Friday, December 28, 2007

Pittenger nomination not a sure thing

A lot of pundits seem to be taking it for granted that senator Robert Pittenger will win the Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor over former Congressional candidate Greg Dority. Carter Wrenn wrote about it here on the Talking About Politics blog and a comment on the Under the Dome blog mentioned it here.

Certainly on paper it seems like an elected official from one of the largest cities in the state would have an easy time in the primary with someone whose main political experience is losing campaigns.

It seemed the same way in the 2004 Republican Lieutenant Governor primary when Durham City Councilman Thomas Stith faced off in the primary against Jim Snyder, best known for getting 14% in a quixotic bid for the Republican Senate nomination against Elizabeth Dole in 2002.

Snyder demolished Stith, getting 51% of the vote to Stith's 22% Even another fringe candidate got 27%.

Weird things happen in races that voters don't know anything about. Pittenger will probably get the nomination, but not if he doesn't take it seriously.

Our first poll showed Dority leading 16-15.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, it's also worth noting that Snyder may throw his hat into the ring as well. He told me yesterday he's still mulling another LG run.

In fact, you can read all about it at Trail Mix, the newest addition to the N.C. political blogosphere:
http://www.journalnow.net/index.php/trailmix/snyder-still-mulling-run/

And with that, I have made my first (and I promise my last) shameless plug.

- James

Tom Jensen said...

Shameless plugs are always welcome around here and it was a good reminder that I've been meaning to add you to the blogroll!

Anonymous said...

You mention fringe candidate in the 2004 Lt.Governor race. Which is Timothy Cook, who got 81,000 votes without spending hardly any money. Not sure how fringe he was considering he is a fellow of the NC Institute of Political Leadership.If he gets decent contributions he could cross party lines and win the general election. No one else could match his agriculture,textile and scientific background. Not to mention his biodiesel background with the high fuel prices now. In the least, if he runs it could make a more interesting primary.

 
Web Statistics