Kissell Committed to Sound Energy Policy, Creation of Green-Collar Jobs

The League of Conservation Voters, which works to turn environmental values into public policy, announced the endorsement of Larry Kissell for election to North Carolina's 8th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

By Marie Horrigan, CQ Weekly

National Democratic strategists earned plaudits for their 2006 gains, but there were flubs. Will earlier party support put their defeated challenger to GOP Rep. Robin Hayes over the top?

Voters in the mostly working-class precincts of south-central North Carolina that connect Charlotte and Fayetteville were faced with a study in opposites in their candidates for Congress last year. The Democratic challenger was Larry Kissell, a social-studies teacher who also spent 27 years in midlevel jobs in a hosiery mill. The Republican incumbent was Robin Hayes, a millionaire hosiery mill owner and descendent of one of the region's founding families. Despite being outspent 3-to-1 and being cut off from support from party headquarters in Washington, Kissell managed to come within 329 votes of one of the year's biggest upsets — and created the second-closest House race in the country.

A shrewd campaigner, Kissell leveraged a significant amount of free publicity through events such as his summertime gasoline sale, in which he offered to make up the difference between the pump price in North Carolina in August 2006 ($2.89 a gallon) and the price when Hayes took office in 1999 ($1.22). The event drew some 500 motorists to Benjy Dunn's Filling Station in Biscoe and won Kissell media coverage that his underfunded campaign could not yet purchase.

Hayes, meanwhile, was weakened by his pro-war sentiments — and by some politically risky votes he took out of loyalty to the Republican Party. Hayes was a deciding vote for the Central American Free Trade Agreement in 2005 despite having earlier declared himself "flat-out, completely, horizontally opposed" to it, a treacherous vote given the major textile interests in the district.

North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Jerry Meek issued the following statement after Republicans in the Senate blocked a straight up-or-down vote on the Levin-Reed Amendment to change course in Iraq:

“It is a shameful and sad day today as Republicans in Washington once again put their loyalty to President Bush ahead of the American people and ahead of our brave men and women in uniform. Just one day after a new National Intelligence Estimate gave more evidence that Republicans have failed to make our homeland safe and allowed Al Qaeda to rebuild, Republicans like Elizabeth Dole and Robin Hayes chose to protect the President and his disastrous Iraq policy.

"For the last six months, Democrats have been keeping their promise to North Carolina by working to change course in Iraq. Every step of the way, Republicans like Dole and Hayes have shown that they lack the vision and backbone to stand up to Bush. The time has come to begin responsibly redeploying our troops and refocusing on the war on terrorism. Republicans in Washington will be held accountable for their obstructionism when they face the voters in 2008. Every obstructionist step of the way, they prove that the only way to responsibly bring war to an end is to elect Democrats in 2008."

Today, the U.S. House is expected to pass a resolution that represents a vote of no confidence in the Bush Administration's plans to escalate the war in Iraq. The language cannot be simpler: Congress supports the troops and opposes the surge.

Some Republicans, however, want more of the same. Congressman Robin Hayes spoke against the resolution on the House floor Wednesday.

This is the same Robin Hayes who said, ""Saddam Hussein and people like him were very much involved in 9/11" When challenged, Hayes said, "I'm sorry, but you must have looked in the wrong places." [CNN, 6/29/2005]

"Republicans in swing districts who don't back the resolution can expect to be attacked in next year's elections. They include Reps. Deborah Pryce of Ohio, Thelma Drake of Virginia and Robin Hayes of North Carolina. Each barely won reelection in November. This vote could end their careers." [Raleigh News & Observer, 2/16/2007]

North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Jerry Meek said, "This issue is bigger than partisan politics and I commend Republican Congressmen Walter Jones and Howard Coble for standing up for what's right and speaking in favor of the resolution. For those who want more of the same failed strategy in Iraq, we are not going to wait until they're on the ballot to criticize them. If Robin Hayes wants to 'stay the course' in Iraq and continue to repeat the Bush Administration's rhetoric, he can expect to answer for it--not politically, but to his constituents who have so many family members in harm's way. North Carolina Democrats and Republicans in Congress who are taking a stand are making us proud and I salute them for their courage."

121,523 = Votes cast in the 8th Congressional District

$2,000,000 = Approximate amount spent by Robin Hayes in the 2006 campaign

$450,000 = Approximate amount spent by Larry Kissell in the race

327 = Robin Hayes' margin of victory

$32.83 = Approximate amount Hayes spent per vote

$7.43 = Approximate amount Kissell spent per vote

697 = Days until the 2008 election

Robin Hayes wants to win by throwing out votes.

"Lawyers for U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes on Wednesday challenged provisional ballots across the 8th Congressional District, including nearly two-thirds of those in Mecklenburg County alone. The protests, which could set the stage for legal fights, came before the ballots are even counted." [Charlotte Observer, 11/16/2006]

Biscoe , NC - Robin Hayes' lawyers have now filed protests with most of the county election boards in the 8th District challenging officials to not count hundreds of provisional votes cast in last week's election.

Today, Robin Hayes and Sen. Elizabeth Dole make a last-ditch campaign stop in Scotland County, which has the highest unemployment rate in the state. They will also visit Richmond County, which was only one of only two counties to see an increase in the unemployment rate in September.