It will also be something of a farewell tour.
A news release from Edwards’ Washington office says he will meet with constituents and host town hall receptions that will be open to the public.
Edwards, a North Carolina Democrat and former Moore County resident, did not run for re-election to the Senate so he could launch a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. He eventually dropped out of the race and later become Sen. John Kerry’s vice-presidential running mate.
His tour will take him to Asheville and Charlotte on Monday, to Greensboro and Raleigh Tuesday and to Greenville and Wilmington on Wednesday. Next week’s schedule is described as part of the tour, hinting that other visits may be planned later in December.
The tour schedule shows that on Tuesday, Edwards will be at the Greensboro Historical Museum at 130 Summit Ave. at Carolina Museum of History, 5 East Edenton St., Raleigh, at 6:30 p.m.
OPEN — During his term in the Senate, Edwards adopted a policy of visiting various communities across North Carolina, where he held town hall-type meetings open to local residents.
He also took occasional walks along North Carolina beaches. On these strolls, he was available to fellow beach lovers for informal give and take.
With the Democratic loss at the polls on Nov. 2, Edwards and his family will be returning to North Carolina to make their home.
CHADS — North Carolina has no problem with hanging chads, but Nov. 23 came and went, leaving two statewide races hanging and undecided.
The State Board of Elections met Tuesday to certify results of the Nov. 2 general election. The board approved results of all but two races: agriculture commissioner and superintendent of public instruction. Because of the extremely close vote in both races and because of vote counting problems in some counties, the state panel held off on these elections.
A decision is yet to be made about the situation in Carteret County, where more than 4,400 ballots were not recorded on the electronic voting machines. In other words, these ballots were “lost.”
The final count in these races, although still unofficial, gives Republican Steve Troxler a 2,287 vote edge over Democrat Britt Cobb for agriculture commissioner and Democrat June Atkinson 8,535 votes more than Republican Bill Fletcher received for the superintendent’s office.
The state board also failed to certify three other races, two for district court and one for a legislative seat, all in other parts of the state.
Boards of elections in all 100 counties conducted a recount in the agriculture and superintendent races prior to the state board’s meeting. Moore County conducted its recount on Nov. 15.
