Voters in NC, Ind., pick candidates for Congress, governor
RALEIGH, N.C.—North Carolina's lieutenant governor easily won the Democratic primary for governor Tuesday, while in Indiana, an architect had a slight edge over a former congresswoman in the race to challenge Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels in November.
In Indiana, with 89 percent of precincts reporting, architect Jim Schellinger and former congresswoman Jill Long Thompson each had about 50 percent of the vote in the Democratic contest to challenge Daniels. As of March 31, Daniels had four times as much money -- and no primary challenge.
In North Carolina, Democratic Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue cruised to victory over State Treasurer Richard Moore after a $16 million fight to replace Democratic Gov. Mike Easley, who is barred by state law from seeking a third consecutive term.
Also in North Carolina, Republican Congressman Walter Jones, who pushed to bring "freedom fries" to the U.S. House cafeteria in a symbolic protest of French opposition to the Iraq war, withstood a challenge from Joe McLaughlin. Jones, a seven-term congressman who got the idea from a North Carolina eatery, later soured on the war and McLaughlin, a former Army officer, had hoped to capitalize on discontent with his anti-war stance.
On the Republican side of the North Carolina gubernatorial race, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory beat four candidates including state Sen. Fred Smith of Johnston County, his nearest opponent.
In other races, Democratic state Sen. Kay Hagan beat Chapel Hill entrepreneur Jim Neal for the right to run against Republican U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who breezed to a comfortable victory in her own primary Tuesday after facing token opposition from Pete Di Lauro, a former New York police officer.
And in Durham County, Democratic prosecutor Tracey Cline beat three other candidates vying to replace former District Attorney Mike Nifong, who resigned last year after being disbarred for his ill-fated prosecution of three Duke lacrosse players falsely accused of rape. There are no Republicans in the race.
Five of Indiana's nine U.S. House members also faced primaries.
Republican Rep. Dan Burton, the state's longest-serving congressman, fended off a challenge from emergency room physician John McGoff. McGoff had hoped to unseat Burton, who came under fire last year amid reports that he missed 19 House votes during a trip to California for a charity golf tournament. Burton has said the golf trip was a mistake.
The other big race was in the 7th District, where new Democratic Rep. Andre Carson bested seven challengers as he sought to retain the seat he won in a March special election. He will face Republican Jon Elrod in November.
Carson replaced his grandmother, Rep. Julia Carson, who died in December after 11 years in Congress.
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Associated Press Writers Mike Baker in Raleigh and Deanna Martin in Indianapolis contributed to this report.
