Primary Featuring Clay Aiken Too Close To Call

Clay Aiken speaks to supporters during an election night watch party in Holly Springs, N.C., Tuesday, May 6, 2014. Aiken is seeking the Democratic nomination for North Carolina's 2nd Congressional District. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Democratic congressional primary race between former “American Idol” runner-up Clay Aiken and textile entrepreneur Keith Crisco remained very close and without a clear winner.

Aiken and Crisco each had about 40 percent of the vote, trailed by licensed family counselor Toni Morris of Fayetteville in Tuesday’s primary race in the 2nd Congressional District.

Aiken’s first political campaign drew an unusual amount of celebrity buzz thanks to his singing career and a second-place finish on “Celebrity Apprentice.” Crisco spent four years as the state’s top business recruiter under under former Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue.

The primary winner will challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers in November. Ellmers, first elected in the 2010 tea party wave, handily defeated her challenger in the heavily Republican district.

Aiken has said reporters are the only people asking whether being a gay man could impede his campaign to represent such a conservative district. Both he and Crisco touted themselves as centrists.

“We need to stay out of people’s bedrooms,” Bob Finch, a 57-year-old Democrat from Lee County, said Tuesday.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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