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Orange County in the 1992 election

How Orange County voted in 1992: Margaret Pollard’s challenge to state senators Howard Lee and Russell Walker, the student registration drives and campus rallies, the Greens’ independent candidate for commissioner, the fight over the $52 million school bond, the Clinton and Gore rally in Hillsborough and the November results.

In briefIn the 1992 Democratic primary Margaret Pollard finished less than 500 votes behind state senator Howard Lee, and that fall students registered thousands of new voters and Bill Clinton and Al Gore rallied about 2,200 people in Hillsborough. On November 3 turnout reached 67.8 percent, voters approved a $52 million school bond, and commissioners Moses Carey and Don Willhoit and the county's legislators were re-elected.

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In early March 1992 Margaret Pollard, a UNC public health administrator, filed as a Democrat for one of the 16th District state Senate seats held by Howard Lee and Russell Walker. Lee and Walker won the May 5 primary by unexpectedly narrow margins, with Pollard less than 500 votes behind Lee; Lee praised her organizing and said Black women candidates faced both racial and sex discrimination.

Students for Voter Registration signed up about 4,200 UNC students and faculty during a three-week drive in the Pit in September, part of about 9,000 new registrations in the county since August. On September 18 about 500 people gathered in front of Manning Hall for a Vote for a Change rally with Harvey Gantt, the actress Lynda Carter and other Hollywood performers, the first of about ten campus rallies organized for the Hollywood Women's Political Committee, sponsored locally by the UNC Young Democrats, Chapel Hill for Choice, Greenvote and the state abortion rights league. On October 1 the county Board of Elections would not allow voter registration at a Rock the Vote concert at Rosey's Goodtimes, citing a 1990 board policy against registration in any bar, though the Raleigh ACLU questioned whether a flat ban complied with state law. A volunteer special registration commissioner registered 43 people outside the bar anyway; the board's chairwoman said they could vote and that the board would decide the registrar's standing after the election.

On October 13 the Orange County Greens endorsed Mark Marcoplos, a longtime member running as an independent for the Board of Commissioners, and set up a student support group on campus. Greens had gathered hundreds of petition signatures at the spring primary polls to put him on the ballot, and the Daily Tar Heel called him the first independent candidate for an Orange County office; the Sierra Club also endorsed him. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro League of Women Voters said it would campaign with the Chamber of Commerce for the $52 million school bond, handed out information at Festifall and University Mall, and set a bond forum with the chamber for October 27 at Town Hall. On October 14 TaxWatch, a fiscally conservative Chapel Hill group, said it would not support the bond, arguing that enrollment projections were inflated and proposing a magnet school at Lincoln Center instead of a new high school; school board member Ruth Royster disputed it.

On October 17 council member Mark Chilton and other cyclists of N.C. Environmentalists for Clinton/Gore, riding 544 miles from Murphy to Manteo, held a rally at the Franklin Street post office halfway through their trip. On October 26 Bill Clinton and Al Gore spoke to about 2,200 people in front of the old courthouse on Churton Street in Hillsborough. Hillsborough Mayor Horace Johnson introduced the ticket, and Hillary Clinton and Tipper Gore also spoke.

Unofficial results showed that 45,748 of the county's 67,461 registered voters, 67.8 percent, voted on November 3, against about 66 percent in 1988. With 36 of 42 precincts reporting, voters approved the school bond 21,226 to 16,018, with the northern precincts opposed; it would build a new middle school and a new high school for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools, a new middle school for the Orange County Schools, and technology upgrades. Democratic commissioners Moses Carey (21,331 votes) and Don Willhoit (17,997) were re-elected ahead of Republicans Norman Haithcock (11,244) and Johnny Kennedy (10,149) and Marcoplos (8,041), who blamed straight-ticket voting. Voters also returned Lee and Walker to the state Senate and Representatives Anne Barnes and Joe Hackney of House District 24 to the General Assembly.

