The first-term Republican says he has raised more than $565,000 from roughly 1,000 contributors and has $350,000 in the bank.

But the real story in this year’s race may be the difference in Hayes’ opponent back home.

Two years ago, Albemarle attorney Mike Taylor entered the race late. He won little support from national Democrats and couldn’t compete with his opponent’s spending.

Hayes, a Republican, shelled out $1.2 million, compared to Taylor’s $367,000. Democrats paid Taylor scant attention, thinking he didn’t stand a shot at winning the 8th District, which includes Cabarrus and four other counties to the south.

Taylor, who had no previous political experience, proved them wrong. He won 48.2 percent of the vote, compared to Hayes’ 50.7 percent.

“I had not raised anything,” Taylor said Wednesday. “I was pretty much of a political unknown, and almost did the unheard of in American politics. I became a nationally known figure. That caused my profile to be raised tremendously.”

This year, Taylor, 52, stands on considerably firmer ground.

As of June 30, 1999 — well before election filing began this month — he had raised $123,000. By now, he has hoarded up more than $250,000, he estimates.

Taylor also is winning more respect from his party this time around. Two weeks ago, House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt came to Northwest Cabarrus High School and another event in Charlotte to rally support for Taylor. Last week, U.S. Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia, former head of the U.S. Veterans Administration under President Jimmy Carter, campaigned with with Taylor in Pinehurst, talking about veterans’ issues.

The extra campaign money will put Taylor in a much better position to afford advertising, mailings and staff, Taylor said. This week, his new campaign manager in Albemarle, Nate Tamrin, began work.

“I’m starting out much better known, and I’ve raised a considerably bigger amount of money,” Taylor said. “ I’m just where I need to be financially.

“ ... I think what happened last time is that people didn’t know me. I went out and talked about the issues that people talked about, and I talked about them over and over and over again.”

Plus, Hayes must overcome the numbers — Democrats account for 65 percent of registered voters in the 8th District. Hayes eked out his victory over Taylor in 1998, after Democrat Bill Hefner retired from the seat he had held for 24 years.

Hayes’ Washington spokesman, Andrew Duke, said many Democratic voters in the 8th District will support Hayes again because they support his record.

“I think it was Mike Taylor himself that said, ‘You can’t buy an election,’ ” Duke said. “Hayes is going to do what he did last time. He’s going to take his message to the people and let them decide. He’s going to stay focused on the issues.

“The 8th District also has a long tradition of supporting Republican presidential candidates.”

Hayes, 54, already had name recognition before he joined Congress. In the 1996 gubernatorial race, he won 43 percent of the vote in a race against incumbent Jim Hunt. He had served on the Concord Board of Aldermen and was elected to the N.C. House of Representatives, where he was majority whip for Republicans.

Hayes is the grandson of the founder of Cannon Mills, the textile business for which Kannapolis is known, now owned by Pillowtex Corp. He earned a degree in history from Duke University and is currently owner of Mount Pleasant Hosiery, and has been involved with many other businesses.

In contrast, Taylor has never held elected office, though he served four years as the attorney for Stanly County. The son of a World War II veteran and college history professor, he was born in Arkansas. He moved with his parents to North Carolina a year later. His parents, missionaries in West Africa, home-schooled him. He spent two years in Vietnam as a field historian, studied French at Sorbonne University in Paris and earned a doctorate in Greek archaeology from Harvard University. But he made a career of law after studying at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.