Senate runoff risks draining NC Democrats of cash

RALEIGH, N.C. (StarNewsOnline.com) - A day after a primary election failed to produce a winner, two Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate looked ahead Wednesday to a protracted runoff campaign that will drag into the summer - a grueling schedule that threatens to leave the eventual winner starved for cash.

North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, who led Tuesday's vote with 36 percent but failed to get enough support to win the nomination outright, said it would not be good use of resources for rival Cal Cunningham to continue the campaign. He finished second in the six-member field, with 27 percent. The two began a second phase of their primary fight with competing events in Raleigh on Wednesday.

The runoff is June 22.