Richard Burr (Getty)
North Carolina Sen.
Richard M. Burr has been vocal this week, as he spearheads a home-state battle against a bill on the Senate floor that would allow the federal Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products.
But the first-term Republican, who is seen as vulnerable to a challenge in his 2010 re-election contest, had less to say on Thursday about speculation over which Democrat will seek to take him on next year.
"We're on track with what we have planned to raise, and structurally have put the campaign together," said Burr, who reported $1.6 million in cash on hand in his campaign account as of the end of March.
He acknowledged that he has been targeted for defeat by Democratic strategists, saying, "I'm sure with the bounty that the Democratic Senatorial [Campaign] Committee has on my head, I won't go unopposed."
His role as the lead opponent of the FDA tobacco bill (HR 1256) may give Burr a chance to address what may be his biggest political problem back home. After winning an open-seat race in 2004, the former five-term House member adopted a low-key approach that left him largely overshadowed by Elizabeth Dole, his much better-known senior Republican Senate colleague from North Carolina.
As a result, recent polls indicated that roughly a third of Burr's constituents don't have an opinion about him. That is something he'll have to change before he faces the voters next year, because those who did have an opinion were split almost evenly between those who think he is doing a good job and those who don't.
Burr also will be running in a more challenging political landscape than in 2004. The reason Burr no longer is overshadowed by Dole is that she was unseated by Democrat Kay Hagan in the 2008 Senate election. And North Carolina -- which went Republican for President Bush by a 12 percentage-point margin when Burr ran in 2004 -- gave a narrow victory in 2008 to Barack Obama that made him the first Democrat to carry the state for president since 1976.
CQ Politics rates the 2010 race as Tossup.
But that is pending the Democrats sealing the deal with a strong challenger recruit, which they have not been able to do yet.
"I'm not going to have any reaction on anybody until they actually get in," Burr said Thursday. "I think it's pretty tough to comment on an election until you get a candidate."
State Attorney General Roy Cooper, regarded by some Democrats as their strongest potential candidate, decided not to run, as did Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton and Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker.
But two House Democrats, Mike McIntyre and Heath Shuler, have hinted that they are considering challenging Burr. More recently, Cal Cunningham, a former state senator and Iraq war veteran, has told local media that he is contemplating a Senate run. Attorney Kenneth Lewis also has shown interest in the contest.
-- Kathleen Hunter
![[RSS]](http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/templates/images/rss_icon.gif){kind=icon}
![[ARCHIVES]](http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/templates/images/archives_icon.png){kind=icon}
Post A Comment