Republican wants Elizabeth Dole to consider Senate seat

Dole has served in the cabinets of presidents Reagan and Bush and made an unsuccessful bid for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee, said Sunday that he has talked with Elizabeth Dole about a possible run for the Senate in North Carolina in 2002.

The seat is held by GOP Sen. Jesse Helms, who has not announced whether he'll seek a sixth term.

"I am going to sit back and wait to see what Jesse Helms does," Frist said on ABC's "This Week." "If Jesse runs, we're behind him 100 percent. If he decides not to, I would love to have Elizabeth Dole out there."

The NRSC assists the campaigns of GOP Senate candidates. Frist would not describe Dole's reaction to his overture, saying it was "privileged."

Dole, 64, is a native of Salisbury, North Carolina, who served in the cabinets of presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush and headed the American Red Cross. She made an unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000.

Her husband is former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, the 1996 GOP presidential nominee.

Helms, 79, a conservative stalwart first elected in 1972, has suffered from health problems in recent years, often using a motorized scooter to move about the Capitol. He has not ruled out seeking another six-year term in 2002.

Helms' seat is one of 20 GOP-held Senate seats that the party will be trying to retain as it tries to recapture a majority next year. Fourteen other seats up in 2002 are held by Democrats.