CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- North Carolina conservative icon Jesse Helms' expected decision not to seek a sixth term in 2002 turns up the political temperature on an already heated battle to win control of the Senate next year.
Democrats had already taken aim at defeating the state's senior senator but a decision by the 79-year-old Helms to end his 30-year career could open up a major primary battle among Republicans, expected to include former Cabinet secretary Elizabeth Dole.
With Democrats controlling the Senate by a slim 50-49 margin with one independent who votes with Democrats, almost every open seat in the country will be a major battleground next year.
A Republican loss in North Carolina would make it a lot harder for the party to take control of the Senate since it would then have to pick up two seats elsewhere.
Helms has been a major conservative voice in the Senate since 1972 when he became the first Republican to win statewide office in North Carolina in the 20th century.
Many observers think Helms' departure would make it more likely that North Carolina, considered one of the South's most progressive states, will send a more moderate replacement to Washington.
"I would say the betting would have to be on a moderate Democrat or a moderate conservative Republican," Wake Forest University political scientist Jack Fleer said. "We're certainly not going to send a liberal Democrat, that's for sure."
The biggest name mentioned so far on the Republican side is Dole, a North Carolina native who is married to 1996 Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole and was herself a Republican presidential primary contender in 2000.
Only one Democrat has officially entered the race, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, whose job has no public policy bearing but who has been making public appearances across the state to build support.
And some of the biggest Democratic names have either decided not to run, like Clinton White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles, or have not made their intentions know, like former Gov. Jim Hunt.
Helms played a larger-than-life role in American politics for nearly 30 years, not just through the power he wielded as a senator and in the late 1990s as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but also as a prodigious fund-raiser and mentor for conservative causes and politicians.
With a measure of pride, Helms accepted the moniker of "Senator No" for his opposition to foreign aid, affirmative action and arms control treaties, and ability to block Senate approval of presidential nominees.
So why did North Carolina voters five times say 'yes' to their embattled "Senator No," who in his last three elections never won more than 53 percent of the vote?
"The simple answer is that Helms has always won more than 60 percent of the white vote in each of his five elections," Paul Luebke wrote in his book "Tar Heel Politics 2000." "Over the years, Helms has maintained his appeal to white registered Democrats, whether at the country club or at the country store."
