Carolina's Great Black Hope

By Ed Magnuson

North Carolina primary voters made history last week by selecting Harvey Gantt as the first black ever nominated for the U.S. Senate by the Democratic Party in any state. But to Carter Wrenn, a top strategist for Republican Jesse Helms, Gantt's nomination merely confirmed that the Tarheel State remains under siege. Charged Wrenn: "What you have opposing Helms is another coalition of homosexuals and artists and pacifists and every other left-wing group."

Once again North Carolina seemed in the grip of political schizophrenia. The calm and articulate Gantt, a former two-term mayor of Charlotte, may appeal to the progressive voters who gave the state a reputation for moderation by electing such Democrats as Terry Sanford, first as a forward-looking Governor and in 1986 as North Carolina's other Senator. The tart-tongued Helms, on the other hand, has won three terms by pushing hot-button hard-right issues -- pornography, school prayer, busing -- among whites in more rural parts of the state. To have a shot at Helms, local experts say, Gantt will need to add at least 40% of the state's estimated 2.5 million white voters to his strong support among some 575,000 blacks.

If any black candidate can do that, it is Gantt. He is a far cry from Helms' description of him as "Jesse Jackson's candidate." An M.I.T.-trained architect, he operates in the smooth, reserved style of such rising black politicians as Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder. A veteran of sit-ins during the 1960s, Gantt demonstrated his crossover potential in 1983, when he ran for mayor of Charlotte, a city that was 75% white. He won with 52% of the vote.

In the city's weak-mayor system, dominated by an eleven-member council, Gantt proved adept at consensus building. He effectively promoted growth and pushed through the building of a sports coliseum that attracted an N.B.A. franchise. He was re-elected resoundingly in 1985. Then his success, in a sense, overtook him. Charlotte thrived to the point of attracting huge traffic snarls, which his 1987 Republican opponent, Sue Myrick, exploited in TV ads. She won by 1%.

Gantt hopes to make inroads among Republican women with a pro-choice stance on abortion, which contrasts sharply with Helms' adamant antiabortion position. A Mason-Dixon poll shows that he leads Helms 44% to 43% with 13% undecided. Yet the same poll at a similar stage in 1984 had former Governor Jim Hunt ahead of Helms by 15 percentage points -- and he lost by 4. Though prominent Democrats like Sanford have pledged to go all out for Gantt, he has no chance of amassing the $17 million that Helms spent six years ago and that his campaign claims it can raise again, if needed. Gantt's place in history is assured -- but probably as the first black challenger to run against Helms and lose.

With reporting by Tom Curry/Atlanta