NC-Sen: Cunningham Won’t Run

The Democratic field for the race against GOP Sen. Richard Burr just got a bit thinner tonight. Cal Cunningham, a former state Senator and Iraq vet who had been enthusiastically exploring the race for several months, is out of the running:

Cal Cunningham, a Lexington Democrat who had been exploring a U.S. Senate bid for months, said late Monday that he will not run.

The decision is a possible indicator the U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge will seek the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. Richard Burr in 2010. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and Durham lawyer Kenneth Lewis have already announced they are in the primary.

Etheridge, who represents an R+2 district in the Raleigh area, is expected to make a decision on this race very, very soon. Cunningham seemed pretty jazzed to jump into this race, so perhaps his withdrawal may be a sign that Etheridge is leaning toward a run.

RaceTracker wiki: NC-Sen

68 thoughts on “NC-Sen: Cunningham Won’t Run”

  1. His House seat could be a difficult hold (just working off of the PVI and the Pres. results from last year here though) and beyond being a sitting Rep I’ve not heard much to suggest he’d be a particularly strong candidate.  

  2. I was hoping he would run. I find it hard to take this kind of thing seriously after someone has been campaigning:

    I also owe it to my family – before committing us to a hard year – to be a husband and father first.

    If he had felt that way, he probably wouldn’t have even started campaigning. Of course, it’s possible he reconsidered, largely for the reasons he stated (that he’d really rather spend more time with his family) but I’m thinking he decided that he had gotten his name out there a little and would be better served politically by waiting for a campaign he felt he had a better shot of winning:

    As a candidate, I have to look supporters in the eye and show them how we win – and what we do when we get there.

    And he evidently didn’t think he could do that. Pity.

  3. Etheridge is the best candidate, and he is the one candidate who can say “I voted for health care and Burr did not.”

    It is one of the few places where that direct challenge can be laid before the voters… and we see what happens.

  4. the polls look bad now, but a year from now if the environment is even slightly more pro-Dem, unpopular incumbents like Burr will fall.  I see nothing to indicate that Burr can get his approval ratings up above where they are now.  He will only scrape by if things remain bad for us next year.

  5. I don’t know much about Marshall, bu tshe is a little old and SOS’s don’t tend to translate well to a Federal race (hopefully that is true in KY too).  

    This is a winnable race, to be sure.  Democrats simply cannot leave it on the table.  The primary isn’t far off either.  How much $ do Etheridge and Marshall have so far BTW?    

  6. I would be fine with either Marshall or Bob Etheridge, but the fact that he voted for Stupak disappoints me, but my guess Etheridge has a pretty strong pro-life majority in his district.  If I am wrong then good.  

  7. Would it possible for him to run for a House seat?  Possibly even Etheridge’s open seat.  At least on paper he sounds like he’d be a strong candidate.

  8. I think Burr will be difficult to beat no matter who we put up and despite whatever is going on nationally.  The fundamentals are not the same for him as they were for Dole.  He is actually from here, comes back, and works hard.  He is much more visible but in DC and in NC.  Dole was never a legislator at heart; Burr is.  He knows how to work the system to his own advantage (not in a bad, unethical way).

    Again, I know both Cal and Elaine but I seriously never understood the fetish people had for him.  I post on blogs, read them, etc. but just because someone like him shows attention to the blogosphere doesn’t make him our best candidate.  Elaine’s stronger than folks give her credit for.  

    In 2002, our primary was split 3 ways – all the blacks went for Blue, all the leadership for Bowles (remember we had a thing then for self-funders).  Elaine simply got squeezed out.  I think shes learned her lessons from then and is a strong candidate this go round.  

    It’s up to us to be excited, no matter what!

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