Mar 03 2008
GOP Fields More Candidates Than Dems for 2008
Based on the numbers alone, it would be easy for Republicans in the General Assembly to be more than a little discouraged headed into 2008.The GOP holds just 71 of the Legislature’s 170 seats — the party’s lowest total in a decade — after Democrats handily outspent Republicans to win nearly all of the competitive races in the 2006 election.
“We’re at our low point now,” said Sen. Tom Apodaca of Henderson County, the deputy Republican leader in the chamber, where 31 of the 50 seats are held by Democrats.
But there’s another set of numbers that gives GOP legislative leaders hope that things could soon change. The party recruited more candidates to run against Democrats than in the past two election years, helping to cut down on the overall number of House and Senate candidates who will run unopposed in November.
“It’ll be a lot of work, but we’ve got a chance to have a real majority,” said House Minority Leader Paul Stam, R-Wake.
