North Carolina Senator Handily Wins Primary

North Carolina Democrats nominated a millionaire lawyer Tuesday to challenge Republican Sen. Lauch Faircloth, while two Indiana Republicans battled it out for the right to face former Gov. Evan Bayh for the state’s open Senate seat.

Faircloth, seeking a second term, was easily renominated over two political unknowns, grabbing four of every five votes cast. John Edwards, 44, making his first bid for public office, won the Democratic primary with 50%, more than enough to avoid a runoff.

Edwards dedicated his victory to a former governor and senator, Terry Sanford, who died two weeks ago at age 80. Sanford lost the Senate seat to Faircloth in 1992.

“In the fall, we are going to take back Terry Sanford’s seat in the United States Senate for the people of North Carolina,” Edwards told supporters.

Faircloth, himself a multimillionaire, said he wasn’t worried about running against Edwards, who already has spent more than $3 million of his own money on television ads.

“Our goal is not to match him dollar for dollar,” Faircloth said. “Our goal is to win the election.”

In Ohio, Gov. George Voinovich, barred from running for a third term, easily won the GOP Senate primary. Voinovich is heavily favored to beat Democrat Mary O. Boyle, a former Cuyahoga County commissioner, who faced no primary opposition in the race to succeed Sen. John Glenn.

Glenn, a four-term Democrat, and two-term Indiana Republican Dan Coats are two of the five senators who are giving up their seats this year. Glenn, 76, is returning to space aboard the shuttle Discovery, while Coats, 54, is heading back to the private sector.

Each of the three Republicans running to succeed Coats held the lead at some point in early returns Tuesday: Fort Wayne Mayor Paul Helmke; Peter Rusthoven, an attorney and former speech writer for Ronald Reagan; and John Price, also an attorney and advocate for socially conservative causes.

But after Helmke and Price pulled ahead, Rusthoven conceded. With 88% of precincts reporting, Helmke led with 120,296 votes, while Price had 117,512 votes.

None of the three was able to raise enough money to wage a statewide TV ad campaign, and all struggled in the shadow of Bayh, the uncontested Democratic nominee. His father, Birch Bayh, once held the same Senate seat, until Dan Quayle beat him in 1980.