Bowles Enters Race for Helms’ Senate Seat

Erskine Bowles, a White House chief of staff during the Clinton administration, jumped into the U.S. Senate race in North Carolina, the second nationally known candidate to vie for the seat being relinquished by Sen. Jesse Helms.

Bowles, a 56-year-old Charlotte, N.C., merchant banker, said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon prompted him to reconsider an earlier decision not to seek elected office.

“After I had written my check to the charities and given blood, you sit there and think what can I do to help?” Bowles said in a telephone interview. “I decided I want to spend all my time, not just part of it anymore, but all of my time, in public service.”