#ncga: Keep an eye on the Senate 25 GOP race
Moore County is headed toward its THIRD different state senator over a six year period. Initially, Moore was contained in its own district and was represented by one of its own — the late Harris Blake (R). Redistricting put Moore in with Randolph County and saddled it with representation from Randolph’s Jerry Tillman (R).
Well, we’ve been redistricted AGAIN. This time we’re being inserted into a district with Richmond, Scotland and Anson Counties. The new district, 25, is currently represented by Richmond County’s Tom McInnis (R). The powers-that-be saw this redistricting move as protection for McInnis, whose current 
district is competitive.
Well, Moore County politicos — upset over being basically ignored by their Randolph-based senator for six years — have decided they want to be part of the discussion on Senate representation going forward.
Michelle Lexo, the mayor of Moore County’s Whispering Pines, has thrown her hat into the ring for the district’s GOP nomination. What WAS a protection move to benefit McInnis has now turned into an interesting family feud. (The winner of the primary gets to take on a Moore County Democrat who is unopposed in her primary.)
Let’s look at the tale of the numbers for the May primary. (Remember, Republicans and unaffiliated can vote in the GOP primaries.):
McInnis already represents Anson, Richmond, and Scotland. He’s known there. But, when you look at the number of registered voters eligible to participate in the primary, a GOP candidate COULD win the nomination without a single vote outside of Moore County.
So, it becomes clear of what McInnis’s mission is between now and May. He’s won early support in Moore from many in the “Anything-DC-or-Raleigh-wants” wing of the county’s party establishment.
But I am hearing some surprising things from some members of that wing of the party. One Republican elected official in Moore County recounted his experience at a recently-held private legislative briefing for Moore officials and business leaders. (State Rep. Jamie Boles (R) and McInnis were both present.)
Said the source: “Boles was very informative. He answered everybody’s questions and had a lot of interesting detail. McInnis was, to say the least, unimpressive. He is not the man we need.”
I asked my source about McInnis’s challenger Michelle Lexo. Said my source:
“I like her. She’s sharp. She reminds me a lot of Nikki Haley. For the record, that is a good thing.”
Sources told us about a less-than-impressive response to a recent Moore fundraiser for McInnis.
I also heard from a leader of Moore Republican Women about a recent McInnis visit to speak to her organization:
“People wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. By the time his speech was done, he had fewer friends in the room than he did when he arrived.”
There was also some negative reaction to McInnis’s speech at the Moore County Republican convention. McInnis told the Moore activists gathered at the Moore convention that they need to vote for someone who can win in Scotland and Richmond. (Some advice: It doesn’t usually go over well to tell one jurisdiction’s voters that other people’s votes are more important than theirs.)
Lexo, on the other hand, is drawing positive reviews — some would say enthusiasm — from Tea Party activists AND GOPe types in Moore. She taps into voter frustration about Raleigh’s treatment of Moore County public education. The GOP majority in the legislature has been funneling lottery and sales tax proceeds meant for Moore County schools (located, by the way, in a very Republican county) to other jurisdictions.
There are two outside factors that could impact this Senate race. The heated primary for the 9th congressional district GOP nomination between Mark Harris and Robert Pittenger runs through Anson, Richmond and Scotland counties. That battle will surely enhance GOP primary turnout.
In Moore County, there is some significant discontent with state Rep. Jamie Boles — who has a primary challenge from Aberdeen town commissioner Ken Byrd — over the aforementioned school funding problem. Boles, a member of the majority on Jones Street, touts his influence with the chamber’s leadership. Yet, so much money meant for Moore is not making it back to the county. Quite a few observers see Boles’s incumbency as endangered.
Interesting race indeed. Reminds me of a couple other interesting House seat primaries worth watching up north on the Virginia line, one of them being Glen Bradley’s race in NC House 7, and the other one being just next door to Glen’s district.
You all have it out for Senator McInnis, don’t you? I’ve read and/or heard your “group” take things so out of context. You say he’s too loud…he’s too bold…he’s too direct…you don’t like his personality…he laughs too much…he’s brash and yet you praise President Trump for those same personality traits. A little hypocritical don’t you think? Could it be that the senator is just not part of the Moore County elite clique?
You ignore his ratings from the most conservative sources like the American Conservative Union, The Family Values Coalition and others. You ignore the important legislation that he has crafted and sponsored, and of course you would never acknowledge the hours upon hours that he spends helping countless constituents. But those things don’t matter do they?
By the way, anyone that has any interest in politics, as I do, is well aware of the stats you presented here, but you left out one VERY important number. There are approximately 58,000 Democrats in the four counties of the new district and they are working as hard as I’ve ever seen. Just let that sink in for a few minutes.
The numbers may seem to be in Ms. Lexo’s favor when you are looking at the primary, but she has zero connection with Scotland, Anson, and Richmond Counties and that WILL definitely hurt her in the fall. She won’t win in November and we will lose the seat to a liberal left-wing democrat. That’s nothing against her, it’s just the facts.
He sold us down the river to the far left in his vote to repeal HB2 and that very liberal vote alone is enough to dump him in the primary.
