Republican Doug Sellers wants to be known as the little man’s candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaking for all North Carolinians unheard in the political process.

Since the day Elizabeth Dole announced that she was running for the Senate, Sellers says he became a candidate, too.

“I’m trying to stop the coronation of Liddy Dole, period,” Sellers says.

Increasingly, it appears the path to the U.S. Senate in North Carolina has beginnings in Rowan County.

Sellers, a Rockwell insurance man, is the third of six announced Republican candidates with ties to Rowan. Dole grew up in Salisbury, and Dr. Ada Fisher lives here now and is a member of the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education.

Others running for the GOP nomination to succeed Sen. Jesse Helms include former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot, Lexington attorney Jim Snyder and Lumberton’s Jim Parker.

Sellers scoffs at the idea that Dole is an N.C. resident, however. She hasn’t lived in North Carolina since the Vietnam War, he says, complaining, “We’re not good enough for her to live amongst us, but we’re good enough for her to represent us.”

Sellers voices concerns about big corporate money supporting Dole’s campaign. Voters can still make a difference, Sellers contends, even when well-financed candidates try to buy the election.

“You only have to get in vehicles, get down to voting machines and punch,” Sellers says. “It’s the only thing you can do in America that’s still free.”

Sellers also charges that Dole is vague on her positions, and he wants to hear her views on the economy, education, defense, taxes, abortion, farm quotas, HMOs, gun control and the like.

“If Republican candidates let her be vague until the primary date,” Sellers says, “they may as well not even enter the race.”

Sellers, 35, grew up in China Grove and graduated from South Rowan High School. He and his wife of 13 years now live close to Rockwell, where he has his insurance office. He has always been a Republican, and he always voted for Helms, Sellers says.

Sellers has never held an elective office, but he says that puts him on equal footing with the current Republican favorite, Dole. Presidents Reagan and Bush appointed Dole as transportation and labor secretary, respectively. She also served as president of the American Red Cross.

Dole ran briefly for president in 1999.

Sellers says he has publicized his interest in the U.S. Senate seat by sending out press statements to newspapers and televisions. As for raising campaign money, he says he hasn’t asked “for the first red cent.” He adds that he will accept contributions, depending on the donor.

Sellers emphasizes education and preparing students for a technological future. As the state loses its traditional jobs in textiles, furniture and tobacco, “we must align ourselves with the idea that technology is the wave of the future,” Sellers says.

“The jobs will come, but will we be part of it?” he asks.

Sellers says he has been impressed with President Bush’s actions following the terrorist attacks, but he expresses concern that with U.S. involvement in so many parts of the world, “we’re about to nickel and dime ourselves, possibly into depression.”

“We can’t support our cause and every other cause in the world at the expense of U.S. taxpayers,” Sellers says. “Where do we stop that train?”

Not unlike Dole and Fisher, Sellers hopes to take his campaign into all of the state’s 100 counties before next May’s primary. He said he also will develop a Web site.

Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263, or e-mail him at mwineka@salisburypost.com .