Helms’ Clout Seems Shaken in Primary

The political machine of Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) appears headed for an embarrassing defeat in today’s North Carolina primary election--an indication that home-state voters may be growing weary of the highly confrontational style of the senator and his supporters.

Internal Republican polls show that David Funderburk, 41, the handpicked candidate of the Helms organization, is trailing Rep. James T. Broyhill (R-N.C.) in a match to select the Republican standard-bearer in November’s election to succeed Sen. John P. East (R-N.C.), an earlier Helms protege. A recent poll showed Broyhill with 60%, Funderburk with 16% and the rest undecided.

Classic Contest

It is a classic contest between the New Right represented by Helms and the old Republican Establishment--a forerunner of the clash that is expected to develop between these two forces nationally with the retirement of President Reagan.

“Obviously,” Funderburk said, “it’s a battle for the heart and soul of the party.”

The outcome could help determine the extent of Helms’ future role in home-state politics, the Senate and Republican Party. Among other things, he is believed to be contemplating a possible presidential bid in 1988 that would seek to take advantage of the new, multi-state Southern primary.

Both candidates pass the litmus test for conservatives on such issues as support for higher defense spending and aid to Nicaraguan rebels and opposition to abortion. What divides Funderburk and Broyhill is style, not substance.

Conservative Populist

Funderburk, a college professor and former ambassador to Romania, has fashioned himself as a conservative populist in the Helms mold. Broyhill, 58, a multimillionaire heir to a furniture manufacturing fortune, is a 12-term congressman who demonstrates a slightly aristocratic disdain for gut-level political fights.

Money is apparently no problem for either candidate. Broyhill estimates that he will spend about $1.5 million; Funderburk expects to raise about the same amount, most of it through the Helms fund-raising apparatus.

The chief issue has been the negative campaign style of Helms’ political action committee, the Congressional Club, which has thrived on direct-mail fund-raising and negative television advertising since the senator’s first successful Senate bid in 1972.

Just two years ago, negative ads played a role in Helms’ victorious battle for a third term against former Democratic Gov. James Hunt--a tumultuous contest that cost the two candidates a record $20 million. Broyhill contends that voters have soured on negative campaigns, especially when they are directed at members of the same party.

Intra-Party Bashing

“Republicans don’t like Republicans going around bashing other Republicans,” he said. “People resent that kind of campaign. That’s what they are telling me everywhere I go.”

The latest Funderburk TV commercials, produced by another arm of the Helms organization known as Jefferson Marketing, attack Broyhill for his role in passing legislation that could eventually lead to the establishment of a nuclear waste dump in North Carolina and allege that the Democrats already are calling it “the Jim Broyhill Nuclear Waste Dump.”

Funderburk, who acknowledges he has seized upon an unusual issue for a conservative, also charges that Broyhill has received $40,000 in contributions from the nuclear power companies in exchange for his role in authoring the waste bill. He said he does not oppose nuclear power, but he thinks the waste should be stored elsewhere.

Broyhill contends the ads have not diminished his support in the state, even though he recently produced a commercial that defends his position on the nuclear waste issue. He argues that the bill was supported by Republicans as well as Democrats in the North Carolina congressional delegation, including Helms.

Democrats view the nuclear waste battle with glee. Ed Turlington, executive director of the North Carolina Democratic Party, said Funderburk is only “softening Broyhill up” for his anticipated general election contest against former Democratic Gov. Terry Sanford.

Sanford, 68, who was elected governor on John F. Kennedy’s coattails in 1960, served as president of Duke University from 1969 until last year. Although he is generally viewed as a political has-been who is too liberal to beat Broyhill, the congressman acknowledged in an interview that he fears how his Democratic opponent will exploit Funderburk’s charges.

‘I’m Going to Win’

“I’m going to win the primary,” Broyhill said. “I just wonder what kind of impact it’s all going to have in November.”

Funderburk emphasizes the importance of his candidacy to the Helms organization, noting that to elect any other senator from North Carolina would only “cancel out” the Helms vote. “Do we want to let 15 years of hard sacrifices go down the drain?” he asks.

Party realignment is uppermost in the minds of both GOP contenders. Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1 in the state, but in recent years Republican candidates have successfully appealed to many Democratic voters.