RALEIGH, N.C. (CN) — North Carolina voters will cast their ballots on May 17 in statewide primary elections that could decide the fate of several nationally-watched political races.
Candidates for the U.S. Senate and the 11th Congressional District are among those scrambling to stand out on the North Carolina primary ballot next month.
Democratic leaders have mostly consolidated behind Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, who would become the only Black woman to serve as a U.S. Senator if she wins.
As Election Day inched closer over the past week, two political heavyweights visited the state — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Biden visited NC A&T University on Thursday, where he spoke to the importance of investing in American manufacturing.
Following a tour of the Greensboro-based university, which is the largest historically Black college in the U.S., Biden urged Congress to pass a "bipartisan innovation act.”
Among several other measures, the United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 “requires federal infrastructure programs to provide for the use of materials produced in the United States.”
North Carolina Democratic Governor Roy Cooper also spoke during the private event on Thursday, stating, “Companies from across the globe are choosing to grow and expand in our state, creating American jobs.”
As the two Democrats and other state leaders touted North Carolina’s job growth on Thursday, two leading Republican U.S. Senate candidates took the stage in a debate hosted by WRAL News.
Vying to replace retiring Republican U.S. Senator Richard Burr, former North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory and former Rep. Mark Walker faced off on Thursday.
Both were quick to criticize the race’s front-runner, who didn’t show up.
Republican State Rep. Ted Budd, a Trump favorite who has represented the state’s 13th Congressional District since 2017, declined to partake in Thursday’s debate.
Because he also had dissed a February debate hosted by ABC11 and the Carolina Journal, Budd was scrutinized by his Republican primary challengers.
His campaign attributed the stage-absence to prior engagements; most recently, visits with voters and a meeting with Donald Trump Jr.
“If a candidate doesn't come to a debate … he doesn't care about you.” McCrory said, adding,” He doesn't care about North Carolina and he doesn't care for freedom and democracy.”
About a week prior, former President Trump visited Selma to endorse Budd and candidates in other contests.
Budd is leading in several polls ahead of McCrory, who lost his 2016 bid for governor the same year that Trump won the state’s presidential election.
Steven Greene, a professor of political science at North Carolina State University, told Courthouse News that Budd probably didn’t lose any headway by not participating in the debate.
He is financially formidable and is likely “Trumpy” enough to maintain a substantial Republican following, Greene said.
The professor describes McCrory as more of an “old-guard, pre-Trump, reagan-era conservative,” while describing Budd as more of an “own-the-libs Republican.”
Still, the candidate’s lack of attendance in some recent debates is unsettling to Greene.
“Debates might seem boring and whatever happens on that stage is probably not going to instantly change everything,” Greene said, “But, the fact that debates exist, having a candidate face journalists and opponents, is a meaningful mechanism of accountability.”
Greene said that a failure to engage in this type of accountability speaks to a larger problem.
Like Budd, U.S. Representative Madison Cawthorn has been swift to echo Trump talking points and has received praise from the former president.
In the 11th Congressional District, Cawthorn faces a strong challenger in State Senator Chuck Edwards.
Edwards has garnered the endorsement of U.S. Senator Thom Tillis, but, Greene told Courthouse News that he doesn’t actually stand much of a chance.
“He has a potent national brand,” Greene said of Cawthorn, adding,” He’s aligned with Trump and in many ways, he represents what the Republican Party is all about right now.”
The young representative was recently reprimanded by GOP leadership for making public claims unflattering to the party, including tales of “orgy” invites.
That doesn’t matter either, Greene said.
“Republican primary voters will be willing to overlook problematic statements,” he said, including Cawthorn’s recent statements siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Ukrainian leadership in the ongoing invasion.
He says Republican primary voters in the state are energized by Trump-esque rhetoric like that of Cawthorn’s.
Plus, he said, “any Republican candidate with a pulse” is likely to win the majorly conservative 11th District over the Democratic challengers hoping to keep Cawthorn from gaining reelection in November.
Democratic candidate for the 11th Congressional District Jay Carey is one of those challengers.
But, the Army veteran and political newcomer says he's less focused on Cawthorn’s headlines and more on health care, education and criminal justice reform.
Parts of the district he hopes to represent in Western North Carolina are still reeling from the impact of devastating floods caused by Tropical Storm Fred last year.
Carey told Courthouse News on Friday that he aims to continue helping the community recover from the storm.
He also hopes to “reduce crime by reducing poverty” in the district.
The hopeful faces five other Democratic candidates in the running for the congressional seat, most of whom joined a debate on Tuesday at McDowell Technical Community College.
“Now is our best opportunity to turn the 11th District blue,” he told Courthouse News.
Carey said that, if he ends up running against Cawthorn in the November general election, he plans to “call him out.”
“He has no business being an elected official. He’s dangerous,” he said.
The self-described progressive said that, especially due to his grassroots-style campaign and funding, he would be the best candidate to connect to unaffiliated voters.
Voters who are registered as unaffiliated have recently risen to the majority in North Carolina, overtaking both registered Republicans and Democrats in the state.
Greene warned that the unaffiliated label may be a bit misleading when it comes to analyzing the political atmosphere in North Carolina.
The rise in unaffiliated voters, he said, does not indicate that the swing state is any more volatile than it was before or that it now has a majority of voters who are open to either party.
“Those voters aren’t up for grabs,” he said.
Greene said the increase reflects voters’ frustration with the party they align with the most. But, they still “hate the other party more.”
“The vast majority of unaffiliated voters are just as partisan as anyone else,” he said.
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