ran for President in 2008.

Contents

Republican primary

In the Republican primary, Faircloth easily defeated two minor candidates. [2]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declined

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]

Results

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]

1998 Democratic U.S. Senate primary
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic John Edwards 277,468 51.38%
Democratic D. G. Martin 149,04927.60%
Democratic Ella Scarborough55,48610.28%
Democratic Bob Ayers Jr.22,4774.16%
Democratic Mike Robinson20,1783.74%
Democratic James Carmack8,2001.52%
Democratic Gene Gay7,1731.33%
Total votes540,031 100.00%

General election

Candidates

Campaign

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]

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size [a] 		Margin
of error		Lauch
Faircloth (R)		John
Edwards (D)		Undecided
Mason Dixon [9] October 26–28, 1998827 (LV)± 3.5%44%43%13%
Mason Dixon [9] October 11–13, 1998836 (LV)± 3.5%45%43%12%
Survey USA [9] October 9–11, 1998500 (LV)± 4.5%43%46%11%
Mason Dixon [9] September 20–22, 1998807 (LV)± 3.5%50%40%10%
Mason Dixon [9] July 25–27, 1998829 (LV)± 3.5%47%38%15%

Results

1998 United States Senate election in North Carolina
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic John Edwards 1,029,237 51.15%
Republican Lauch Faircloth (incumbent)945,94347.01%
Libertarian Barbara Howe 36,9631.84%
Total votes2,012,143 100.00%
Democratic gain from Republican

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear

References

  1. ↑ Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 3, 1998" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 33.
  2. ↑ "State Board of Elections" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 27, 2008. Retrieved June 28, 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Stuart Rothenberg: Money Makes A Difference -- Again - May 7, 1998". www.cnn.com. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "EDWARDS SHOULD LEAD THE DEMOCRATIC TICKET\". Greensboro News and Record. May 1998. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  5. ↑ Dewar, Helen (July 11, 1998). "North Carolina's Stark Clash". The Washington Post . Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  6. ↑ Andron, Scott (October 26, 1998). "ATTACK ADS SIGNIFY CLOSE SENATE RACE\ SENATE CANDIDATES JOHN EDWARDS AND LAUCH FAIRCLOTH ACCUSE EACH OTHER OF LYING ABOUT EDWARDS' STANDS ON TOBACCO". Greensboro News and Record. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  7. ↑ "North Carolina Senate - November 3, 1998". CNN . Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  8. ↑ Bragg, Rick (November 6, 1998). "THE 1998 ELECTION: THE DISCONTENTED; Rejecting Negative Advertising, and the Candidate". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "CNN AllPolitics Election '98 - North Carolina 1998 Polls". CNN. Archived from the original on June 28, 2025. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
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