THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 22, 1996 TAG: 9602220320
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY CATHERINE KOZAK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
Democratic Sen. Marc Basnight will run unopposed after all, the fourth straight campaign that the president pro tem of the state Senate has not been challenged.
Republican candidate Charles D. Elms has notified the county Board of Elections by letter that he was withdrawing his name from the 1st District race.
``It's just more than I can handle. It's hard to admit, but it's a fact and that's the way it is,'' Elms, 68, said Wednesday. ``I feel very badly about it; I would really like to do it. If the situation was a little bit different, I would love to do it.''
Basnight, 48, expressed surprise at Elms' withdrawal, and said it appears that Republicans believe the senator can represent all parties equally.
``I hope that it just simply says I'm a nonpartisan candidate in my district,'' Basnight said Wednesday.
But Elms maintains his original reason for challenging Basnight remains the same, saying he just can't ``personally and physically do the job that had to be done.''
Both Basnight and Elms live in Manteo. Basnight was born and raised in the area, and Elms moved to the island town 10 years ago from New York.
``Somebody needs to speak out against this good ol' boy system that prevails here,'' Elms said. ``This county's run like a third-world banana republic. It's one-party. It's an elitist system.''
Elms said he received many calls supporting his challenge of Basnight, but everyone has also been ``very decent'' about his need to withdraw his candidacy.
Basnight attributes Elms' reluctance to go through with the campaign, and his lack of challengers over the years, to the nature of politics.
``In general, people don't want to run for public office,'' he said. ``It's very difficult to get people to run - it's expensive, it's time-consuming. There's few rewards. The realization is you're going to be verbally punished.''
Elected president pro tempore by his colleagues in 1993, Basnight has held his seat in the Senate since 1984.
Although he will keep his hand in local politics, Elms said he plans no other try at office-seeking. by CNB