In the chronology

Events in this storyline, in date order. See these 14 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Margaret Pollard files as a Democrat for the 16th District state Senate seats UNC public health administrator Margaret Pollard filed with the State Board of Elections as a Democrat for one of the 16th District N.C. Senate seats held by Howard Lee and Russell Walker, a district taking in Orange, Chatham and Moore counties and most of Randolph. People: Howard N. Lee Place: Orange County · Also named: Margaret Pollard, Russell WalkerSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, March 13, 1992, p. 3
  2. Howard Lee and Russell Walker hold their state Senate seats in a close primary State senators Howard Lee and Russell Walker won the 16th District Democratic primary over Margaret Pollard by unexpectedly narrow margins, Pollard finishing less than 500 votes behind Lee. Lee, a former Chapel Hill mayor, praised Pollard's organizing and said Black women candidates faced both racial and sex discrimination. People: Howard N. Lee Place: 16th state Senate District, including Orange County · Also named: Russell Walker, Margaret PollardThe Daily Tar Heel, May 28, 1992, p. 5
  3. Lynda Carter and Harvey Gantt headline a Vote for a Change rally at Manning Hall About 500 people gathered in front of Manning Hall on September 18, 1992, for a Vote for a Change rally urging students to register and vote, with former Senate candidate Harvey Gantt, the actress Lynda Carter and other Hollywood performers. It was the first of about ten campus rallies organized for the Hollywood Women's Political Committee, sponsored locally by the UNC Young Democrats, Chapel Hill for Choice, Greenvote and the state abortion rights league. Place: Manning Hall, UNC, Chapel Hill · Also named: Harvey Gantt, Lynda CarterSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 21, 1992, p. 3
  4. A three-week drive in the Pit registers about 4,200 UNC students and faculty to vote Students for Voter Registration signed up about 4,200 UNC students and faculty during a three-week registration drive in the Pit in September 1992, part of roughly 9,000 new Orange County registrations since August. Place: The Pit, University, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 5, 1992, p. 4
  5. Orange County elections board refuses voter registration at a Rock the Vote concert in a bar The Orange County Board of Elections would not allow voter registration at a Rock the Vote concert at Rosey's Goodtimes on West Rosemary Street, citing a 1990 board policy against registration in any bar, though the Raleigh ACLU questioned whether a flat ban complied with state law. A volunteer special registration commissioner registered 43 people outside the bar anyway; the board chairwoman said they could vote and that the board would decide the registrar's standing after the election. Place: Rosey's Goodtimes, West Rosemary Street, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: West Rosemary StreetSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 6, 1992, p. 3
  6. Orange County Greens endorse independent Mark Marcoplos for county commissioner The Orange County Greens endorsed Mark Marcoplos, a longtime member running as an independent for the Board of Commissioners, and set up a student support group on campus. Greens had gathered hundreds of petition signatures at the spring primary polls to put him on the November ballot, and the Daily Tar Heel called him the first independent candidate for an Orange County office; the Sierra Club also endorsed him. Place: Chapel Hill and Carrboro · Also named: Mark MarcoplosSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 14, 1992, p. 3
  7. TaxWatch comes out against the $52 million school bond TaxWatch, a fiscally conservative Chapel Hill group, said it would not support the $52 million school bond on the November 3 ballot, arguing that enrollment projections were inflated and proposing a magnet school at Lincoln Center instead of a new high school; school board member Ruth Royster disputed it. Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Ruth Royster · Also mentions: Lincoln CenterSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 16, 1992, p. 3
  8. Council member Mark Chilton's environmentalist bike trek rallies for Clinton and Gore on Franklin Street Chapel Hill Town Council member Mark Chilton and other cyclists of N.C. Environmentalists for Clinton/Gore, riding 544 miles from Murphy to Manteo, held a rally at the Franklin Street post office halfway through their trip. People: Mark Chilton Place: Post office, Franklin Street, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 19, 1992, p. 1
  9. Bill Clinton and Al Gore hold a campaign rally at the Hillsborough courthouse Democratic nominees Bill Clinton and Al Gore spoke to about 2,200 people in front of the old courthouse on Churton Street in Hillsborough on October 26, 1992, a stop on their North Carolina bus tour. Hillsborough Mayor Horace Johnson introduced the ticket, and Hillary Clinton and Tipper Gore also spoke. People: Bill Clinton, Al Gore Place: Old Orange County Courthouse, Churton Street, Hillsborough · Also named: Horace Johnson, Hillary Clinton · Also mentions: Churton StreetSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 27, 1992, p. 1
  10. League of Women Voters backs the $52 million school bond The Chapel Hill-Carrboro League of Women Voters said it would campaign with the Chamber of Commerce for the $52 million school bond, which would build new middle and high schools, and handed out information at Festifall and at University Mall; the two groups set a bond forum for October 27 at Town Hall. Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: University MallSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 19, 1992, p. 3
  11. Moses Carey and Don Willhoit are re-elected Orange County commissioners Democratic incumbents Moses Carey and Don Willhoit won re-election to the Orange County Board of Commissioners on November 3, 1992. With 36 of 42 precincts reporting, Carey had 21,331 votes and Willhoit 17,997, ahead of Republicans Norman Haithcock (11,244) and Johnny Kennedy (10,149) and independent Mark Marcoplos (8,041), who blamed straight-ticket voting. Place: Orange County · Also named: Moses Carey, Don Willhoit, Mark Marcoplos, Norman Haithcock, Johnny KennedySearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 4, 1992, p. 1
  12. Orange County turnout reaches 67.8 percent in the 1992 general election Unofficial results showed 45,748 of Orange County's 67,461 registered voters, 67.8 percent, voted on November 3, 1992, against about 66 percent in 1988. Election officials said about 9,000 voters had registered since August, and slow ballot counting kept official tallies until after midnight. Place: Orange County polling placesSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 5, 1992, p. 1
Show all 14 dated events
  1. Orange County voters approve a $52 million school bond Orange County voters approved a $52 million school bond on November 3, 1992, to build a new middle school and a new high school for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools, a new middle school for the Orange County Schools, and technology upgrades. With 36 of 42 precincts reporting, 21,226 voted for it and 16,018 against, with the northern precincts opposed. Place: Orange County · Also mentions: Chapel Hill-Carrboro schoolsSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 4, 1992, p. 1
  2. Orange County's Democratic legislators are re-elected Orange County voters returned their Democratic incumbents to the General Assembly on November 3, 1992: Senators Howard Lee and Russell Walker in Senate District 16 and Representatives Anne Barnes and Joe Hackney in House District 24, both two-seat districts with three candidates. People: Howard N. Lee, Joe Hackney Place: Orange County · Also named: Russell Walker, Anne BarnesSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 5, 1992, p. 3

