1998 United States Senate election in North Carolina
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November 3, 1998
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 County results Edwards: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Faircloth: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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The 1998 United States Senate election in North Carolina was held on November 3, 1998. Republican incumbent Lauch Faircloth ran for re-election to a second term but was defeated by Democratic trial attorney John Edwards.[1]
At 45 years of age, Edwards became the youngest elected U.S. Senator from North Carolina. Edwards later declined to run for reelection in 2004, choosing instead to run for president of the United States. Eventually, he was chosen as the Democratic nominee for vice president by John Kerry. They lost to incumbents George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, and Edwards later ran again for president in 2008.
As of 2026, this is the last time where a Democrat won North Carolina's Class 3 Senate seat, the last time a male Democrat won a Senate seat in North Carolina until Roy Cooper's victory in the state's other senate seat, and the last time a member of the incumbent president's party unseated an incumbent in a state the party had lost in the prior presidential election.[a]
Republican primary
[edit]In the Republican primary, Faircloth easily defeated two minor candidates.[2]
Democratic primary
[edit]Candidates
[edit]- Bob Ayers Jr.
- James Carmack
- John Edwards, Raleigh attorney[3]
- Gene Gay
- D. G. Martin, former vice chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill[3]
- Mike Robinson
- Ella Scarborough, former member of the Charlotte City Council[3]
Declined
[edit]- Mike Easley, North Carolina attorney general since 1993[4]
- Harvey Gantt, former mayor of Charlotte and 1990 and 1996 nominee for Senate[4]
- Mike Robinson, Davidson County businessman
- Charlie Sanders, former CEO of Glaxo and candidate for Senate in 1996[4]
Going into the 1998 campaign, several prominent Democrats declined to run for Senate, including Mike Easley, Harvey Gantt, and Charlie Sanders.[4]
Results
[edit]In the Democratic primary, Edwards defeated his closest rival D.G. Martin, former vice chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The race also featured former Charlotte city councilwoman Ella Scarborough and several minor candidates.[3]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John Edwards | 277,468 | 51.38% | |
| Democratic | D. G. Martin | 149,049 | 27.60% | |
| Democratic | Ella Scarborough | 55,486 | 10.28% | |
| Democratic | Bob Ayers Jr. | 22,477 | 4.16% | |
| Democratic | Mike Robinson | 20,178 | 3.74% | |
| Democratic | James Carmack | 8,200 | 1.52% | |
| Democratic | Gene Gay | 7,173 | 1.33% | |
| Total votes | 540,031 | 100.00% | ||
General election
[edit]Candidates
[edit]- John Edwards, Raleigh attorney (Democratic)
- Barbara Howe (Libertarian)
- Lauch Faircloth, incumbent U.S. senator since 1993 (Republican)
Campaign
[edit]During the campaign, Edwards fashioned himself as a "people's advocate", while Faircloth accused Edwards of being too friendly towards labor unions.[5] Referring to Edwards as a "tobacco-taxing liberal", Faircloth's campaign ran ads alleging that Edwards' position on tobacco regulation would lead to job losses in the state.[6]
Edwards' campaign refused financial support from political action committees and ran ads criticizing Faircloth's record on Medicare and Social Security.[7] Edwards' victory was partially attributed by some observers to blowback against the Faircloth campaign's use of negative advertising.[8]
Polling
[edit]| Poll source | Date(s) | Sample size[b] |
Margin of error |
Lauch Faircloth (R) |
John Edwards (D) |
Other / undecided[c] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SurveyUSA[9] | November 1, 1998 | 700 | — | 47% | 49% | 4% |
| Harris Insights & Analytics[9] | October 30, 1998 | 1,418 | — | 39% | 54% | 7% |
| Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy[9][10] | October 26–28, 1998 | 827 (LV) | ± 3.5% | 44% | 43% | 13% |
| Harris Insights & Analytics[9] | October 20, 1998 | 1,163 | — | 38% | 47% | 15% |
| Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy[10] | October 11–13, 1998 | 836 (LV) | ± 3.5% | 45% | 43% | 12% |
| Survey USA[10] | October 9–11, 1998 | 500 (LV) | ± 4.5% | 43% | 46% | 11% |
| Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy[10] | September 20–22, 1998 | 807 (LV) | ± 3.5% | 50% | 40% | 10% |
| Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy[10] | July 25–27, 1998 | 829 (LV) | ± 3.5% | 47% | 38% | 15% |
Results
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John Edwards | 1,029,237 | 51.15% | |
| Republican | Lauch Faircloth (incumbent) | 945,943 | 47.01% | |
| Libertarian | Barbara Howe | 36,963 | 1.84% | |
| Total votes | 2,012,143 | 100.00% | ||
| Democratic gain from Republican | ||||
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ↑ Subsequently, the Republicans won the 2002 United States Senate election in Minnesota following then-president George W. Bush's loss in the state in 2000, but incumbent Democratic senator Paul Wellstone had died in a plane crash 11 days before the general election and was replaced on the ballot by Walter Mondale.
- ↑ Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear - ↑ Calculated by taking the difference of 100% and all other candidates combined.
References
[edit]- ↑ Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 3, 1998" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 33.
- ↑ "State Board of Elections" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 27, 2008. Retrieved June 28, 2010.
- 1 2 3 4 "Stuart Rothenberg: Money Makes A Difference -- Again - May 7, 1998". www.cnn.com. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
- 1 2 3 4 "EDWARDS SHOULD LEAD THE DEMOCRATIC TICKET\". Greensboro News and Record. May 1998. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
- ↑ Dewar, Helen (July 11, 1998). "North Carolina's Stark Clash". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
- ↑ Andron, Scott (October 26, 1998). "ATTACK ADS SIGNIFY CLOSE SENATE RACE\ SENATE CANDIDATES JOHN EDWARDS AND LAUCH FAIRCLOTH ACCUSE EACH OTHER OF LYING ABOUT EDWARDS' STANDS ON TOBACCO". Greensboro News and Record. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
- ↑ "North Carolina Senate - November 3, 1998". CNN. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
- ↑ Bragg, Rick (November 6, 1998). "THE 1998 ELECTION: THE DISCONTENTED; Rejecting Negative Advertising, and the Candidate". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
- 1 2 3 4 "FiveThirtyEight's Pollster Ratings Raw Polls File". GitHub. FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved October 15, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "CNN AllPolitics Election '98 - North Carolina 1998 Polls". CNN. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
External links
[edit]Official campaign websites (archived)
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