RALEIGH

Sometimes who's not on the ballot is as important as who is. And sometimes Republicans are their own worst enemies.

When the filing period for candidates closed this month, Democrats in the closely divided N.C. House of Representatives were surprised to find that no Republicans filed to run in six competitive House districts.

"I've come to learn opponents are like heart attacks - they're all serious," said Co-Speaker Jim Black, the Democratic leader in a chamber where Republicans currently hold a 61-59 advantage.

"I was quite surprised, and I'm happy with the way filing has turned out. I'm optimistic that we can very much hold our own," Black said. "They should've been contested districts, actually.... I'm just pleasantly surprised that these are districts we won't have to fight for."

The absence of Republican opponents in the six districts will save Democrats considerable campaign dollars, allowing them to concentrate spending in a handful of contested districts.

"We considered these marginal districts, and we were going to have to target them. That's just really good news," Black said.

In a House where control has teetered between Republicans and Democrats for 10 years, the districts where Democrats face no Republican opposition include at least three that independent analysts consider "swing" districts that could go either way. The lonely Democratic candidates include:

• Rep. Hugh Holliman, D-Davidson, who has spent two terms in the House;

• Rep. Walter Church, D-Burke, a veteran of six terms;

• Rep. Marian McLawhorn, D-Pitt, who is in her third term;

• Rep. Jennifer Weiss, D-Wake, who has served two terms (but who does face a Libertarian challenger in November);

• Rep. Ray Rapp, D-Madison, a freshman;

• Democrats Russell Tucker, Naverro Brown and Martin Herring, who will face off in a July 20 primary for a new, open seat in the 4th District in Duplin County.

Some of the Democrats say they are stunned.

"I can't believe it. I'm in a swing district. I don't understand it," said McLawhorn, who ran television ads and spent $55,000 in her campaign two years ago. "The savings is wonderful for me."

Holliman said he couldn't believe he had no opposition when the filing period closed May 7.

"I'm shocked," he said. "I was surprised that I didn't, because I've had strong opposition in the past."

Partisan control of the 120-member House will come down to just nine or 10 competitive races, Holliman said.

A coalition headed by Black and Republican Co-Speaker Richard Morgan will likely continue unless one side or the other gains a substantial advantage with 65 or 66 seats, he said.

"To be honest, I think the split in the Republican Party may have contributed to them not being focused," Holliman said.

John Davis, the executive director of N.C. FREE, agreed.

Davis sees more internal strife among Republicans than strife between Republicans and Democrats.

"Republicans very obviously have spent their political energy recruiting against each other rather than looking outside the caucus to add to their numbers in the House," Davis said.

N.C. FREE, a business-backed group that tracks state election trends, classifies Holliman's, Church's and McLawhorn's districts as "swing" districts.

The group considers Weiss' district in suburban Wake County, Rapp's district in Haywood, Madison and Yancey and the open 4th District seat in Duplin and Onslow to be Democratic-leaning districts.

An N.C. FREE analysis of House races shows more competition among Republicans - who are divided themselves over Morgan's coalition with Black - than between Democrats and Republicans:

• Under the new districts where legislators will be elected this year, Republicans have five "double-bunked" districts where two incumbents were drawn into the same district. Democrats have four. In only one district, where Democrat Nelson Cole faces Republican Wayne Sexton in Rockingham County, will incumbents from opposite parties square off.

• Twenty Democratic incumbents face no opposition at all, and 18 Republican incumbents face no opposition;

• Thirteen Democrats have opposition only in a primary, and 11 Republicans have only a primary;

• Six Democrats face opposition in both a primary and the general election, and 19 Republicans face both a primary and a general-election challenge;

• Twenty-five Democrats face a challenge in the general election alone, and just 14 Republicans face opposition only in the general election.

Republicans could have tried to raise their numbers in the House this year from 61 to, say, 68 seats, Davis said.

"That was not their objective. It's very obvious that their objective was to win the family feud," Davis said. "Democrats can focus all their resources on helping Democrats, while Republicans are focusing their resources on beating other Republicans."

John Hood, the president of the conservative John Locke Foundation, said he was particularly surprised that Republicans found no challengers for Holliman, Church and McLawhorn in three of the 14 "swing" districts.

"You at least run candidates in those districts to keep them honest. These are districts that feel like that they ought to be Republican," Hood said. "You want to make the Democrats fight for these swing districts.

"There are fewer swing seats now than in '02. So the fact that the Republicans are not putting all of these on the table has to be viewed as disquieting for the GOP," he said.

But Hood said he is also surprised that Democrats found no challenger for freshman Rep. Bill Daughtridge, R-Nash.

Hood is skeptical that divisions over Morgan within the House Republican caucus were a major factor in finding Republican House candidates, because Senate Republicans had difficulty recruiting candidates as well.

Potential candidates can't be forced to run. Some might have been reluctant because of uncertainty about legal challenges to the new districts, Hood said.

"It could be because they just couldn't recruit a candidate.... There's not an unlimited supply of people who want to run for the legislature," he said. "That having been said, it's more likely that a cohesive Republican caucus could have had more success recruiting candidates."

Paul Shumaker, Morgan's political consultant, said that in some cases, the strength of Democratic incumbents makes it harder to field opponents.

He pointed to Church - a banker who occasionally has voted with Republicans during his 12-year career in the House - as an example.

"Some reach an institutional identity because they've been there so long," he said.

Republicans still have a chance to build on their majority in the House. "The House is in play for Republicans, period," he said.

A two-party coalition will still be needed to run the House as long as the numbers stay close, he said. "North Carolina is a competitive state, but it's not a slam dunk for either side," he said.

Shumaker acknowledged that Republicans have damaged themselves with their internal feuds. "The infighting hurts Republicans. I would not deny that. There's been less than a spirit of cooperation from state Republican headquarters," he said. "The spirit of meanness that exists within these caucuses hurts," he said. "Morgan's enemies want to continue to blame him.... The spirit of meanness hurts everybody from the top of the ticket to the bottom of the ticket."

• David Rice can be reached in Raleigh at (919) 833-9056 or at drice@wsjournal.com