Places in this history

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Reading on the places and people in this storyline

No indexed work is about this storyline itself yet. These are about the sites and people its dated events name, those named most often first, so they may discuss the storyline only in part. Follow a link to find a copy or view the material.

About Chapel Hill and Carrboro city schools · named in one of this story’s entries

More than a mentoring program : attacking institutional racism

Meyer, Graig M. · 2018 · Information Age Publishing

Graig M. Meyer's 2018 account, written with George Noblit, of a youth mentoring program in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools that set out to attack institutional racism and close racial achievement gaps. Chapters lay out an antiracist mentoring model, racial identity development, advocacy at the system level, staffing and leadership, and a culture of continuous improvement. Published by Information Age Publishing, 211 pages, online.

UNC NC State NCCU Library of Congress Methodist UNCSA Wake Forest Davidson

Oral history interview with Sam Holton, March 28, 2001: interview K-0206, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Holton, Samuel M. · 2007 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

Samuel M. Holton (1922-2010) sat on Chapel Hill's school board during desegregation. Elected in 1968 after a term as PTA president, he took office as racial tension rose after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Talking with Jenny Matthews in March 2001, he describes the board's decisions on integrating the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and the conflicts that came with them. Runs about eighty minutes; electronic edition issued by the UNC library in 2007 through Documenting the American South.

NC Cardinal UNC

Oral history interview with Edwin Caldwell, March 2, 2001: interview K-0202, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Caldwell, Edwin · 2006 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

Edwin Caldwell, Jr. reviews a life in Chapel Hill politics in a three-hour Southern Oral History Program interview recorded March 2, 2001, by Oliver White. A skilled organizer, Caldwell worked in the campaign that made Howard Lee the town's first Black mayor in 1969, ran for office more than once without winning, and became a local political power. The conversation also covers race relations, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board and the Church of Reconciliation. Published online in 2006 in Documenting the American South.

NC Cardinal UNC

The effects of desegregation on selected variables in the Chapel Hill city school system

Prichard, Paul Newton, 1935- · 1969

Paul Newton Prichard's 1969 study of what desegregation changed in the Chapel Hill city school system, measured against academic achievement and other selected variables. Topics include school integration and achievement in the town, and a bibliography runs to page 115. Written during the district's own desegregation years, which makes it a contemporary source as well as a study.

NCCU UNC

About Howard N. Lee · named in 4 of this story’s entries

The Courage to Lead: One Man's Journey in Public Service

Lee, Howard N. · 2008 · Cotton Patch Press

Howard N. Lee (born 1934) tells his own story, from a farm childhood in Lithonia, Georgia, through college, army service in Korea at Camp Casey and the move from Savannah that planted him in Chapel Hill, to his election as mayor of Chapel Hill in 1969 and his later run for Congress and years in the state legislature. Published by Cotton Patch Press of Chapel Hill in 2008, 199 pages with plates.

