Politics

Dole To Run For Helms' Seat

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

September 10, 2001 / 9:43 PM EDT / CBS

Elizabeth Dole will announce Tuesday that she is entering the race for the North Carolina Senate seat being vacated by Jesse Helms, reports CBS News Chief White House Correspondent John Roberts.

Dole is expected to make the announcement at 1 p.m. ET in her hometown of Salisbury, said a Republican source. Salisbury is between Charlotte and Winston-Salem.

"She is running. She's going to let everyone know then," said a GOP officeholder who had spoken to Dole earlier in the day.

Dole was in Washington on Monday and not immediately available for comment, spokesman Jay Warshaw said.

The Republican Dole, 65, has not lived in North Carolina in decades and had long been registered to vote in Kansas, the home state of her husband, former Sen. Bob Dole.

But after Helms announced last month that he would not seek re-election in 2002, she notified election officials that she was ending her voter registration there. She has since registered in North Carolina.

CBS News Correspondent Jim Krasula in Greensboro reports that for months, state and national Republican leaders quietly have been urging Dole to run for the seat. They feel her name recognition, popularity, and government experience will make her a strong candidate.

Dole has said she continues to consider Salisbury home, even though her career took her to Washington, where she has served as secretary of the Department of Transportation and Department of Labor.

More recently, she served as head of the Red Cross. She was a presidential candidate in 2000, but failed to gain the Republican nomination.

Former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot, who lost the gubernatorial election to Gov. Mike Easley last fall, is the only Republican to have officially entered the race. Rep. Richard Burr of Winston-Salem also has been mentioned as a potential GOP contender.

Dole's candidacy sets up the possibility of North Carolina's first all-woman race for Senate. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall is the lone Democrat in the race, although on Monday, Democratic state Rep. Dan Blue, a former House speaker, said he plans to file paperwork to become a candidate.

Dole's opponents will make the case that she is out of touch with the people of her home state: The 65-year-old Dole hasn't lived in North Carolina for about 40 years. Anxious to counter such talk, sources say Dole plans an immediate visit to each of the state's 100 counties.