Democrats are increasingly encouraged by the chances of a North Carolina challenger who has mostly stayed off the national radar.
Former state Chief Justice Cheri Beasley has been working to convince voters to send her to Washington, D.C., instead of Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) in what has been a quiet race so far, but Democrats are hoping the national party apparatus takes notice, reported The Daily Beast.
“Every cycle, there’s a big Senate race that is a sleeper," said Morgan Jackson, a veteran Democratic strategist in the state. "There’s no question that the North Carolina race is the sleeper of this cycle."
Budd, a three-term congressman, has run a low-key campaign that has spurred some Republican complaints that he's sleepwalking toward the general election, and that has allowed Beasley to define herself. GOP strategists say Budd needs to improve on his "robotic" performance so far.
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"[It's hard to blame Budd's team for] sitting there thinking they had a chance to win in double digits,” said a Republican strategist who has worked on Senate campaigns in the state. “It’s definitely narrowed. At the end of the day, I’d still bet money that North Carolina ends up going for Budd, but it’ll be by a tighter margin than we would have expected pre-Dobbs.”
Democratic fortunes have improved after the Supreme Court struck down abortion rights and galvanized women voters, and President Joe Biden has enjoyed a string of legislative and policy wins that have greatly improved their chances in November's election -- and North Carolina activists hope the national party invests more resources there.
“They need to do it soon… whatever they’re going to do, they have to do it now,” said Democratic strategist Douglas Wilson. “There’s something going on in North Carolina, that we are on the precipice of flipping, we just need an extra nudge."
