THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 31, 1994 TAG: 9407310066
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
In a surprise move, Isaac A. Battle, a 70-year-old retired Gatesville educator, was named chairman of the 1st Congressional District Democratic Party on Saturday in Kinston's Lenoir County Courthouse.
Selection of Battle came after state Sen. Frank W. Ballance Jr., D-Warrenton, withdrew. Battle, the only other candidate, was then picked by the 1st District Democratic Party executive committee.
``It's the right thing to do,'' Ballance said. ``I got into the race late. It's good to have healthy fights in the Democratic Party, but we don't need a hassle now. I'm not going to stay in and further divide the party.''
Before the executive committee convened to decide on a successor to James Carlton Cole, the Perquimans County chairman who resigned earlier this year to run for a District Court vacancy, there were reports that a more militant 1st District leadership would cause some conservative white Democrats to switch to the GOP.
The 1st District stretches from the Virginia border down through 28 eastern North Carolina counties almost to South Carolina. It is one of two black-majority U.S. House voting districts created in redistricting two years ago by the General Assembly.
Battle's job will be to unite area Democrats behind party candidates, including Rep. Eva M. Clayton, D-Warrenton, elected in 1992 as the first African-American and the first female to go to the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina in this century. Clayton is seeking re-election in 1996.
``I have enough experience in my 38 years with the party to see that many rifts can become bitter,'' Battle said. ``It's time for healing. The name of the game is to win, so I beg you all to be Democrats first.''
Ballance, a widely respected lawyer and black Democratic leader, was Clayton's manager during her successful 1992 campaign. The families of Clayton and Ballance are close friends and neighbors in Warren County, and there is frequent speculation that when Clayton decides to leave Congress she will endorse Ballance to succeed her.
Both Battle and Ballance are considered moderates among black Democrats of the 1st District.
Before Ballance stepped aside to allow the quick endorsement of Battle, there had been hints that a more focused African-American leadership would emerge in the congressional district that for 26 years was a stronghold of conservative white Democrats under the late Rep. Walter B. Jones Sr., D-Farmville.
After Jones' death in 1991, the Democratsrefused to endorse Jones' son, state Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr., to serve out his father's unexpired term, and the younger Jones jumped to the GOP. He is running against Rep. H. Martin Lancaster, D-Goldsboro, in the adjacent 3rd Congressional District.
Battle and Ballance emerged as candidates in recent weeks.
``I've worked for years with Ike (Battle), and he's a good player. When you pick someone to drive the bus, you have to be sure he knows how to steer. Ike does,'' said Betty Meggs, who is white. Meggs, a longtime Elizabeth City Democratic leader, often has been a delegate to national party conventions.
Battle, a former assistant superintendent of Hertford County schools, retired in 1983 but still teaches occasionally at Chowan Community College.
He will serve out the remainder of the chairmanship vacated by J.C. Cole, who resigned to run for a District Court judgeship this November. A regular election for the chairman will be held in 1996.
The vacancy was created when Cole's wife, Judge Janice McKenzie Cole, left the District Court bench earlier this year to become chief federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. appointed J.C. Cole to the District judgeship to fill out Janice Cole's unexpired term. To continue to occupy the judge's chair, J.C. Cole must defeat Republican James A. Beales Jr., an Elizabeth City lawyer, in November. by CNB