THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 20, 1996 TAG: 9604200343
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Brenda Hill Pollard doesn't hear any of the wisecracks about why it takes six Democrats to run against one Republican named Richard Petty in the North Carolina race for secretary of state.
``I'm going to beat Mr. Petty with ballots, not racing cars,'' says Pollard, a 44-year old Democrat who is campaigning in a bright red jacket she says is a tribute to the late Secretary of State Thad Eure, Pollard's political mentor for 20 years.
Eure served a record 52 years, retiring in 1989. In 1970 Brenda Pollard's farm parents in Johnston County told her they couldn't afford to send her to college, so Brenda got a job as a clerk in the Department of State.
Twenty years later, Pollard had worked her way up to Eure's executive assistant. When she married, the venerable secretary gave her away.
Now Pollard is running in the Democratic primary for a chance to show Petty in November that she is better qualified to run the Department of State than he is.
``Mr. Eure always wore a red bow tie,'' said Pollard, ``and I'm going to campaign in a red suit or a red jacket so I won't forget the principles that Mr. Eure stood for.''
This week Pollard campaigned through the Albemarle, daring Richard Petty to match her qualifications.
``There's never been a woman on the Council of State in North Carolina,'' said Pollard, ``There's never been a race car driver either.
``But I'm running because I'm the only person with the knowledge, understanding and experience to be Secretary of State of North Carolina.''
First she has to win the May 7 primary against five other Democratic candidates, including three other women.
North Carolina's secretary of state is traditionally a cabinet officer of vast prestige and sometimes symbolic authority. Practically, the secretary is in charge of corporate licensing and many business regulations, which makes the occupant of the office popular in financial as well as political circles.
Richard Petty has become an instant darling of the Republicans since he decided to run after Rufus Edmisten stepped down from the job recently.
Edmisten, a former state attorney general and Democratic Party leader, recused himself and resigned from further political activity this year after disclosures he let state employes help out with the yard chores around his house and also favored a young woman job applicant.
Pollard, who lives in Durham with her attorney-husband, is prepared to strike a deal with Petty.
``I'll teach him about the secretary of state's office if he'll teach me how to race cars,'' she said in Elizabeth City Wednesday. ``I've had the same number of years working with the Department of State as he has racing.'' ILLUSTRATION: She's campaigning in a bright red jacket
[Color Photo]
DREW C. WILSON
The Virginian-Pilot
Brenda Hill Pollard is a 44-year-old who is campaigning in the
Democratic primary for a chance to show Republican Richard Petty in
November that she is better qualified to run the Department of
State.
KEYWORDS: CANDIDATE SECRETARY OF STATE by CNB