TIME FOR CHANGE, SAY SOLES' FOES

Raleigh - A Republican had been elected president and bellbottom trousers
were the rage in fashion when R.C. Soles of Tabor City first took a seat in
the General Assembly.

A lot has changed for the state and the country since 1969, but one
constancy has been state Sen. Soles' representation of Southeastern North
Carolina.

He served four terms in the House before being elected to the Senate in 1976.

In the Senate, he has become a powerful and influential figure. Among other
things, he is chairman of the Democratic majority caucus.

The issue for his two challengers is that they are not Robert Charles Soles
Jr. and that they would bring a new name and new ideas to the Senate.

On Election Day, voters in Columbus, Brunswick and Pender counties will
vote for a senator among candidates that include Sen. Soles, Republican Ray
"R.C." Gilbert of Ash, and Libertarian Edward Gore of Sunset Beach.

"I love politics," said Sen. Soles, who is also an attorney in private
practice. "I have enjoyed my time in the General Assembly, found it to be
rewarding and have participated in a lot of things, in my opinion, that
helped the district."

There are new challenges for his 18th campaign: Redistricting brought
Pender County into the 8th Senate District, which he has never represented.

The Republican challenger, Mr. Gilbert - whose "R.C." stands for Raymond
Carl - said making the hard decisions as a senator would be easy for him
because "I don't have a 34-year history and relationship with the
government agencies and special pet projects."

He proposes a 5 percent to 10 percent cut across the state's $14.3 billion
budget.

Sen. Soles said that his experience is his greatest asset, and that he has
had to win the support of the public in elections every other year for more
than 30 years.

"This is my eighteenth campaign in a row," he said. "If I had not been
doing something right, I would have been brought back home a long time ago."

He supported most of the major legislation passed last session, including a
new program of business incentives in which corporations could receive
rebates equal to some share of the withholding tax paid by the North
Carolina workers they hire.

"It would have been a disaster not to approve the incentives, particularly
given what other states are offering," he said.

Mr. Gore, who operates his own Internet service provider, also casts
himself as a new choice for the district, one that is neither Democratic
nor Republican.

"There needs to be a balancing voice in Raleigh," he said. "I think I'm a
good choice for that."

He said he supports much of the Libertarian platform, which includes lower
taxes, smaller government and major policy changes, like the repeal of many
narcotics law.

"Drug violence," he said, "comes from the criminality of drugs."