Somehow when we weren’t looking, Washington DC was apparently gerrymandered into North Carolina’s 13th Congressional district. I know this because last month, a DC-based super PAC decided the outcome of a high-profile Republican primary in our own backyard.
The old 13th district was represented by veteran incumbent George Holding of Raleigh. But a federal court ordered the NC General Assembly to redraw the 1st and 12th districts, and those new lines affected the boundaries of the 13th. The new 13th excludes Holding’s home base of Raleigh, and now includes part or all of Guilford, Davidson, Davie, Iredell, and Rowan counties. Holding decided he would stand a better chance of returning to Washington if he ran in the new 2nd district against fellow Republican incumbent Renee Ellmers. Holding was right. He handily defeated Ellmers for the nomination.
Meanwhile, absent an incumbent in the new 13th, candidates came out of the woodwork to run in the GOP primary. A total of 17 Republicans were on the ballot, including a number of veteran public servants like Davie Commissioner Dan Barrett, 14-term state Senator Julia Howard of Mocksville, state Senator Andrew Brock also of Mocksville, eight-term state Senator John Blust of Greensboro, High Point Commissioner Hank Henning, Rep. Harry Warren of Salisbury, and Iredell County’s popular register of deeds Matt McCall.
The original primary had been slated for March 15, but the court order forced a move to June 7, with no provision for a run-off. That meant any of the 17 candidates could win the nomination with a simple majority. And since Republicans outnumber Democrats by about 53% to 46% in the new district, whoever prevailed in the GOP primary would be favored to win the general election as well.
Political pundits were predicting that Barrett, Blust, or Howard would take the prize, but a funny thing happened on the way to the primary. According to my sources, and to reports on TheDailyHaymaker.com, state Republican party chairman and former congressman Robin Hayes got together with long time party donor Richard Budd, and the pair convinced Budd’s son Ted, a conservative gun shop owner, to run in the GOP primary. Hayes also reportedly held a fundraiser for young Mr. Budd, and helped to arrange for a DC Super PAC, the Club for Growth Action, to pledge up to one million dollars to Ted’s congressional campaign. By some accounts, Ted spent $500,000 on the primary, but it might as well have been 500 Billion, because the other 16 candidates couldn’t come close to matching Budd’s booty, especially on such short notice. WXII reported that by mid-May, Ted had already spent over $150,000 just in local TV ads, and that was three times the amount either Barrett or Howard spent, and 100 times more than the rest of the field could muster.
In a media market like ours, megabucks on TV translates to name recognition, and name recognition translates to votes. People who had never heard of Budd, suddenly thought they had, because his name and image kept emanating from their TV screens at regular intervals. Not surprisingly Budd won the primary, leaving his GOP veteran opponents stunned and frustrated. Next up for Ted is a fall contest with Democratic nominee Bruce Davis for the chance to represent some 700,000 Piedmont residents in the halls of Congress.
Davis, like many of the Republican candidates who were vanquished by Budd’s PAC money, is a long-time public servant, having served as chairman of the Guilford County commissioners. He is a Marine Corps veteran with bronze and silver stars to his credit. And he runs a successful business in High Point. But Bruce does not have a DC PAC behind him, and unless he can convince tens of thousands of Democrats to move into the district by November, he’s starting out in a huge hole.
If ever there was a case for overturning Citizens United, it’s the 13th district Republican primary that allowed Ted Budd to lap the field, not based on his legislative bona fides or a cohesive platform to deal with major issues, but on his powerful connections, and the money they poured into his coffers.
In addition to having an outside super PAC controlling an election, It is troubling that Hayes was so involved with and supportive of Ted, and even reportedly held a fundraiser for the political novice. A party chairman should never take sides in a primary. It is also troubling that Ted, who by all accounts is a nice guy and a dedicated family man, isn’t allowed to make his own decisions. Immediately following the June 7 primary, I invited both Ted and Bruce to appear together on my Triad Today television program. Bruce immediately agreed. Ted said, “I’ll have to get my guy to call you.” The next day Ted’s “guy” called me and said that Ted wasn’t interested in being on Triad Today. Having been at this for over 40 years, I’ve learned that when a handler turns down free TV exposure for his candidate, that generally means he thinks the candidate already has the election won, and doesn’t want to risk having him say anything stupid on air that might derail the campaign. I hate to think that Ted will continue to hide rather than engage in discourse, but that remains to be seen.
For now, it’s not likely that Citizens United will be overturned any time soon, and certainly not before November 8. But it would send a powerful message to Congress if the sixteen also-rans and other notable Republicans took a stand against unlimited campaign donations. They could call a joint press conference and refuse to endorse Budd if he spends any more PAC money in his contest against Davis. It might look like sour grapes, but such a united front could open a crack in the political wall that stands in the way of reform. Until that happens, Ted Budd will go on thinking that the primary voters chose him because he had a lot of character, when in truth they chose him because he just had a lot of money.
