Rockwell insurance man Doug Sellers planned to file this afternoon in Raleigh as a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate.

Sellers has doggedly pursued his Senate aspirations since announcing his intentions last fall, despite the strong financial and party support Salisbury native Elizabeth Dole has received over recent months.

“North Carolina is absolutely a beautiful state,” Sellers said Wednesday of his campaign travels. “I’ve enjoyed meeting the nice people who have come out to see the candidates.”

President George W. Bush visited Charlotte Wednesday, and his trip included a fund-raiser on Dole’s behalf. Bush has pushed aside normal party protocol before the primary and openly endorsed Dole for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jesse Helms.

“I can’t wait to work with Elizabeth Dole,” Bush said Wednesday in Charlotte. “... She’s been a long-time friend. I trust her judgment. I know the integrity she’ll bring to the office.”

Dole also expected to file papers for her candidacy at 2:30 p.m. today at the N.C. Board of Elections in Raleigh.

Sellers questions the special treatment Dole has received from party leaders at his and other GOP candidates’ expense.

“It’s in poor taste for the president to represent her in that manner,” said Sellers, 35. “It actually takes away from the campaign.”

With Dole and Dr. Ada Fisher of Salisbury, Sellers is one of three Rowan Countians seeking the Republican nomination for the Senate seat. Other GOP candidates include Lexington attorney Jim Snyder, Lumberton radiologist Jim Parker and Winston-Salem physician Ven Challa.

Snyder filed this morning in Raleigh. Senate candidates must pay a $1,500 filing fee.

Political observers consider them all longshots against the name recognition, campaign funds and endorsements on Dole’s side.

Still, Sellers described his run for the Senate seat as one of the best times he has experienced. He has attended GOP gatherings in Union, Brunswick, Mecklenburg and Guilford counties, for example, and a meeting of N.C. Teen-age Republicans in Raleigh.

His wife, Tricia, and a niece usually travel with him.

When he has time to address the GOP audiences, Sellers said he usually touches on a different topic each time. He also updates a campaign message on his telephone answering machine a couple of times a week.

His Web site (www.sellers2002.org) lays out a platform, with Sellers’ observations on campaign reform, education, farming, business infrastructure, gun laws, workplace rights for women and even a state lottery.

Also on his Web site, Sellers asks that people only give $1 toward his campaign (though he’ll accept more).

“That’s all I ask, because I feel like a dollar represents a vote,” he added Wednesday.

Sellers supports campaign reform that places limits on spending and contributions.

“They (candidates) don’t have to raise such an abnormal amount where it impedes the small man — the people I represent,” Sellers said.

Sellers chided Dole for avoiding debates or forums with the other GOP candidates.

“Mrs. Dole is dodging all the bullets and promising people they’ll have jobs,” Sellers said. He added that the celebrity treatment given to Dole is sad for the state’s poor and unemployed who are losing healthcare and have “no way to access the things they need for stability.”

Sellers said the state’s business infrastructure will have to be rebuilt with technology-related jobs, to replace those lost in the manufacturing sector.

Sellers owns the Sellers Insurance Agency. He is a graduate of South Rowan High School and has been a Republican since 1984. He puts the highest priority on education.

“We need to have better-educated children so they are prepared for the future and the higher-paying jobs that are an integral part of North Carolina’s future,” Sellers says on his Web site.

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