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The Daily Tar HeelMonday, November 5, 19907 gG00u Contiradictioiis til theme off Helms, Gaott Senate race By WENDY BOUNDS Staff Writer and STACI COX State and Nat'onal Editor It has been a campaign of contradic tions for Jesse Helms and Harvey Gantt. Issues on which the two disagree, polls predicting Helms the winner one day, Gantt victor the next and com mercials with accusations the other candidate denies: this has been Senate Election 1990 for the incumbent, his challenger and their constituents. Gantt predicted in mid-October that students would be the deciding factor in the election. He has repeatedly stressed " the need for federal investment in edu cation while Helms argues each state ' should be responsible for its schools. "It's time we spent less money on B : 52 bombers and more on the students," Gantt said at a UNC rally Oct. 15. "If you can qualify to get into a four-year '- college like this one ... you ought not be denied that opportunity simply because your parents can't afford to send you." ' Both candidates have received criti ' cism for the use of negative television commercials. "It's so negative, it's sickening," said HARVEY GANTT Democrat ISSUES: Education: Believes that we must ensure access to quality education for all children and young adults. Believes in the importance of teaching young adults the skills they need to succeed in the workplace and to keep America on top. Environment: Believes it is the responsiblity of citizens and the government to ensure a clean, environmentally safe world. Believes those who damage the environment should bear the burden of cleaning it up. Abortion: Pro-choice. Believes that no choice is more individual or more personal than a woman's decision whether to conceive and bear a child. McCoy chooses not to. actively challenge 6-terai incumbents By ANDRE HAUSER Staff Writer Paul McCoy, the Republican chal lenger in the N.C. House of Represen tatives' 24th District, is facing an uphill battle in his quest to represent the area's conservative voters. "It's very difficult to find Republicans in (Chatham) county because they've been battered down for so many years," said Audrey Heiser, secretary of the executive committee of the Chatham County Republican Party. This explains why the Republicans have nominated only one candidate for the two seats in the district, she said. 'They figured that (Anne) Barnes and Joe Hackney are so entrenched that it is too hard to move them," said Charles Trumbull, Orange County Republican Party chairman. Barnes and Hackney are the two Democratic representatives from the 24th District. Both are running for sixth terms. The traditionally Democratic 24th District includes Orange County and parts of Chatham County. All candidates, including the incumbents, run against each other. The two highest vote-getters take the available positions. McCoy's candidacy has not received much attention, and this may be because of his low-key style of campaigning. McCoy said he has been running alone, requesting very little help from the Re . publican Party . V- But the Republican Party headquar ters and its services are open to McCoy, ' .and party volunteers have posted signs .for him, Heiser said. Democrats are not sure why McCoy is running such a quiet campaign. "It seems like a waste of the voters' time ... to file and then not campaign for the election," said Mike Nelson, cam- ' paign coordinator for the Orange County ' Democratic Party. ' The Democratic candidates have used their party's resources more actively. The party headquarters is a central spot . for poster and literature distribution, as well as a useful volunteer coordination center, Barnes said. "It's a joint effort. The party does many things" to help the candidates, she T said. Another reason McCoy has received limited media attention is because he - has not spent much money campaign ing. "I have not solicited money," McCoy :. said. "In fact, I have refused to take PAC ..(political action committee) money." McCoy also said he did not take con ' tributions from private citizens. Barnes and Hackney have run much . more expensive campaigns, and they both estimated their contributions to . have been in the thousands of dollars. , But campaign style is just one area of difference among the incumbents and John Sherman, 62, a Chapel Hill resi dent. But despite voters complaints about these campaign tactics, the large num ber of new, negative commercials in troduced during the last week of the campaign indicates that the candidates feel such tactics are influential. If issues took a back seat to these tactics, there are several high-visibility debates the candidates addressed and on which they