N. Carolina Black Senate Nominee Faces Helms

Republican Sen. Jesse Helms can paste any label he likes on his opponents, Democrat Harvey Gantt said Wednesday, just as long as Gantt gets the label “senator” in November.

Gantt, 47, became North Carolina’s first black candidate for senator by easily defeating Michael Easley in a Tuesday runoff, 57% to 43%. Gantt faces Helms, who is seeking a fourth term, in the November general election.

“When he tries to tag me a ‘liberal,’ I’m going to talk about issues--like education, a clean environment, affordable health care. Those issues are Jesse-proof,” said Gantt, a former two-term mayor of Charlotte. “If talking about those issues makes me a liberal, then so be it. You can call me whatever you want.”

Gantt said he is not afraid of Helms using the same tactics employed successfully in 1984 against former Gov. James B. Hunt Jr.

Polls indicated that Helms was running 20 percentage points behind Hunt in that race, but Helms erased that deficit by labeling the moderate governor “a Mondale liberal” in relentless television and radio ads.

According to a poll last week by the Greensboro News & Record, Gantt and Helms appeared to be in a dead heat, 44% for Gantt and 43% for Helms.

Gantt said Wednesday that his race should not be an issue. Helms has a record of opposing various civil rights measures and affirmative action programs and voted against making the birthday of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a national holiday.

“It (race) has never been an issue in any race I’ve run. It certainly will not be an issue in our case,” Gantt told reporters. “If race is brought up, I’ll respond to it in a way that will set the record straight. I really think people want to talk about issues.”

Gantt said he did not anticipate the wide margin of victory in the primary runoff. Gantt and Easley finished first and second, respectively, in a six-candidate primary election May 8.

“I didn’t feel it (the results) would be that wide a margin. I would have been satisfied with 50%,” Gantt said. “To get that kind of vote was tremendous. I feel a certain humility.

“I want to savor this victory for at least a few hours,” he said. “Then we’ve really got a tough race ahead. There is no question that Jesse Helms is formidable.”