That vote was the acid test in this legislature, and he failed it.
Good riddance!
Let’s talk common sense for a minute! I stayed on top of that vote too, and I know (because guess what, I’m very connected to the court system) that HB2 was headed toward the Court of Appeals and if you followed the left leaning court system at all, you should be able to figure out it wasn’t going to end good for HB2. Look at what happened just before in Virginia with the Grimm case. The precedence was set. We would have wasted so much taxpayer money and still lost that case, but more sickening, Charlotte’s ordinance would have once again been on the books and other liberal parts of NC would have followed suit! The GA’s hands would have been tied.
At least the law has gone back to what it was before Charlotte’s disgusting ordinance – it is illegal for a male to go into an area that is designated as female – AND the General Assembly now has some time to think about its next step in the event that this ugly mess arises again.
I think it’s really interesting to note that you are still in support of some legislators who voted the same way as Senator McInnis. Some that claim to be as far right as right can get voted the same way because they had the common sense to understand that their hands would be completely tied if the Courts decided this case.
I have no doubt that this decision was a difficult one for all the conservative legislators. I have no doubt that lots of prayers went up on this issue and I also have no doubt that they did the right thing for the time being.
Now, if you could look past your personal vendetta against Senator McInnis, you just might get it. Unfortunately, you are blinded by your hardness and inability to move on.
You are just regurgitating the pathetic excuse of the coward caucus within the GOP for their despicable sellout on HB2. That excuse ignores that the final word in the courts is at the SCOTUS, not the clowns of the “4th Circus” The liberals and cowards within the GOP caucus in our legislature managed to kill a national movement for common decency that had bills introduced in over 20 states. NC was the test case, and our side had a failure of nerve thanks to McInnis and those of his ilk.
Even worse, the bill they passed gave the far lefft something important they did not have before. It allows local governments beginning in 2020 to have the new power to adopt local ordinances that restrict religious liberty such as forcing Christian florists, bakers, and photographers to serve blasphemous “homosexual weddings”.
McInnis and the others who voted for this horrible piece of legislation need to be thrown out of office in the primaries. And you are totally wrong that I support any of the cowards who sold us out on HB2..
Instead of judging what you obviously do not understand, maybe you should try this:
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” –2 Chronicles 7:14
You, “Truth” are the one who is clueless. Cooper has already snookered our legislative leadership with an executive order on bathrooms, and the toothless tigers in our leadership could only flap their gums and whine in response. Cooper wrote that bill that they passed with several options to have the last laugh, and this probably is not over yet.
The worst part of the bill was authorizing those local ordinances beginning in 2020 that could restrict religious freedom. Why in the world would the idiot wing of the GOP caucus vote for such a pile of horse manure? Your boy McInnis is one of those wearing thte dunce caps.
I think this is worth repeating for you, GU. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” –2 Chronicles 7:14
You might be surprised just how much more you might accomplish if you would try this instead of constantly criticizing the GA.
I call ’em as I see ’em. When they do good, they earn praise. When they screw up badly, they need to be chastised so hopefully they will not do it again. Repealing HB2 by knuckling under to ROy Cooper’s demands was a major screwup, and a little over half the GOP caucus has earned major raspberries for what they did. The almost half who did the right thing and stood by GOP principles earned our praise and our strong support. This issue is not about the GA as a whole. There is a clear divide, almost in half, between the good guys and the bad guys in the GOP caucus. The primaries give us an opportunity to replace the bad guys, like McInnis, with good guys.
Why should I vote for a REPUBLICAN candidate in May, whose greatest political strength is that DEMOCRATS will support him in November?
If I wanted someone Democrats will support, I’d vote DEMOCRAT!
Please reelect Senator McInnis who is a good supporter of President Obama’s green energy legacy. He understands that we need to build lots of expensive solar and wind electric capacity so that we can drastically drive up electric rates so consumers will be forced to use a lot less. Why should rednecks be able to afford airconditioning when we have the polar bears to save? It is progressive Republicans like Senator McInnis in North Carolina who are key to President Obama’s green energy legacy.
I will tell you why I support Michelle Lexo for NC Senate. It is because her excellent work locally as Mayor of Whispering Pines and with other groups proves she would represent this district very well. I just received a second glossy mailer touting the incumbent, and the mailer was “Paid for by the North Carolina Republican Senatorial Committee and Authorized by McInnis for State Senate.” Raleigh’s support in the primary rankles, and I will cease contributing to the NCGOP. I would rather support individual candidates, and so I will.
There you have it. Extremely inappropriate involvement in primaries. This is the fruit of those corrupty “indepepend party committees” of liberal Republican John Lewis.
No Republican should give a dime to either House or Senate caucus, and we should not give to our local legislator unless we have a promise that none of his money goes to these corrupt caucus groups.
I wonder if they were allowed by Woodhouse to use the party’s cheap mail permit for this primary mailing. If so, Woodhouse needs to b e immediately fired. Look at the return address on the card.j If it is party headquarters address, then they are using the party postal pemit, which makes the NCGOP involved in a primary.