Hamby says campaign will be ‘grassroots effort’

Statesville businesswoman Diane Hamby filed Wednesday to run for North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“This campaign is about straight talk and real solutions. It’s about the best future for everyone. It’s about doing the right things for your family and mine,” said Hamby, a Democrat. “We will make our government lean but not mean.”

She said her campaign will be a grassroots effort, and she spent parts of last weekend doing door-to-door canvassing.

Hamby, the last Democrat to serve on the Iredell County Board of Commissioners, is a longtime officer with the Iredell Democratic Party.

She will have a primary election May 6 with retired high school football coach and teacher Roy Carter for the Democratic Party nomination.

The winner will likely face Rep. Virginia Foxx, who is the only Republican to have filed or announced intentions to seek the seat.

McHenry files
Congressman Patrick McHenry filed Thursday to run to keep his N.C. House of Representatives 10th District seat, which made him the third person to sign on for the post.

A May 6 Republican primary for the party nomination will pit McHenry against attorney and retired Air Force officer, Lance Sigmon of Newton.

The winner of that contest will face the winner between Democrats Daniel Johnson and Steve Ivester.

Ivester has not yet filed.

Elizabeth Dole files
North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole filed Wednesday to run for a second term.

Dole, who will be 72 in July, is exactly one month older than presidential candidate and Arizona Sen. John McCain, who has taken flak about his age during the current campaign season.

But the proverbial length of one’s tooth does not seem to be a factor in the U.S. Senate. Dole is only the 23rd oldest member of the Congress’ upper chamber, where the average, as of the start of the year, was 62.

Though raised in Salisbury, Dole has spent her entire adult life living in other parts of the country, mostly in Washington, D.C. She has held cabinet posts under two different presidents - secretary of transportation under Ronald Reagan and secretary of labor under George H.W. Bush.

Dole was a Democrat and worked on the election campaign of John F. Kennedy. She switched party affiliations in 1975, the same year she married former Kansas senator and presidential candidate, Bob Dole.

For a brief time prior to the 2000 presidential campaign season, Elizabeth Dole considered a run for the White House.

In 2002, she beat former Bill Clinton’s Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles to win the senate seat long held by Jesse Helms. It was her first elected office.

More than a half-dozen Democrats have announced their intentions to run for Dole’s seat. So far, only two - Duskin C. Lassiter of Lexington and Howard Staley of Moncure - have filed.

Posted on 02/22/08 at 03:06 PM
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