THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 9, 1996 TAG: 9606090053
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 87 lines
Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. settled into the Democratic catbird seat in 1976 when he won his first term as governor and immediately appointed a sockless, tieless Dare County buddy named Marc Basnight to the North Carolina Board of Transportation.
Now, 20 years later, Hunt is confident he will win his fourth - and self-proclaimed ``final'' - term in November.
And for increasing numbers of North Carolina Democrats, a now well-shod and urbane state Sen. Basnight looks like the man they want to succeed Hunt.
``I hear a lot of talk about it,'' said Betty Meggs, chairman of the Pasquotank County Democratic Party. ``And I'll bet I hear a lot more about Basnight-For-Governor next weekend at the State Democratic Party convention in Durham.''
From the day Hunt put him on the Transportation Board, Basnight built so many four-laned roads and bridges in the Albemarle area and paved so many logging trails and country lanes that he was a shoo-in when he ran for the state Senate in 1985.
In his home town of Manteo on Friday, Basnight produced his best Cheshire cat grin when asked about his interest in succeeding Hunt in the year 2000.
His principal political requirement at the moment, Basnight said, is getting re-elected to the Senate. That shouldn't be a problem for the 49-year-old Manteo contractor. He's unopposed in the November election.
As president pro tem of the Senate, Basnight comfortably shares much political power with Hunt and both men fight back-to-back, like two musketeers, for whatever helps Jim and Marc or Marc and Jim.
However, should Hunt lose in November to state Rep. Robin Hayes, a textile-wealthy Cabarrus County Republican, the domino-effect in North Carolina could be far-reaching.
Democrats enjoy only a 26-24 edge in the Senate, and Basnight has been campaigning for party Senate candidates for months in the central and western part of the state to try to keep that slim majority.
If the state Senate goes Republican like the present North Carolina House, unhappy days may be ahead for Basnight and Hunt.
But the party faithful are counting on victory in November. Already a number of Albemarle Democrats are planning their lives under Gov. Basnight.
Jimmy Dixon, a Pasquotank County commissioner and Elizabeth City bottling executive, hopes to succeed Basnight in the state Senate and doesn't mind saying so.
``I've already talked to Marc about it and with Marc's friends,'' Dixon said.
Since Dixon was elected chairman of the Northeast North Carolina Economic Development commission earlier this year, his political visibility has increased.
Dixon, a soft-spoken man of linebacker dimensions, is running the $2 million annual operation of the Economic Commission with skills that have brought praise from Basnight and Hunt as well as from state Commerce Secretary Davis Phillips.
And Cliff Copeland, the manager of Chowan County, has told friends he has already made plans to help Basnight run for governor.
``I'll do anything I can for Marc - take a leave of absence, anything,'' Copeland told one friend last week.
State Rep. W.C. ``Bill'' Owens Jr. of Elizabeth City and Edenton's state Rep. William T. Culpepper III, both count on Basnight's help to keep them in office. Area Republicans think both men are vulnerable without heavy party support from Basnight.
Democratic wannabes all over the state think the future is spelled Basnight.
Several months ago R.V. Owens III, one of Basnight's many Dare County relatives, was talking about running for the U.S. House of Representatives against 3rd District Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr., a Farmville Republican.
Owens' father is Bobby Owens, chairman of the Dare County Board of Commissioners, and not inconsequentially Hunt's personal representative in Eastern North Carolina. Bobby Owens is Basnight's brother-in-law. The Dare County Owens family is not related to Bill Owens' family in Elizabeth City.
When Hunt was elected to his third term as governor in 1992, Basnight and the governor both pitched in to get R.V. Owens named to the state Board of Transportation - the same job Hunt gave Basnight in 1976.
Now, friends say, R.V. Owens would rather serve as state secretary of transportation under a future Gov. Basnight than risk traipsing off like Mr. Deeds to Washington. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. says that if he wins a fourth term, it will
be his last.
Sen. Marc Basnight, a longtime Hunt ally, is the choice of many to
succeed him. by CNB