Wal-Mart- Dole on cover mistake

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Wal-Mart executives said it was a mistake to mail a company publication featuring Republican Senate candidate Elizabeth Dole on the cover less than two weeks before the GOP primary.

The publication, sent to nearly 200,000 North Carolina residents, was meant to promote literacy -- not Dole's candidacy, they say.

"There was nothing remotely political in the intent," Jay Allen, Wal-Mart's senior vice president for corporate affairs, said Friday. "It was a matter of coincidence and an honest mistake."

Allen said the Bentonville, Ark., company would send a letter to the Federal Election Commission informing it of the mailing to make sure no campaign laws were violated.

Dole's rivals said the mailing was a blatant attempt by the nation's largest retail chain to influence North Carolina's primary.