“Dan McCready earned more primary votes than every Republican combined in a Republican leaning district, which can only be described with one word: enthusiasm,” said DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján. “As a US Marine Corps veteran and a clean energy entrepreneur and job-creator, Dan is clearly energizing voters by providing North Carolinians with a strong vision for their deserved representation in Washington. Particularly in a match up with Mark Harris, Dan is on track to energize voters and be highly competitive from now through November.”
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To: Interested Parties
From: Cole Leiter, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: May 8, 2018
RE: The Case Against Mark Harris
The difference between Dan McCready and Mark Harris is clear: while Mark Harris has spent years driving his party into the ideological extremes that currently dominate Washington, Dan McCready joined the Marine Corps after 9/11 and led a platoon during the 2007 surge in Iraq. Dan’s service to his community didn’t end with his time in uniform: after returning home to North Carolina, Dan and another Marine founded a solar energy investment firm that has put hundreds of North Carolinians to work with good paying jobs, while simultaneously helping North Carolina become the second highest solar producing state in the nation.
The choice for voters in North Carolina’s 9th is between a veteran and job creator – respected by leaders across the ideological spectrum – or a political extremist, perfectly tailored to fit into today’s Washington that voters hate.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Editorial Board: “This is not a close call. McCready, a Marine veteran and solar energy entrepreneur, holds centrist views that are much more in step with the district… McCready’s experience in business and his leadership in the military are impressive, and he is one of the best-funded challengers in the country. He has won the support of many of the district’s leading Democrats, including some of Charlotte’s most successful business people… We strongly recommend McCready.” [Charlotte Observer, Editorial, 4/20/2018]
Editorial Board: “Democrats’ enthusiasm about potentially winning North Carolina’s 9th congressional district for the first time in 58 years got two shots of adrenaline Tuesday, from Republican Robert Pittenger’s surprising loss and Democrat Dan McCready’s overwhelming win.” [Charlotte Observer, Editorial,
“Eastover, one of Charlotte’s wealthiest neighborhoods, isn’t known as a bastion of liberalism. But its streets were filled with hundreds of cars last month as some of Charlotte’s biggest names streamed into Sarah and Tim Belk’s home to support a little-known, until now, 34-year-old Democrat named Dan McCready.” [Charlotte Observer, 4/7/2018]
Headline: “In this Republican-leaning NC district, a Democrat is the top fundraiser” [Charlotte Observer, 4/16/2018]
Kyle Kondik, Tweet: “Crystal Ball House Ratings Change: Now-open NC-9 moves from Leans R to Toss-up.” [Kyle Kondik Twitter, 5/8/18]
Mark Harris: Dangerously Extreme for North Carolina
Too Extreme for North Carolina Families
Working families, no matter where they come from, need to be able to afford health care. But instead of standing up to Republicans in Washington who voted in lockstep to make health care less affordable and accessible, Mark Harris rubber stamped his party’s platform and called for a complete unraveling of our health care system. That may be good politics in a Republican primary, but it is a serious threat to the more than 105,800 people living in the 9th district alone who would have seen their health care jeopardized under the health care repeal plan his party wrote and passed in Washington.
And if making working families’ health care more expensive wasn’t enough, Mark Harris is proud to oppose raising the minimum wage to help those families make ends meet. Needless to say, working families’ checkbooks are not Mark Harris’s priority.
Too Extreme for North Carolina Business
While Dan McCready has spent his career cutting through petty partisanship and bringing people together to create good paying jobs, Mark Harris has demonstrated time and again that he is out of touch with the best economic interests of North Carolina families. Dan knows what it takes to build a business, and how to balance a budget: Harris, meanwhile, supported a law that could have cost North Carolina almost $4 billion. While Dan believes in working across the aisle to find common sense solutions: Harris would rather make reckless political points than fund the government.
A Perfect Fit for Washington
It may sound counter-intuitive, but while Mark Harris’s beliefs are deeply out of touch with North Carolina, they’re right in touch with Republicans in Washington D.C. From healthcare repeal that increases families’ premiums, to a tax bill that raises middle class families’ taxes in order to give special interests a Washington-sized handout, Mark Harris supports Washington’s priorities that harm middle class families.
THE PATH TO VICTORY
Not every Democrat can compete in a district like NC-09, but a US Marine Corps veteran who founded a successful solar energy investment business and created hundreds of jobs in North Carolina, can. Dan McCready has also outraised Mark Harris every quarter since he entered the race and exits the primary with a 17-to-1 cash-on-hand advantage over Harris. It’s clear why the Cook Political Report moved NC-09, a district President Trump won by more than 11-points, to lean Republican and Inside Elections moved the race to Tilt Republican on primary night.
Despite having no statewide race at the top of the ticket, Democratic turnout in this primary more than doubled Republican turnout, with Dan McCready earning thousands more votes than all three Republicans combined. Without any notable statewide primaries to drive turnout in the state, this unprecedented enthusiasm gap demonstrates that Democrats are in a strong position ahead of November.
Democrats will benefit from the strong suburban makeup of the district—61.8% of the district by population density. The district is wealthier than the state as well, with a median income 11.1% higher than state’s median income.