Former Ind. congresswoman wins gov. primary after tight race

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Democratic primary races for the governors' offices in North Carolina and Indiana echoed the contests on the presidential level - one was over quickly, the other was down to the wire.

Former Indiana congresswoman Jill Long Thompson eked out a win in a tight race Tuesday to become the Democratic nominee for governor in her state, while North Carolina's lieutenant governor easily won his Democratic primary for governor.

On the Republican side of the North Carolina gubernatorial race, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory beat four candidates including state Sen. Fred Smith, his nearest opponent.

The vote also included an epilogue to the Duke University lacrosse scandal. An assistant to the prosecutor who resigned in disgrace for his handling of the investigation won a race to fill the office.

In Indiana, Long Thompson had a 50.2 percent to 49.8 percent victory over Indianapolis architect Jim Schellinger early Wednesday, according to unofficial results tallied by The Associated Press.

The race went back and forth during the night Tuesday, with Long Thompson leading early, Schellinger edging ahead for several hours, and Long Thompson moving ahead after 1 a.m. when results from Lake County came in.

"It was an intense night," Long Thompson said. "You're always on edge during the day of the election, but we have done a good job of crunching numbers so we knew where we were."

She will face well-funded Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels in November.

Schellinger spokeswoman Jennifer Wagner said early Wednesday that the campaign was not conceding the race and would evaluate the numbers later Wednesday.

In North Carolina, Democratic Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue cruised to victory over State Treasurer Richard Moore after a $16 million fight to replace Democratic Gov. Mike Easley, who cannot seek a third consecutive term.

Also in North Carolina, Republican Congressman Walter Jones, who pushed to bring "freedom fries" to the U.S. House cafeteria in a symbolic protest of French opposition to the Iraq war, withstood a challenge from Joe McLaughlin. Jones, a seven-term congressman who got the idea from a North Carolina eatery, later soured on the war and McLaughlin, a former Army officer, had hoped to capitalize on discontent with his anti-war stance.

In other races, Democratic state Sen. Kay Hagan beat Chapel Hill entrepreneur Jim Neal for the right to run against Republican U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who breezed to a comfortable victory in her own primary after facing token opposition from a former New York police officer.

And in Durham County, Democratic prosecutor Tracey Cline beat three other candidates vying to replace former District Attorney Mike Nifong, who resigned last year after being disbarred for his ill-fated prosecution of three Duke lacrosse players falsely accused of rape. There are no Republicans in the race, making it likely Cline will claim the office.

Cline worked under Nifong as he led the case against the three players accused of attacking a woman at a team party. They were cleared last year. Nifong was disbarred for misconduct, resigned in disgrace and spent a day in jail.

"This was not about the Duke lacrosse case," Cline told The News & Observer of Raleigh. "This was the healing after the lacrosse case. It's apparent to me that Durham can pull together and get through anything. We've got to refocus the energy we have on dealing with juvenile and violent crime."

All four members of North Carolina's House delegation challenged in Tuesday's primary breezed to easy victories. Five Indiana congressmen won their primaries and four ran unopposed

Republican Rep. Dan Burton, the state's longest-serving congressman, fended off a challenge from emergency room physician John McGoff. McGoff had hoped to unseat Burton, who came under fire last year amid reports that he missed 19 House votes during a trip to California for a charity golf tournament. Burton has said the golf trip was a mistake.

The other big race was in Indiana's 7th District, where new Democratic Rep. Andre Carson bested seven challengers as he sought to retain the seat he won in a March special election. Carson had replaced his grandmother, Rep. Julia Carson, who died in December after 11 years in Congress. He will next face Republican Jon Elrod in November.

On the presidential level, Barack Obama convincingly won the North Carolina Democratic primary, while Hillary Rodham Clinton eked out a win in the Indiana contest.

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Associated Press writers Mike Baker in Raleigh and Deanna Martin in Indianapolis contributed to this report.