KERNERSVILLE -- U.S. Rep. Richard Burr's decision to seek the U.S. Senate seat of John Edwards may have some Piedmont Triad voters remembering the 1970s TV comedy "Eight is Enough."

With the primary election more than three months away and the general election seven months off, eight candidates are already in a messy tussle for the Republican nomination for Burr's 5th Congressional District seat.

They include current and former state legislators and a black conservative activist.

There's also a soy supplement executive and the scion of the Broyhill furniture family.

Though most campaigns only heat up in the final weeks before a vote, this one has been tumultuous for months, with allegations of campaign finance rule-breaking and an anonymous mudslinging e-mail.

Their personalities aside, the candidates' platforms reveal few differences on issues such as free trade and health care. They also have largely identical -- and conservative -- views on tax cuts and a tobacco quota buyout (for), abortion and gay marriage (against).

Burr does not plan to endorse anyone.

The fierceness of the campaign may result from the crowded field, said Jack Fleer, a Wake Forest University political science professor.

"I do think there is a serious issue for the candidates to try to distinguish themselves for the electorate," Fleer said.

'They're very similar'

At a forum last month at a Forsyth County high school, the candidates summoned conservative pedigrees, business experience or religious fervor as reasons that undecided voters should choose them. But some voters sounded as if they would prefer fewer choices.

"They're very similar," added Keith Hooker, 32, a small-business owner from Kernersville. "I want to find a candidate who doesn't lose their backbone when they get elected."

The 5th District covers all or part of 12 northwest North Carolina counties. Statewide GOP candidates regularly capture the district by more than 20 points.

The electorate includes mountain families who have voted Republican since Reconstruction and members of the conservative churches that dot country and suburban roads. The district is anchored by Winston-Salem, home of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco.

Though the region has been hit hard by manufacturing layoffs caused by a sputtering economy and exacerbated by U.S. free-trade policies that many link to President Bush, all the candidates align strongly with the president, and most observers expect the GOP primary to anoint Burr's replacement.

"It would take something that I can't even imagine for a Democrat to win this race," Appalachian State University professor Dennis Grady said.

The candidates

The race for Burr's seat got an early kickoff last year, when Burr decided to run for Senate.

Many candidates have been on radio and television with ads since the fall. Winston-Salem city councilman Vernon Robinson and state Sen. Virginia Foxx cried foul after they were accused by voters of violating campaign finance laws.

A third, Nathan Tabor, had a speeding citation given a public airing -- along with other allegations -- through an allegedly supportive e-mail forwarded to media outlets by someone identified only as "Pastor Randy."

"I thought there would be a lot of acrimony," said candidate Joe Byrd of North Wilkesboro.

Ed Broyhill, whose grandfather began Broyhill Furniture and father is former U.S. Rep. Jim Broyhill, has the highest name recognition. Broyhill now runs an investment banking firm in Winston-Salem and touts his business experience and political heritage as assets.

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