Over the last several weeks, editorial boards and columnists have highlighted how Congressman Budd’s campaign continues to be out of step with North Carolina as he shows his true colors as a dangerous and extreme candidate who will undermine elections and strip women of their fundamental freedoms.

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WRAL: “Even for the 2022 election Budd has yet to unequivocally state he’ll accept the finally tally…Candidates who can’t recognize the legitimacy of the 2020 election don’t deserve support when citizens’ votes are cast in 2022.”

Charlotte Observer: “For a brief time, it almost seemed like Rep. Ted Budd was trying to masquerade as some sort of moderate. Budd did finally offer some clarity this week — though probably not the kind some Republicans had hoped — by co-sponsoring a national ban on abortion after 15 weeks. Budd’s public support for the bill is a curious strategy, too, since most North Carolinians say they do not support further restrictions on abortion.”

Politics NC: “So Ted Budd refuses to commit to accepting the election results in November. Budd also voted against certifying the election after Joe Biden won. He is more committed to Donald Trump and his movement than he is to democracy or our Constitution.”

Charlotte Observer: “Donald Trump and his acolytes seem to believe that ascendance to public office is something they are owed, and the only acceptable outcome of an election is the one in which they win. That, coupled with their outright refusal to commit to the peaceful transfer of power, should be disqualifying to any voter who believes that democracy matters.”

The Guardian: “The commitment to be bound by the results of an election is the most important pledge in a democracy. It is also the most important qualification for public office. It is the equivalent of an oath to uphold the constitution. Candidates who refuse to commit to being bound by the results of elections should be presumed disqualified to hold public office.”

News & Observer: “Former Gov. Pat McCrory, who lost to Budd in the Republican Senate primary, said Budd is avoiding mistakes by avoiding the public. ‘He’s in hiding,’ McCrory told Spectrum News. The problem is that a campaign based on passively riding a favorable tide gets in trouble when the currents shift. And in the last several months the currents have shifted against Budd and most Republicans.”

Charlotte Observer: “North Carolinians shouldn’t be fooled by his silence. Budd is still courting election deniers in private for political gain…Budd is just one of many Republicans who are treating criminal attempts to overturn the election — as well as an attempted coup — as something far less dire than it actually was.”

Triad City Beat: “Rep. Ted Budd is off the rails. I mean, the guy is looking to upgrade from his Congressional post to one of North Carolina’s Senate seats. He’s already won the primary — in no small part because of Donald Trump’s full-throated endorsement. But it’s like he didn’t read the playbook on how to win a statewide election.”

Charlotte Observer: “With democracy itself on the ballot in November, Budd should be frank with voters and tell them where he stands. Does he regret peddling lies and attempting to reject the outcome of a completely legitimate election? Or does he still think that what happened on Jan. 6 was “nothing”? Silence isn’t a sign of leadership — it’s a sign of cowardice.”

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