March 2002

State Political Briefing
Length of legislative session discourages incumbents and challengers
Incumbents are opting out of the General Assembly in unusually large numbers and many are saying that last year’s 11-month-long session is what’s driving them away from politics. With the end of the filing period on March 1, 17 House members and six senators chose retirement or another, higher office, over seeking re-election to the legislature. Last year’s record-long session also seems to be discouraging newcomers from running for the legislature; 24 senators and 48 House members are unopposed for re-election. Coupled with redistricting plans that carved out four new House seats and three new Senate seats, the retirements mean that nearly one out of six lawmakers at the legislature will be new next year, according to an analysis published by the Raleigh News & Observer.  The turnover is the most since 1992, the election after the last legislative redistricting. That year, about a third of the General Assembly changed. This year, the trend is most apparent in Mecklenburg County, where only three incumbents out of 13 in the House and Senate have contested races. Here’s the list of incumbents not seeking re-election:

Senate: Frank Ballance (D-Warren), Robert Martin (D-Pitt), William Martin (D-Guilford), Brad Miller (D-Wake), Ed Warren (D-Pitt), Hugh Webster (R-Caswell).

House: Gene Arnold (R-Nash), Dan Blue (D-Wake), Don Davis (R-Harnett), Ruth Easterling (D-Mecklenburg), Zeno Edwards (D-Beaufort), Theresa Esposito (R-Forsyth), Toby Fitch (D-Wilson), Lyons Gray (R-Forsyth), Bob Hensley (D-Wake), Bill Hurley (D-Cumberland), Warren Oldham (D-Forsyth), Art Pope (R-Wake), Gene Rogers (D-Martin), Fern Shubert (R-Union), W.B. Teague (R-Caswell), Gregg Thompson (R-Mitchell).


National Political Briefing
NAM gives its top rating to half of state’s congressional delegation
Seven members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation supported the pro-manufacturing political agenda at least three-fourths of the time during the first session of the 107^th Congress and likely will receive the National Association of Manufacturers’ top award. However, six members of the delegation rarely supported manufacturing in Congress last year and likely will receive a poor rating from the NAM. NCCBI is the state affiliate of the NAM.
 
The ratings are determined by the NAM's member-led Key Vote Advisory Committee (KVAC), which, in consultation with NAM staff, determines which votes will be designated as pro- and anti-manufacturing bills throughout the Congress. At the end of the Congress, this group will finalize key votes from both sessions which will ultimately determine recipients of the NAM Award for Manufacturing Legislative Excellence. 

While the NAM will not finalize its formal voting record until Congress adjourns, it does notify all members of Congress of their preliminary standings at the end of the first session. Those letters went out March 5. Below are the categories and where members of North Carolina’s delegation stand:

GOOD: Members of Congress who in the first session supported NAM key votes more than three quarters of the time and are in a strong position to receive the NAM Award at the end of the Congress, provided they continue their support of the manufacturing agenda. Sen. Jesse Helms, Reps. Cass Ballenger, Richard Burr, Howard Coble, Robin Hayes, Sue Myrick, Charles Taylor. All are Republicans.

STRIKING DISTANCE: Members of Congress who in the first session supported NAM key votes more than half the time and are in striking distance of achieving the NAM Award at the end of the Congress, should they increase their support of the manufacturing agenda. Rep. Walter B. Jones, a Republican.