Panel plays a big part

RALEIGH

In recent years in North Carolina, female politicians have had lots of success.

But in the race for the Democratic nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, Elaine Marshall believes her gender is working against her.

Marshall said in an interview last week that she believes some party leaders are tacitly supporting one of her opponents, Cal Cunningham, because they are looking for a male candidate to take on Burr, a Republican from Winston-Salem.

"They've never looked at a female candidate to the extent that they've looked at male candidates. The proof is in the pudding," Marshall said.

She was referring to the power-brokers at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, or DSCC, the arm of the national Democratic Party that is devoted to winning Senate seats across the country. The DSCC's full-fledged support can be critical in a general election because of the group's ability to pour millions of dollars into the race.

Officially, the DSCC doesn't take sides in primaries. A spokesman for the group said Friday that it is focused on the general election and that it has a long record of supporting female candidates -- including Sen. Kay Hagan in North Carolina in 2008.

But in recent weeks, it has become clear to campaign officials and party insiders that, in the 2010 race, the DSCC prefers Cunningham, and not Marshall, who is North Carolina's secretary of state, or the other Democratic candidate, Ken Lewis.

Earlier this year, the DSCC tried to recruit Attorney General Roy Cooper and U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge to run against Burr. When both declined, party leaders went to Cunningham and asked him to run. Both Marshall and Lewis had already been in the race for months.

Cunningham, 36, agreed to run, and he announced his candidacy last week. He is a lawyer from Lexington who served one term as a state senator. He is also a captain in the U.S. Army Reserves and served in the Iraq war.

Marshall, 64, is in her fourth term as secretary of state. She was the first woman in North Carolina to win a statewide election to an executive-branch office. In 2002, she ran for U.S. Senate and finished third in the primary.

Lewis, 48, is a lawyer and Democratic fundraiser who has never held elective office.

Even though the primary is not until May and the race has hardly begun, some Democrats are already describing Cunningham as the front-runner. They see him as an eloquent newcomer whose military service will be a big asset in the general election.

That characterization clearly bothers the Marshall campaign. Her supporters believe that her political resume is far superior to Cunningham's, and that she should be the natural favorite to run against Burr. In the 2008 election, she received the second-most votes of any Democrat on the ballot, trailing only Cooper, but ahead of Barack Obama, Bev Perdue and Hagan.

Cunningham has won just one election, and that was for a state legislative seat in a district covering parts of Davidson, Rowan and Iredell counties.

Marshall's supporters feel that some party leaders are quietly overlooking Marshall's experience because they want a younger, flashier candidate. Several observers have already compared Cunningham to John Edwards -- and it's hard not to notice that the two men look alike.

Marshall said she believes the DSCC had a pre-set profile in mind for the candidate that it wanted to run against Burr. Asked what profile that was, she answered with two words: "A man."

Asked why she thought the DSCC might prefer a male candidate, Marshall said, "I can't say. They did not disclose that to me. The women's groups are very angry."

Eric Shultz, a spokesman for the DSCC, said that right now, the group's focus is on defeating Burr, whom some Democrats see as vulnerable in 2010.

In 2008, Hagan was backed by the DSCC, which was widely credited when she defeated the Republican incumbent, Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

Hagan could not be reached last week, and her spokesman did not respond to requests for comment. Hagan has not taken a public position in the race between Marshall, Cunningham and Lewis.

Hagan is just one example of the rise of female politicians in North Carolina lately. Seven women were elected to statewide offices in North Carolina last year, including Perdue, who became the state's first female governor.

Most political analysts believe that female candidates tend to have a slight advantage in elections, because women vote in greater numbers than men. "I think it's hard to argue that they don't want a woman," said Gary Pearce, a veteran Democratic strategist in Raleigh.

"I think the honest truth is that the DSCC doesn't really care -- they just want somebody who looks like a winner."

In the eyes of party officials in Washington, looking like a winner entails showing an ability to raise money to compete with Burr. Marshall is not known for being a big fundraiser. Unlike other North Carolina politicians -- such as Perdue -- she has never run large, continuous fundraising operations or built up large campaign war chests.

Of course, neither has Cunningham. But party officials will be watching the candidates' ability to raise money on their own, early on in the race.

"The financial piece, at this point in the race, is really about showing viability," said Morgan Jackson, Cunningham's chief political consultant. "Democrats need to elect the person who's going to be the strongest in the fall. And that's what our message is."

Jackson declined to comment on Marshall's charge that Cunningham is being favored because he is a man.

Lewis, who was the first candidate to announce he is running, has not been helped by all the recent attention on Marshall and Cunningham.

"I don't know what the DSCC's or any voter's process is for deciding who to support," Lewis said.

Marshall has been endorsed by several women's groups, including the National Organization for Women. But Emily's List, the politically influential group that supports pro-choice female Democrats, said it is still examining the North Carolina race. A spokesman for the group declined to comment on whether gender might be playing a role in the race.

"We're keeping an eye on the race, but no endorsement has been made," said the spokesman, Matt Burgess. "Like any candidate, we need to see a path to victory before we would get involved in a race."

jromoser@wsjournal.com.
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