✓ Held at OCPL · BIO LEE LEE NC Cardinal Duke NCCU Durham CH Historical Society Library of Congress UNC

Oral history interview with Rebecca Clark, June 21, 2000: interview K-0536, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Clark, Rebecca · 2006 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

Interview recorded June 21, 2000 with Rebecca Clark (1915-2009), a Black Chapel Hill resident, for the Southern Oral History Program at UNC. Clark, educated in Chapel Hill's segregated schools, describes working life under segregation and the economic discrimination she met in it. Topics also include Lincoln High School, school integration, and Howard Lee, elected mayor of Chapel Hill in 1969. Interview K-0536 in collection #4007.

NC Cardinal UNC

My life of breaking barriers, building bridges, and making history

Lee, Howard, 1934- · 2021 · North Caroliniana Society

Howard N. Lee's account of his own career, published in 2021 by the North Caroliniana Society with the society award given to him that year, together with tributes from Angela Lee, Valerie Foushee and others. Lee became mayor of Chapel Hill in 1969, the town's first Black mayor.

UNC

Oral history interview with Anne Barnes, January 30, 1989

Barnes, Anne Craig · 2006

Oral history interview with Anne Craig Barnes recorded on January 30, 1989 and issued in 2006. Barnes represented Orange County in the North Carolina House of Representatives, and topics include women in politics, the National Women's Political Caucus, the state Democratic Party, Terry Sanford and Howard Lee of Chapel Hill.

NC Cardinal

About Bill Clinton · named in 2 of this story’s entries

Dwane Powell Cartoon, October 10, 1993

Powell, Dwane · 1993 · The News and Observer

Editorial cartoon by Dwane Powell, printed in The News and Observer on 10 October 1993, drawing together Bill Clinton, UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor Paul Hardin, the Nike company and education. Syndicate copies and clippings, folder 1993-37.

DPLA

Dwane Powell Cartoon, October 15, 1993

Powell, Dwane · 1993 · The News and Observer

News and Observer cartoon by Dwane Powell from 15 October 1993 on Bill Clinton, education and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. From folder 1993-38 of his syndicate copies and clippings.

DPLA

Dwane Powell Cartoon, October 3, 1993

Powell, Dwane · 1993 · The News and Observer

Dwane Powell's cartoon for The News and Observer of 3 October 1993 brings in Bill Clinton, Chancellor Paul Hardin of UNC-Chapel Hill, the Nike company and education. Folder 1993-48 of his syndicate copies and clippings.

DPLA

President Clinton at UNC bicentennial, October 12, 1993

Morton, Hugh M. · 1993

President Bill Clinton speaks at University Day on 12 October 1993, marking the 200th anniversary of the university. Congressman Steve Neal is at left and NC A&T chancellor Edward Fort in the back row. Former governor James E. Holshouser is also named. Hugh Morton color slide.

DPLA
Wider background: Politics & Government · the most widely held histories of the theme this story belongs to; they may not discuss it

William Friday

Link, William A. · 1995

Biography of William C. Friday, president of the University of North Carolina system, by historian William A. Link, published by UNC Press in 1995 with the subtitle power, purpose, and American higher education. It covers Friday's career and the history of the university at Chapel Hill and statewide. Part of the Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection.

✓ Held at OCPL · NC BIO FRIDAY LIN NC Cardinal UNC Duke Durham Chapel Hill PL Library of Congress Methodist Wingate UNCSA CH Historical Society

The Story of the Institute of Government, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Coates, Albert McKinley · 1981

Albert Coates's own account of the Institute of Government at the University of North Carolina, which he founded, subtitled 'out of a classroom in Chapel Hill' and published in 1981. The 303 pages trace the institute's history and its role in educating North Carolina's public officials.

NC Cardinal UNC Duke NC State NCCU Durham Library of Congress UNCSA CH Historical Society

Communists on Campus

Billingsley, William J. · 1999 · University of Georgia Press

William J. Billingsley's history of the Speaker Ban Law, the 1963 North Carolina statute that barred known Communists from speaking on state campuses, and the fight over it at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The subtitle sets the scope: race, politics and the public university in sixties North Carolina. It treats academic freedom, anti-communist movements and free speech in the state. University of Georgia Press, 1999, 308 pages with eight pages of plates.

Reviewed in Academe (2000), The American Historical Review (2001), The Journal of Southern History (2001), Journal of American History (2001), The Journal of Politics (2001).

