ONE US House seat. 17 GOP candidates. (Welcome to campaign 2016.)
Well, filing for the special June primary ended yesterday. And we here at Haymaker HQ are not envying the Republican voters of the new 13th congressional district. Apparently, every Tom, Dick,Harry & Kay in the GOP carnival tent has decided he (or she) wants to represent these folks, for at least two years, in the big city of Washington.
With THAT many candidates, and no runoff, the GOP nominee could very well end up being someone who pulls in a vote percentage in the high single-digits. *Some mandate.*
Let’s take a closer look at this 17-deep gaggle of GOP congressional wannabes. We’ve got Harry Warren, Julia Howard, and John Blust from the NC House, and Andrew Brock from the Senate. So, Jones Street is well-represented.
Two candidates who WERE running in other districts are now part of the scrum for the 13th. George Rouco, who was primarying Robert Pittenger in the 9th, is now a candidate for the new 13th seat. Kay Daly, who moved down to Moore County from DC to run against Renee Ellmers in the 2nd, has filed for the new 13th. (She is joined in the GOP field by her longtime political ally Vernon Robinson.)
Two county commissioners are also in on the GOP fight. Former gubernatorial candidate Dan Barrett currently serves on the Davie County board of commissioners. Hank Henning currently serves on the Guilford County board of commissi
oners.
The Democrat field for this seat is only four-deep. It includes Mazie Ferguson — fresh off her Labor Commissioner loss — and Bruce Davis, a former candidate in the 6th district.
Jones street not only redrew the lines but changed the rules so they have the ability to be on two ballots in the same election cycle. One of the candidates once formed an alliance with none other than Jim Black a few years ago. More than one of the candidates is over 70 yrs old! Two don’t live in the district! This election is a circus.
Don’t forget Iredell County Register of Deeds and former county party chairman Matt McCall. He will run strong in this district.
looks like Rep. Julia Howard and Sen. Brock will be strong too!
It is all going to be about local bases, and I have not crunched the numbers, yet.
La Raza and the amnesty crowd is well represented. There is Harry Warren, the biggest friend of illegal aliens in the NC House. Then there is Andrew Brock who endorsed Marco ”Gang of 8” Rubio in the presidential race, showing he will sell out in a heartbeat on amnesty. George Rouco, I am told, is also pro-amnesty.
Heck, is it too late for me file for this seat? I can pull down single digits…