From The Hotline Latest Edition for Wednesday, May 7,2008

NORTH CAROLINA

Oh, Kay!

Wed. May 7, 2008


Sen. Kay Hagan (D) won the 5/6 Dem primary, defeating investment banker Jim Neal (D), atty Marcus Williams (D), trucking company owner Duskin Lassiter (D), and podiatrist Howard Staley (D). On the GOP side, Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R) won renomination over '93 NJ GOV indie candidate/ex-NYC police officer Pete Di Lauro (R). Results, with 100% reporting (NC Board of Elections, 5/7).

NC SEN Dem Primary             NC SEN GOP Primary
              Votes  %age                    Votes  %age
Hagan       811,566  60.25%    Dole        461,085  89.94%
Neal        242,967  18.04     DiLauro      51,552  10.06
Williams    170,263  12.64
Lassiter     61,985   4.60
Staley       60,232   4.47
TOTAL:    1,347,013            TOTAL:      512,637

Hagan "said Dole is beatable and that she's well-positioned to do it." Hagan: "I truly think that everything is broken, from the economy to the war in Iraq, to immigration. She (Dole) has voted with President Bush 92 percent of the time, 100 percent of the time on the Iraqi War. Our veterans are hurting; I think the military is stretched so thin we've got to end this war. Right now it's not making America any safer."

Dole "dismissed the charges as 'political stuff.' Dole said she's disagreed with Bush on a number of issues: Support for the tobacco quota buyout, trade issues that hurt NC workers and the president's immigration-reform proposal that Dole said she helped defeat. She said she's one of the few Republicans working to cap greenhouse emissions, legislation Bush doesn't support. And she said she's spent weekends and holidays traveling the state to listen to concerns" (Perlmutt, Charlotte Observer, 5/7).