July 7, 2021/Media, Press

Divisions On Overturning 2020 Election Fuel Chaotic GOP Senate Primary

Whether or not you would’ve voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election is quickly becoming a litmus test dividing Republican Senate candidates. A new report from the Charlotte Observer revealed that “of the three leading Republican candidates in North Carolina’s U.S. Senate primary, just one confirmed he would have voted to certify the election of President Joe Biden.”

  • Congressman Ted Budd’s loyalty to Trump’s baseless election fraud claims and his vote against certifying the 2020 election results earned him the former president’s coveted endorsement, spiraling the GOP primary into chaos.

  • Former Governor Pat McCrory told his radio show listeners that Trump was “destroying democracy” and has said he would’ve voted to uphold the election results. Of course, this is the same Pat McCrory who then walked back his past criticism of Trump’s efforts to overturn the election after launching his Senate campaign and “said he’d welcome Trump’s endorsement” — just weeks before Trump endorsed Budd.

  • Former Congressman Mark Walker expressed support for a Texas lawsuit contesting the results. Last week, a Walker adviser said that he “would have voted for ‘election integrity,’ but declined to answer the question directly.”

As one political analyst said: “At some point, all the candidates are going to get asked again, ‘Do you align yourself with the president’s accusations of the election being stolen? They’re gonna have to come down one way or the other.”

“Donald Trump’s iron grip on the GOP and his baseless lies that the election was stolen are consuming the Republican field for Senate and dividing the candidates against each other,” said NCDP spokeswoman Kate Frauenfelder. “This loyalty test is not only fueling a chaotic primary, but proving to North Carolina voters that the Republican primary field is full of weak politicians who are happy to side with unhinged conspiracy theorists if it benefits their own short-term political interests.”

Read more:

Charlotte Observer: Would Pat McCrory have upheld Biden’s win? What the former NC governor says.

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