September 29, 2021/Media, Press

Losing Record and Feuds Cast Shadow Over McCrory’s #NCSEN Bid As Local Republican Leaders Take Sides

Following months of bitter infighting, Republican leaders across North Carolina are starting to pick sides in North Carolina’s messy GOP Senate primary. Reporting from the NC Insider revealed a host of current and former North Carolina state legislators are backing Congressman Ted Budd’s campaign. North Carolina Senate Leader Phil Berger, who has endorsed McCrory in the past, has not endorsed in the race but is hosting a fundraiser for Budd’s campaign. 

The endorsements come as Republicans have kept up a steady stream of attacks on McCrory’s losing record. Mark Walker went after him in a radio appearance for losing multiple campaigns, pointing out that his past failures are going to be “very disconcerting” for the “average voter.” Club for Growth, an ultra-conservative group backing Budd, spent tens of thousands of dollars to run an attack ad against McCrory highlighting his losing record.

Read more in NC Insider:

  • Republican Ted Budd announced endorsements from 25 current Republican state lawmakers and eight former lawmakers in his U.S. Senate bid. And that doesn’t include Senate leader Phil Berger who has not endorsed in the race but is hosting a fundraiser for Budd in October.
  • Berger was Senate leader when McCrory was governor, and the two butted heads on a number of issues. Walker defeated Berger’s son in a bitter U.S. House Republican primary runoff in 2014.

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