Posted on 06/04/2003 8:49:20 AM PDT by Constitution Day
U.S. Rep. Richard Burr officially has filed as a candidate for the U.S. Senate.
Burr, R-5th District, filed a statement of candidacy for the Senate on March 3 with the Secretary of the Senate in the Office of Public Information in the Senate, which forwarded the filing to the Federal Elections Commission the same day.
"I have done everything short of making a formal announcement," Burr told a Telegram reporter on Tuesday. "I have even closed my House (campaign finance) account."
Raymond Davis, a campaign specialist in the Senate Office of Public Records, said Burr, 47, filed a 127-page campaign report on April 15 for the first quarter of 2003.
The Senate public records office later received a 127-page U.S. House committee termination report stamped May 6, confirming that Burr has closed his House finance committee, Davis said.
Campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Elections Commission name Burr's Senate committee, based in Winston-Salem, as the Richard Burr Committee. The report also states that the committee has nearly $2.1 million.
"I think that we can conclude that from that I am running for the U.S. Senate," Burr said.
Campaigning last Wednesday at a private gathering sponsored by N.C. Rep. Bill Daughtridge, R-Nash, at Rose Hill Farm outside Nashville, Burr criticized U.S. Rep. John Edwards, R-N.C., for spending too much time campaigning for the presidency and not being in Washington, D.C., during critical votes.
"John Edwards seems to have forgotten where he's come from," he said.
Burr said the decision to run for the Senate was an easy one, because he had promised his constituents he would not run for more than five terms in the U.S. House. Now, he said, he wants to take his experience to the Senate so he can continue serving North Carolina.
The White House has urged Burr to run for the Senate, which he said is a great honor and also an incredible responsibility.
"There are expectations that go with it," Burr said. "The White House will not tell you what to do, but they aren't shy about calling and seeing how you are doing."
Burr, who is the vice chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, said it was important to increase the Republican advantage in the Senate to eliminate gridlock and pass legislation.
"We had a 51-49 majority in the Senate, and it still took the vice president to cast the tie-breaking vote for the tax cut," he said. "We can't get the Senate to take up a prescription drug plan for seniors. The Senate won't take it up for the fourth time in a row, after the House again passed it."
While Burr said it was an advantage to begin campaigning nearly 11 months before the state primary because he could do things at his own pace, he said there was a danger.
"We're so far out from the election that people can forget about you," he said.
Burr said he has not officially declared his candidacy because of outside factors.
"It's tough for me to make a formal announcement, because I think that is matter of timing," he said. "We anticipate a formal announcement in late summer or early fall."
The filing period for candidates in North Carolina begins in February.
Ballance has some scandals going on, though:
05/16/2003: Campaign discrepancies haunt Congressman Frank Ballance [D, NC-1st]
04/25/2003: Rep. Frank Ballance (D-NC) Apologizes, But Stands Up For Hyman Foundation
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