Triad Congressional Seat for Sale
Somehow when we weren’t looking, Washington DC was apparently gerrymandered into North Carolina’s 13th Congressional district. I know this because last month, a DC-based super PAC decided the outcome of a high-profile Republican primary in our own backyard.
The old 13th district was represented by veteran incumbent George Holding of Raleigh. But a federal court ordered the NC General Assembly to redraw the 1st and 12th districts, and those new lines affected the boundaries of the 13th. The new 13th excludes Holding’s home base of Raleigh, and now includes part or all of Guilford, Davidson, Davie, Iredell, and Rowan counties. Holding decided he would stand a better chance of returning to Washington if he ran in the new 2nd district against fellow Republican incumbent Renee Ellmers. Holding was right. He handily defeated Ellmers for the nomination.
Meanwhile, absent an incumbent in the new 13th, candidates came out of the woodwork to run in the GOP primary. A total of 17 Republicans were on the ballot, including a number of veteran public servants like Davie Commissioner Dan Barrett, 14-term state Senator Julia Howard of Mocksville, state Senator Andrew Brock also of Mocksville, eight-term state Senator John Blust of Greensboro, High Point Commissioner Hank Henning, Rep. Harry Warren of Salisbury, and Iredell County’s popular register of deeds Matt McCall.
The original primary had been slated for March 15, but the court order forced a move to June 7, with no provision for a run-off. That meant any of the 17 candidates could win the nomination with a simple majority. And since Republicans outnumber Democrats by about 53% to 46% in the new district, whoever prevailed in the GOP primary would be favored to win the general election as well.
Political pundits were predicting that Barrett, Blust, or Howard would take the prize, but a funny thing happened on the way to the primary. According to my sources, and to reports on TheDailyHaymaker.com, state Republican party chairman and former congressman Robin Hayes got together with long time party donor Richard Budd, and the pair convinced Budd’s son Ted, a conservative gun shop owner, to run in the GOP primary. Hayes also reportedly held a fundraiser for young Mr. Budd, and helped to arrange for a DC Super PAC, the Club for Growth Action, to pledge up to one million dollars to Ted’s congressional campaign. By some accounts, Ted spent $500,000 on the primary, but it might as well have been 500 Billion, because the other 16 candidates couldn’t come close to matching Budd’s booty, especially on such short notice. WXII reported that by mid-May, Ted had already spent over $150,000 just in local TV ads, and that was three times the amount either Barrett or Howard spent, and 100 times more than the rest of the field could muster.
In a media market like ours, megabucks on TV translates to name recognition, and name recognition translates to votes. People who had never heard of Budd, suddenly thought they had, because his name and image kept emanating from their TV screens at regular intervals. Not surprisingly Budd won the primary, leaving his GOP veteran opponents stunned and frustrated. Next up for Ted is a fall contest with Democratic nominee Bruce Davis for the chance to represent some 700,000 Piedmont residents in the halls of Congress.
Davis, like many of the Republican candidates who were vanquished by Budd’s PAC money, is a long-time public servant, having served as chairman of the Guilford County commissioners. He is a Marine Corps veteran with bronze and silver stars to his credit. And he runs a successful business in High Point. But Bruce does not have a DC PAC behind him, and unless he can convince tens of thousands of Democrats to move into the district by November, he’s starting out in a huge hole.
If ever there was a case for overturning Citizens United, it’s the 13th district Republican primary that allowed Ted Budd to lap the field, not based on his legislative bona fides or a cohesive platform to deal with major issues, but on his powerful connections, and the money they poured into his coffers.
In addition to having an outside super PAC controlling an election, It is troubling that Hayes was so involved with and supportive of Ted, and even reportedly held a fundraiser for the political novice. A party chairman should never take sides in a primary. It is also troubling that Ted, who by all accounts is a nice guy and a dedicated family man, isn’t allowed to make his own decisions. Immediately following the June 7 primary, I invited both Ted and Bruce to appear together on my Triad Today television program. Bruce immediately agreed. Ted said, “I’ll have to get my guy to call you.” The next day Ted’s “guy” called me and said that Ted wasn’t interested in being on Triad Today. Having been at this for over 40 years, I’ve learned that when a handler turns down free TV exposure for his candidate, that generally means he thinks the candidate already has the election won, and doesn’t want to risk having him say anything stupid on air that might derail the campaign. I hate to think that Ted will continue to hide rather than engage in discourse, but that remains to be seen.
For now, it’s not likely that Citizens United will be overturned any time soon, and certainly not before November 8. But it would send a powerful message to Congress if the sixteen also-rans and other notable Republicans took a stand against unlimited campaign donations. They could call a joint press conference and refuse to endorse Budd if he spends any more PAC money in his contest against Davis. It might look like sour grapes, but such a united front could open a crack in the political wall that stands in the way of reform. Until that happens, Ted Budd will go on thinking that the primary voters chose him because he had a lot of character, when in truth they chose him because he just had a lot of money.