Etheridge won't run for Senate

RALEIGH -- Congressman Bob Etheridge said Friday that he would not challenge Republican Sen. Richard Burr next year, despite a concerted effort by the national Democratic Party to coax him into the race.

The decision is another setback for the Democrats, who earlier this year failed to entice state Attorney General Roy Cooper to enter the Senate contest.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has turned its attention to former state Sen. Cal Cunningham, an Iraq war veteran from Lexington who had spent several months exploring a Senate bid before announcing Monday that he would not be a candidate.

Etheridge, a veteran Congressman, former superintendent of public instruction, former legislator and former Harnett County commissioners chairman, is one of the Tar Heel Democratic Party's proven commodities. Etheridge said he looked at the Senate race strongly this time but in the end, "I just decided not to do it."

"I think it is a winnable seat," he said. "I really do believe that. I think Richard Burr has not voted [the right way on] some of the issues on job creation and health care and you go right on down the list."

But Etheridge noted that he was the first North Carolinian to serve on the influential House Ways and Means Committee in more than 50 years and felt as though he had "unfinished business in the House."

He said he would not endorse anyone in the Democratic Senate primary, which will be held in May. Two Democrats have announced for the race: Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and Chapel Hill lawyer Ken Lewis. Also looking at the race are Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy and former Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Robert Mendendez, chairman of the senatorial committee, both heavily courted Etheridge, arguing that after nearly five years in office, the polls show that Burr has low approval ratings largely because he is not well-known in North Carolina.

"Aside from Sen. John Ensign, Sen. Richard Burr is the most vulnerable Republican in the U.S. Senate," Eric Schultz, spokesman for the senatorial committee, said in a statement.

But Republicans argued that if Burr is so vulnerable, why are Democrats having such a hard time finding a candidate?

"The Democrats' continued setbacks in North Carolina leave a major hole in their recruiting class," said Colin Reed, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "It's clear that experienced Democrat officials on the ground in North Carolina have a much different view of this race than party officials in Washington."

In going back to recruit Cunningham, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is following the same pattern it followed two years ago when Kay Hagan announced she would not be a Senate candidate. She was enticed back into the race by promises of support from the senatorial committee, which eventually spent $11.5 million to help her defeat Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

Cunningham has been campaigning nearly full time in an exploratory Senate bid since spring, with the hope of getting the senatorial committee's support if Etheridge decided not to run. But he dropped out Monday, tired of waiting for Etheridge to make a decision.

But the national party faces a delicate decision.

If it should decide to throw its support behind an attractive newcomer such as Cunningham, it could anger active Democratic women, many of whom have long seen Marshall as a favorite.

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