Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 9, 1990 TAG: 9005090485
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
West Virginia's former first lady Dee Caperton trailed in her effort to rejoin her ex-husband Gov. Gaston Caperton at the capital - as state treasurer.
In North Carolina's Democratic primary, Harvey Gantt, the former mayor of Charlotte, topped a six-man field competing for a chance to oppose the arch-conservative Helms.
"I'm in the lead, but I'd love to be at 40 percent," Gantt said as his total slipped below the magic mark. "It's like kissing your sister at the last minute."
But Gantt failed to get 40 percent of the vote, and thus could face a runoff on June 5 if second-place finisher Michael Easley, a county district attorney, requests one.
As expected, Ohio Attorney General Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr. claimed that state's Democratic nomination for governor, piling up more than 80 percent of the vote against a lone challenger.
In other highlights on the busiest day of primary voting so far this year, former Democratic Reps. Katie Hall of Indiana and Ken Hechler of West Virginia made comeback bids in their old districts. Hall trailed Rep. Pete Visclosky, and Hechler lost to Rep. Nick Joe Rahall Jr.
Lukens, first elected to his seat in 1986, was convicted of a misdemeanor last year for having sex with a teen-ager. He refused Republican Party advice to retire, apologized to voters and proclaimed his innocence.
But he finished a distant third in the four-way primary in western Ohio's 8th District. With 99 percent of the vote counted, state Rep. John Boehner won the race with 24,978 votes or 49 percent.
"Never argue with the voters," Lukens said as he walked along a downtown Middletown sidewalk after learning of his defeat. "You always believe you can win, but without money, you just can't make enough things happen. Name is just not enough."
In North Carolina, with 96 percent of precincts counted, Helms had 149,225 votes or 84 percent, leaving businessman George Wimbish and retired salvage dealer L.C. Nixon to divide the rest.
Among Democrats, Gantt led with 235,744 votes or 39 percent, followed by Easley, the Brunswick County district attorney, with 185,111 votes or 30 percent; John Ingram, a former state insurance commissioner, with 102,184 votes or 17 percent, and R.P. "Bo" Thomas, a former state senator, with 72,810 votes or 12 percent. Two other candidates ran far behind.
In Atlantic City, N.J., Mayor James L. Usry, the city's first black mayor who is under a bribery indictment, finished second in a seven-way race and will compete in a June 12 runoff against Councilman Jim Whelan.
by CNB