disagreed. Gantt steadfastly supports legalized abortion while Helms does not. Helms strongly advocates the death penalty while Gantt is against such punishment. Both issues provoke emotional as well as intellectual responses from voters, and Helms and Gantt have played upon these reactions in their commercials. In addition, pro-choice and pro-life organizations have run advertisements support ing the candidate of their choice. Even discounting these outside sources of paid political advertisements, the Gantt-Helms race is the most expensive campaign in Senate history and is drawing national contributions and media attention. Gantt has stressed the need to end "It seems like such a waste of the voters1 time ... to file and then not campaign for the election" Mike Nelson, campaign coordinator for the Orange County Democratic Party their Republican rival. "I'm running on the conservative philosophy," McCoy said. "I'd be in tune with Sen. Helms and (Gov.) Jim Martin on most issues." McCoy, a Chatham County farmer and land developer, favors holding taxes at their present rate and reducing gov ernment spending by "maybe trim(ming) out some fat" from government pro grams. He opposes state-funded abor tions, and he said he believed abortion should only be allowed in cases of rape and incest. "(Barnes and Hackney) are pretty much opposite most of the things I stand for," McCoy said. Barnes, a professional legislator, and Hackney, an attorney, are both sup porters of state-funded abortions. "If (abortions) are available for the rich, they ought to be available for the poor," Hackney said. Barnes and Hackney both said that in addition to abortion rights, the two main issues they are running on are education and the environment. "I have been a strong advocate of education spending on the state level," Barnes said. "I think education is the number one issue for the state." Im proved education is the key to solving many of the state's problems, such as unemployment and a high crime rate, she added. "One of my primary areas of concern has been environmental protection," Hackney said. He has sponsored bills on solid waste reduction, water quality and the consolidation of the Departments of Environment, Health and Natural Resources. divisiveness and said the election should not be a tool to ostracize homosexuals. "This election is not about ... trying to make gays and lesbians in our country into boogeymen and boogeywomen," Gantt said at the rally. Helms has tried to tie Gantt to homo sexuals via television advertising. "... Gantt's friends with the liberal newspapers don't want you to know about his secret campaign that he has raised thousands of dollars in gay and lesbian bars in San Francisco and New York and Washington, that Gantt has run fund-raising ads in gay newspapers one of Helms' commercials broad casts. Helms has been unflinchingly criti cal of homosexuals during his Senate tenure and throughout the election. He has made several requests that funding for AIDS research be severely cut, saying the syndrome is a "plague on gays and lesbians," who have formed political organizations to pressure for AIDS funding. Helms has also attacked Gantt for running advertisements on radio stations 1990 Official Ballot for United Sta Member ot congress ana Mofe General Court of Justice-Crpfeell (Supreme Court atfcyuu 4th (Fourth! To vote for all candi mark in the riffeteof th You may voteVYoiraticke and then ma! rk caryQ(s) o: arty lOSl ffl T iMffl " stmt ticket Dy aking a cross namWreac If you another idate for whom deface or wrongly DEMOCRATIC II REPUBLICAN FOR A STRAIGHT TICKET FOR A STRAIGHT TICKET o o MARK WITHIN THIS CIRCLE MARK WITHIN THIS CIRCLE For United States Senator For United States Senator HARVEY B. GANTT JESSE A. HELMS For Member of Congress For Member of Congress DAVID E. PRICE JOHN CARRINGTON For Chief Justice of Supreme Court For Chief Justice of Supreme Court JAMES G. EXUM, JR. HOWARD E. MANNING. JR. For Associate Justice of Supreme Court For Associate Justice of Supreme Court JOHN WEBB I. BEVERLY LAKE. JR. For Associate Justice of Supreme Court For Associate Justice of Supreme Court WILLIS P. WHICHARD SAMUEL T. CURRIN For Judge of Court of Appeals For Judge of Court of Appeals HUGH A. WELLS J. RANDOLPH (Randy) WARD For Judge of Court of Appeals For Judge of Court of Appeals EUGENE H. (Gene) PHILLIPS RALPH A. WALKER For Judge of Court of Appeals For Judge of Court of Appeals CLIFTON E.JOHNSON CARTER T. LAMBETH For Judge of Court of Appeals For Judge of Court of Appeals SARAH PARKER DENAS. LINGLE For Judge of Court of Appeals For Judge of Court of Appeals SIDNEYS. EAGLES. JR. WILLIAM M. NEELy For Judge of Court of Appeals For Judge of Court of Appeals K. EDWARD GREENE SHERRY