Rep. Bob Etheridge (D) Elected 1996, 5th term
Born:	Aug. 7, 1941, Turkey
Home:	Lillington
Education:	Campbell U., B.S. 1965
Religion:	Presbyterian
Marital Status:	married (Faye)
Elected  Office:	Harnett Cnty. Comm., 1973-76, Chmn., 1975-76; NC House of Reps., 1978-88; NC Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1988-96.
Military Career:	Army, 1965-67.
Professional Career:	Farmer, 1965-present; V.P. Sales, Sorensen Industries, 1968-87; Owner, Layton Hardware, 1973-90; Co-owner, WLLN Radio, 1979-91.
DC Office	1533 LHOB20515, 202-225-4531; Fax: 202-225-5662; Web site: www.house.gov/etheridge
State Offices	Lillington, 910-814-0335; Raleigh, 919-829-9122.
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The coastal plain of North Carolina was long bypassed by history. It was settled after Virginia and South Carolina, and only filled in with English settlers as Scots-Irish families were streaming down the valley of Virginia to the western Piedmont. This has always been tobacco country, a high-yield crop that for many years could support a family on 40 acres. Tobacco, an important colonial crop, became even more so after James B. Duke created Bull Durham tobacco and Lucky Strike cigarettes. But this was long a backward area. Its small farms and little cities were homes mainly to tenant farmers and mill hands, people raising families in thin-walled frame houses, often with no electricity or running water.

In many ways, life here has improved, in large part because this region adjoins one of the nation's fastest-growing metropolitan areas, Raleigh-Durham. The population of Wake County, which includes Raleigh, grew 70% from 1990 to 2004; there has been similar growth in surrounding Franklin (43%), Johnston (68%), Harnett (47%) and Chatham (43%) Counties. The dynamic local economy has generated tens of thousands of jobs, with subdivisions and retirement communities sprouting up all around. While counties to the east have seen denim mills close and tobacco plots replaced with less lucrative crops, other parts of the region have boomed. Raleigh combines North Carolina State University and glitzy new cultural institutions with country-cured hams and collard greens at such culinary destinations as Big Ed's City Market Restaurant.

The 2d Congressional District of North Carolina consists of an irregular loop south of Raleigh, taking in parts of nine counties, including Wake County, which is split between three congressional districts. It dips south to include parts of hog-producing Sampson County and Cumberland County, including parts of the Army's Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base. The district has an 8% Hispanic population, the highest of any in North Carolina; Latinos have been coming to work in meat and chicken processing factories. This is by and large the blue collar, country music part of the booming Raleigh-Durham metro area, a place where most voters have a Democratic heritage but many have gotten into the habit of voting Republican for major offices. In 2000 it voted for George W. Bush and for Democratic Governor Mike Easley. In 2002 it voted for Republican Senator Elizabeth Dole. Despite the presence of John Edwards on the Democratic ticket, the 2d voted for Bush again in 2004.

The congressman from the 2d District is Bob Etheridge, a Democrat first elected in 1996. His biography seems tailored to the district: He was born in the hamlet of Turkey in Sampson County, grew up in Johnston County, went to Campbell University in Harnett County, where he was a basketball star, and he owned a hardware store in Lillington, the county seat. He is a tobacco farmer; he served four years on the Harnett County Commission in the 1970s, was elected to the North Carolina House in 1978 and served 10 years, eventually chairing the Appropriations Committee. In 1988 and 1992 he was elected state superintendent of public instruction. In the mid-1990s, Governor Jim Hunt called for abolishing the superintendent post and transferred 300 employees to the state Board of Education. Etheridge, spying an opportunity, decided to run for the House in 1996 against freshman David Funderburk, a longtime ally of Jesse Helms. Funderburk tried to tie Etheridge to FDA Commissioner David Kessler's announcement that tobacco could be regulated as a drug. Etheridge responded by citing his own tobacco credentials: "I own tobacco allotments and have for years. I'd like to know how many days Mr. Funderburk spent priming tobacco, setting tobacco, and how many days he spent under the hot sun in the tobacco fields." Etheridge won 53%-46%.

In the House, Etheridge has compiled a moderate voting record, a bit to the left of center. Etheridge bellowed his opposition to all attempts to regulate tobacco: He voted against the 1997 budget because it included a cigarette tax increase; he opposed eliminating crop insurance for tobacco farmers; he led the fight for a $125 million bailout for tobacco farmers whose surplus did not sell on the open market, including a few thousand dollars for his own farm. After China agreed to drop its ban on imported tobacco products, he voted for normal trade relations. He worked for years on the tobacco buyout bill, which finally was enacted in 2004 and reportedly paid him and his wife $31,000. Utilizing his previous work, he won a provision in the Higher Education Reauthorization Act to teach values in public schools, and sought federal funds to research and implement "character education" programs. He supported the flag burning amendment and partial-birth abortion ban, and voted to override Bill Clinton's veto of estate tax repeal. He split with his party in 2001 when he was among 21 House Democrats--and the only one from North Carolina--voting for trade promotion authority; North Carolina high-tech and farm interests supported the measure. The state has suffered setbacks from expanded trade, he said, but "we've been a net winner." Etheridge also split with most House Democrats to support the use of force in Iraq. He won enactment of his bill to assist weather forecasters to improve hurricane warnings for inland areas; his district was devastated by Hurricane Floyd in 1999. In 2003, he won enactment of his "hometown heroes" bill to extend benefits to public safety officers who die of heart attacks and strokes while on duty.

The Democratic legislature's redistricting plan, by adding a part of Raleigh, made the district more Democratic. Etheridge has won easily since then. In each of the past two cycles, Etheridge's opportunities to run for open Senate seats were pre-empted by the self-financing Erskine Bowles. Etheridge seems safe, but in an open seat contest this district could be competitive.

Committees

• Agriculture (4th of 21 D): Conservation, Credit, Rural Development & Research; General Farm Commodities & Risk Management (RMM).
• Homeland Security (13th of 15 D): Emergency Preparedness, Science & Technology; Intelligence, Information Sharing & Terrorism Risk Assessment.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	85	50	88	91	90	13	52	20	3	30	--
2003	90	--	100	80	--	26	47	28	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	74%	--	25%		63%	--	36%
Social	62%	--	37%		62%	--	37%
Foreign	61%	--	37%		53%	--	46%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR N 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts N 3. Medicare/Rx Bill N 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. Y 5. DC School Vouchers N 6. Ban Human Cloning N		7. Restrict Gun Liability Y  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion Y  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage Y 10. Fund Iraq War Y 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds N 12. Intelligence Reorg. Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Bob Etheridge (D)	145,079	62%	$989,599
	Billy Creech (R)	87,811	38%	$137,820
2004 primary	Bob Etheridge (D)	unopposed
2002 general	Bob Etheridge (D)	100,121	65%	$652,178
	Joseph Ellen (R)	50,965	33%	$7,423
	Other	2,098	1%
Prior winning percentages: 2000 (58%); 1998 (57%); 1996 (53%)

2004 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 128,220 (54%) Kerry (D) 107,912 (46%)

2000 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 98,607 (53%) Gore (D) 85,552 (46%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Second District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R + 3
• District Size: 3,979 square miles
• Population in 2000: 619,178; 49.5% urban; 50.5% rural
• Median Household Income: $36,510; 14.3% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 32.6% blue collar; 52.1% white collar; 15.3% gray collar; 13.1% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 59.1% White, 30.1% Black, 0.9% Asian, 0.6% Amer. Indian, 0.1% Hawaiian, 1.2% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 7.9% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 12.3% USA, 6.7% English, 5.7% German
• Click here for statewide demographic data.