FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) - As ads for front-running Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Cal Cunningham and Erica Smith fill the televisions and cellphone screens of Democratic voters ahead of the March 3 primary, Atul Goel walks the streets of cities and towns across North Carolina in search of support.
The underdog candidate and retired physician from Raleigh in late January drove his old Chevrolet Venture minivan to Fayetteville’s University Estates neighborhood off Shaw Mill Road. He is familiar with the city, having been stationed at Pope Air Force Base as a flight surgeon in the 2000s.
Goel came here alone, guided by a list of addresses, the GPS on his cellphone, and his optimism as he knocked on doors and talked with voters. He said he has campaigned in every one of North Carolina’s 100 counties.
“Look, I am fully aware of the mountain that I took on to climb,” Goel said in January. “Everybody tells me it’s a money game. I’ve been hearing that 10 times a day since I’ve started.”
Goel’s most recent campaign finance report says that through Dec. 31, he raised and spent less than $5,000.
Cunningham raised $2.7 million through the end of last year, federal campaign filings say, and Smith drew more than $200,000.
Five Democrats are on the ballot for their party’s nomination to run for the Senate seat held by Republican Sen. Thom Tillis. A survey that pollster Public Policy Polling conducted on Feb. 4 and 5 says Goel was in last place among likely Democratic primary voters, with just 2% saying they would pick him.
The survey says 29% preferred Cunningham, 10% preferred Smith, 4% chose Steve Swenson, 3% picked Trevor Fuller and 52% were undecided.
Goel said on Feb. 7 that he will press ahead.
“I am just going to keep running my campaign based on principle,” he said. “And that includes not taking money from PACs or special interests or from people living outside the state.”
In-person voting started on Feb. 13 and ends March 3. A candidate needs at least 30% of the vote to win the primary outright and avoid a costly and likely low-turnout runoff election.
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