FOWLER ALLOWAY For Judge of Court of Appeals For Judge of Court of Appeals (Unexpired term ending 1 231 92) (Unexpired term ending 1 231 92) JAMES A. WYNN, JR. ALLYSON K. DUNCAN State of North Carolina General Election November 6, 1 990 Gantt, Helms supporters engage in shouting fight during rally in Charlotte From Associated Press reports CHARLOTTE, N.C. Supporters of Harvey Gantt and Sen. Jesse Helms screamed insults at each other, and two people fought briefly at a Helms rally. "Left-wing Commie pinko faggots!" shouted Helms backer Steve Jones, 54, on Saturday after walking through a crowd of Gantt supporters, who were waving anti-Helms signs and screaming "Harvey! Harvey! Harvey!" Police were not present during the clash at Alexander Graham Junior High School. "Murderer! Murderer! Murderer!" yelled another Helms backer, in refer ence to the abortion rights of Gantt and some of his supporters. Gantt, a Demo crat, is challenging Republican Helms in Tuesday's election. The confrontation began when about 40 Gantt supporters waved anti-Helms signs in the faces of backers as they entered the school. A brief scuffle erupted outside be tween university student Tom Tritten and rally security guard Jim Grice, who said he was working for rally organizers to watch fire doors. Spokesmen for both campaigns said they were not aware of the confrontation. Police said no arrests were made and no with predominantly African-American audiences, encouraging people in the listening area to vote Nov. 6. "The liberal newspapers also won't tell you about Harvey Gantt's secret campaign running radio ads that play only on black radio stations," a Helms commercial says. "Why doesn't Harvey Gantt run his ad on all radio stations?" And while Gantt denies he supports racial quotas, Helms has repeatedly linked Gantt's support of the 1990 equal rights bill, which President Bush vetoed, as an indication of Gantt's desire to use race as a determining factor in em ployment. While the issue of race has crept slowly into the last days of the cam paign, Gantt and Helms are also at odds over almost every other issue facing the nation. One of Helms' issues in the Senate this year was to restrict funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, charging that the NEA had used tax payers' dollars to fund what he consid ered obscene art. Gantt opposes any restrictions on the NEA and has accused tnator, Offior ftithe cwision Iweals) Dist 4th TER straight ticket), make a cross 13 ose candidates you wish to vote. king a cross (El mark in the party circle in the square opposite the name of the for whom you wish to vote. not mar Kmc a cross iJ marx in tne (HI mark in the square opposite the you wish to vote. mark this ballot, return it and get Chairman. State Board of Elections injuries were reported. Helms was foregoing any campaign ing Sunday after a long day on the road Saturday, said his wife, Dot Helms. "We got to bed at 3 o'clock and we're just using this as a day of rest," she said. "I'm sure the Lord will understand" why they missed church. Gantt was in church Sunday morning and had a rally planned Sunday night. Both candidates planned to fly around the state Monday in a final blitz before Election Day. Polls released Thursday showed a close race between Helms, a three-term Republican, and Gantt, a Democrat. One poll gave Helms a lead of 4 percentage points; another gave Gantt the same lead. Both had margins of error of 3.5 percentage points. Gantt, 47, rode the civil rights wave of the '60s to become the first black student at Clemson University and later the first black mayor of Charlotte. Helms, 69, rose to prominence in the same decade as a television commentator who nightly rallied against civil rights, integration and communism. That no toriety helped him to the U.S. Senate in 1972. Harvey Gantt Helms of blowing the dispute out of proportion for political reasons. Helms has repeatedly told supporters that he would rather lose his Senate seat than gain the support of Gantt's "special interest groups," including liberals, art- JESSE HELMS-Republican ISSUES: Education: Believes federal aid in education leads to federal control. Environment: Supported the Safe Drinking Water Act. Voted against Clean Air Act and Clean , Water Act as too costly to business and too dangerous to job security. Abortion: Anti-abortion. Sponsored numerous bills that would create a constitutional amendment to make abortion illegal. -y The Arts: Has spearheaded a battle to cut back and closely monitor the funding of the National Endowmentfor the Arts, pointing to "pornographic and Godless" aii supported by the foundation. Senate candidates! flgl it tight race foi1 16th District seafe Editor's note: This story is reprinted