ICYMI: POLITICO: 'Show us something different': Burgeoning North Carolina Senate primary highlights Democratic divides

February 2, 2021
For Immediate Release 

Raleigh, NC - Politico’s James Arkin profiled the North Carolina Democrat Senate Primary highlighting how North Carolina Democrats are already in disarray.  

“North Carolina Democrats are not reacting well to Cal Jr. who looks like he’s straight from Chuck Schumer’s windowless basement central casting,” said NCGOP Communications Director Tim Wigginton. “It looks like establishment Democrats are determined to follow their well worn path of defeat that they traveled the last four US Senate elections in North Carolina.” 

Here are some key excerpts from the Politico profile: 

“Democrats weren’t entirely unsuccessful in 2020: Gov. Roy Cooper narrowly won a second term, and other statewide officials were reelected. But the revelation of an extramarital affair derailed Cal Cunningham’s Senate campaign, and Democrats ended up losing what was at the time the most expensive race in Senate history.”

“Cunningham’s defeat, along with the subsequent election of now-Sen. Raphael Warnock in a special election last month in Georgia has prompted some Democrats to question the party’s tactics, including its past heavy-handed approach to primaries. Cunningham, a white military veteran and former state lawmaker, was recruited by the national party, which spent millions to ensure his nomination in the March 2020 Democratic primary.”

“State Sen. Jeff Jackson, whose biography closely matches Cunningham's, entered the race last week with a splashy video promising a 100-county grassroots campaign and dismissing an agenda ‘imported from D.C. or donors,’ a not-so-subtle dig at the unsuccessful 2020 campaign.”

“North Carolina could end up being ground zero for a confluence of dynamics Democrats will face in Senate contests next year, including the likelihood of crowded and expensive primaries in competitive states.”

“Democrats in the state and in Washington emphasize that it’s early in the process, and the ultimate makeup of the field is unclear. Along with Jackson, former state Sen. Erica Smith, a Black woman who lost the primary to Cunningham last year, is running again.”

“Republicans are already trying to use the primary to their advantage by comparing it with 2020.”

“‘It almost feels like exactly the same race, and we're singing the same song again,’ said Michael Whatley, the state GOP chair, predicting ‘a lot of mud’ on the Democratic side.”

“Smith, who lost the Democratic primary last year, said in an interview employing the same strategy next year “expecting a different result is absolute insanity.” Smith struggled to raise money against Cunningham, who had national support, and could struggle similarly in a more crowded field, though she brushed off that concern.”