Helms Easily Wins and Lukens Trails in Busy Slate of Primaries

Arch-conservative Sen. Jesse Helms easily claimed the Republican nomination for a fourth term in North Carolina on Tuesday, and Rep. Donald E. (Buz) Lukens, struggling to survive a sex scandal, trailed in the Ohio Republican primary.

In North Carolina’s Democratic primary, Harvey Gantt, the black former mayor of Charlotte, led a crowded field competing to oppose Helms in November.

West Virginia’s former first lady Dee Caperton tried to rejoin her ex-husband, Gov. Gaston Caperton--as state treasurer.

In other highlights of the busiest day of primary voting so far this year, former Democratic Reps. Katie Hall of Indiana and Ken Hechler of West Virginia bid for comebacks in their old districts. Hall challenged Rep. Peter J. Visclosky and Hechler went up against Rep. Nick J. Rahall II.

Lukens, who refused Republican Party advice to retire, was running third in a four-way primary with 10% of the precincts counted in western Ohio’s 8th District. State Rep. John Boehner led with 49% of the votes, followed by former Rep. Thomas Kindness with 34% and Lukens with 15%.

In North Carolina, with 9% of precincts counted, Helms had 14,024 votes or 82%, and businessman George Wimbish and retired salvage dealer L. C. Nixon divided the rest.

Among Democrats, Gantt led with 27,478 votes, or 47%, followed by Michael Easley, the Brunswick County district attorney, with 16,756 votes, or 28%; John Ingram, a former state insurance commissioner, with 8,247 votes, or 14%, and R. P. (Bo) Thomas, a former state senator, with 5,291 votes, or 9%. Two other candidates ran far behind.

Late polls had shown that Gantt was likely to emerge the leader, but state law requires a June 5 runoff unless one candidate gets more than 40% of the total.

Also, in North Carolina, 100-year-old Henry Merritt Stenhouse led a three-way Republican primary for Congress. With 8% of precincts counted he had 286 votes, or 48% of the total. The winner has the task of facing Democratic Rep. H. Martin Lancaster in a district that has not sent a Republican to Congress since Reconstruction.

And in Atlantic City, N.J., Mayor James L. Usry, the city’s first black mayor who is under a bribery indictment, faced six challengers in a nonpartisan primary.

Sen. John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV faced two token Democratic challengers in West Virginia. Republican attorney John Yoder is the unopposed GOP candidate.