from the Oct. 23 edition of The Daily Tar Heel. By DOUG HATCH Staff Writer Four candidates are fighting a tight battle for Orange County votes as they vie for the two 1 6th District N.C. Senate seats open in the Nov. 6 election. Republicans Bill Boyd and Max Reece are grappling for the seats of Democrats Russell Walker, a 16-year incumbent, and Howard Lee, a one term incumbent. The 16th District in cludes Person, Granville, Durham and northern Orange counties. Candidates do not run for a specific seat, but all four are in contention for the two general seats. Reece, who lost the 1988 election by 215 votes, said his platform basically consisted of the same five issues of the earlier race, including finding a solution to the drug problem, implementing prison reform, compensating state-employed retail merchants who lose money on sales tax, limiting the length of the legislative session and granting veto power to the governor. "We can't continue to throw money at education," Reece said. He also said he supported more local and parental involvement in the educational process. Reece said he was opposed to oil drilling off the N.C. coast and supported voluntary recycling so that it would not become federally mandated due to overflowing landfills. Walker, an Asheboro resident, dif fered from Reece on education. Walker said he wanted to get the Basic Educa tion Plan back on track. "I believe we need to restore budget cuts in higher education," Walker said. He said he was interested in mental health care reform, subsidized state aid for day care, adult day care for senior citizens and reduction of the N.C. infant mortality rate, one of the highest in the nation. Walker is chairman of the N.C. Senate Appropriations Committee on Human Services and co-chairman of the legislature's Environmental Review Commission. Boyd, who served three terms in the N.C. House of Representatives, said he wanted stiffer drug and criminal laws, including mandatory service of full sentences for drug convictions. The first bill Boyd said he planned to introduce would expand the Open Meetings Law to include the state leg islature. The Open Meetings Law re quires that local government meetings be accessible to the public. Boyd also supports giving the gov ernor veto power. "It's ridiculous the governor of this state doesn't have veto power," he said. j i. IP HI Jesse Helms ists, blacks and homosexuals. These vast contradictions between each candidate's ethical views may re sult in a numerically narrow decision among voters for either the values of the Old South or the New South. it. We can't continue to throw money at education" incumbent 4 Russell Walker "We need to get education back to the classrooms," Boyd added, placing em phasis on the value of the Basic Edu cation Plan and more local control-of schools. - He also said that there was a balance between growth and conservatism ;and that he wanted to encourage good, clean industry in North Carolina. '. "I'm an environmentalist ... but I also want us to continue to be able to have good growth," he said. ,.t I Lee said he wanted to place heavy emphasis on recycling in the state and improve the mass transit system. 1 Lee said he was pushing for greater self-management for the UNC system He also stressed having a commitment to the Basic Education Plan. ; .; ; He is concentrating on management, of government funds. . ; "We need to recognize we are in a time when we have limited government resources," Lee said. "We need to learn how to have better overall governrrjent management of financial resource." Lee is a faculty member of the UNC School of Social Work. - ? All four candidates towed party line on state funding for abortion, although Reece said he was not opposed to women having abortions as long as it was still legal. "I think it's a choice for the woman and her deity," he said. John Humphrey, press secretary! of the N.C. Democratic Party, said the race would be close, but he expected the Democrats to win. "(Russell and Lee) have ably sup ported their district in the past," he said. They also have the advantage of .-incumbency. But according to Tom Ballus, prcqs secretary for the N.C. Republ ican Party, Reece and Boyd have been able to raise more money than i s usual for challengers because they already have recognition among N.C. voters. Boyd ran for lieutenant governor in 1988, narrowly losing to Jim Gardner, and Reece came close to winning Lees seat. The biggest setback to the Republi can party's cause in Orange County, js the high support for Democratic candi dates in Chapel Hill, Ballus said. "Knock that out and we'd carry the election," he said.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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