NC-03: Gettin’ kinda crowded in here

 

We’ve got two more days left to file for this race.   Apparently, there are a helluva lot of people with dreams of working in Washington, DC.

As of RIGHT NOW, we have FOUR DEMOCRATS, ELEVEN REPUBLICANS, ONE LIBERTARIAN, AND ONE CONSTITUTION PARTY candidate.  And I am aware of at least another handful of folks who are seriously eyeing the race, but haven’t yet filed.  

The Democrat field thus far includes: former Marine and NC House candidate Ike Johnson of Onslow, New Bern mayor Dana Outlaw,  former US Senate candidate (2016 primary) Ernest Reeves, and retired Marine Col.  Richard Bew.   Bew has the eye of a lot of DC Democrats who see a chance at stealing a seat from the GOP with a  centrist-leaning Democrat.  

The GOP field THUS FAR:  State Rep.  Greg Murphy (Pitt), state Rep. Mike Speciale (Craven), state Rep.  Phil Shepard (Onslow), Currituck County commissioner Paul Beaumont,  former NCGOP vice-chairman Michele Nix, former Marine and perennial candidate Phil Law of Jacksonville,  and political website publisher Jeff Moore of Raleigh.

Some lesser-known newcomers include Celeste Cairns of Emerald Isle, and Graham Boyd of Wake Forest.  (Boyd ran for Congress in 2002 in the 13th, when it was centered around Raleigh.)   Chimer Clark is a Carteret County-based owner of a generator installation business.   Gary Ceres of Greenville is a library technician at East Carolina University. 

The Libertarian banner is being carried by US Department of Defense employee Shannon Wilson Bray of Apex.

The Constitution Party banner is being carried by Greg Holt of New Bern.  (He last sought a Craven County board of commissioners seat in 2018.)

I don’t want to hear ANY of you Third District people whining about not having any choices on the ballot.  Not a one of you.