The U.S. Senate

Part 2 of 3 Parts

Helms was a registered Democrat until he took his daughter to register to vote and noticed her registering Republican. He switched to the Republican Party, and he later ran for Senate on a Republican platform. Because North Carolina had never elected a Republican senator, Helms was certain he would lose the Senate race; in fact, A.J. Fletcher agreed to give him his job back after he took a leave of absence to campaign. However, he won the race—the same year that President Nixon won reelection.