Duke NC State NC Cardinal Durham Chapel Hill PL NCCU UNC Library of Congress

Frank Porter Graham and the 1950 Senate Race in North Carolina

Pleasants, Julian M.; Burns, Augustus M., III · 1990 · UNC Press

Julian M. Pleasants and Augustus M. Burns III on the 1950 Democratic Senate primary in North Carolina, in which Frank Porter Graham, the former president of the University of North Carolina, lost to Willis Smith after a campaign marked by race-baiting. Primaries, elections and race relations in the state are its subjects. Published by UNC Press in 1990, 356 pages with illustrations.

Reviewed in Choice Reviews Online (1991), The American Historical Review (1991), Journal of American History (1991), The Journal of Southern History (1992).

✓ Held at OCPL · NC 324.975 PLE Duke NC State NC Cardinal Durham Chapel Hill PL NCCU CH Historical Society

The Age of Orange: Political and Intellectual Leadership in North Carolina, 1752-1861

Blackwelder, Ruth · 1961

Ruth Blackwelder's study of political and intellectual leadership in Orange County and North Carolina from 1752 to 1861, published in Charlotte by W. Loftin in 1961. Topics include state politics and government, intellectual life before the Civil War, and county genealogy. It runs 216 pages with illustrations and a bibliography. Part of the Wall Local History Collection.

✓ Held at OCPL · NC 975.656 BLACKWEL UNC Durham Library of Congress Davidson DPLA CH Historical Society NC Cardinal
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The Good Government Man

Covington, Jr., Howard E. · 2010

Howard E. Covington Jr.'s biography of Albert Coates (1896-1989), the law professor who founded the Institute of Government at the University of North Carolina and led it through its early years. Topics include Coates as a law teacher and the institute's history as a center for the study of public administration in Chapel Hill. Published in 2010 by the University Library at Chapel Hill, 322 pages with 32 pages of plates.

Read free online · UNC Libraries NC Cardinal UNC Duke NC State Durham Crossref Library of Congress

Orange County, 1752-1952

Lefler, Hugh Talmage; Wager, Paul W. · 1953

Hugh Talmage Lefler and Paul W. Wager's history of Orange County across its first two centuries, 1752 to 1952, prepared for the county's bicentennial. It covers government and politics, biography and the county's families, and doubles as a genealogical reference. Published in Chapel Hill by the Orange Printshop in 1953, 389 pages with illustrations and an index; this copy is a later reprint.

Reviewed in The Journal of Southern History (1954).

✓ Held at OCPL · NC 975.656 ORA NC Cardinal UNC Chapel Hill PL Library of Congress Davidson CH Historical Society

A Traitor and a Scoundrel: Benjamin Hedrick and the Cost of Dissent

Smith, Michael Thomas · 2003 · University of Delaware Press ; London : Associated University Presses

Michael Thomas Smith's biography of Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick, the University of North Carolina chemistry professor dismissed in 1856 after he declared support for the antislavery presidential candidate John C. Fremont. Published by University of Delaware Press in 2003, 216 pages with illustrations. Topics include abolitionists and dissenters in North Carolina, the antislavery movement in the state, and the university's biography before 1962.

Reviewed in The Journal of Southern History (2005).

Duke NC State NC Cardinal Durham UNC Library of Congress

The Papers Of Willie Person Mangum

Mangum, Willie Person · 1950 · State Dept. of Archives and History

The papers of Willie Person Mangum, 1792 to 1861, a lawyer, judge and United States senator from the part of Orange County that later became Durham County. Five volumes of correspondence published by the State Department of Archives and History beginning in 1950, arranged by date from 1807 to 1894, with illustrations, portraits and folding maps. A source for antebellum North Carolina and national politics, the Whig Party and the Mangum family.

Reviewed in The Journal of Southern History (1951), Journal of American History (1951), The Journal of Southern History (1953), Journal of American History (1953), The Journal of Southern History (1954), The Journal of Southern History (1955), The Journal of Southern History (1957), Journal of American History (1957), The American Historical Review (1957).

✓ Held at OCPL · NC BIO MANGUM SHA NC Cardinal Durham Library of Congress

An Historical Address Delivered in Saint Matthew's Church, Hillsboro, N.C., on Sunday, August 24, 1924

Cheshire, Joseph Blount · 1925

Address by Bishop Joseph Blount Cheshire at St. Matthew's Church in Hillsborough on 24 August 1924, marking the parish's hundredth anniversary. Printed in Durham in 1925 at the vestry's order, with a foreword by the rector. Cheshire discusses George Micklejohn, William Mercer Green and Moses Ashley Curtis.

UNC Duke Durham DPLA

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