“Kathy Manning easily secured the nomination because voters were excited to turn out for a candidate who shares their values,” said DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján. “Kathy will bring people together to solve problems and make sure that more working families can afford health care, put their kids through school, and make ends meet, which is a direct contrast with Congressman Budd’s record of standing up for Wall Street and leaving Main Street and working families behind. The momentum Kathy and her campaign displayed in this primary shows that she is in a strong position to win in November.”
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To: Interested Parties
From: Cole Leiter, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: May 8, 2018
RE: The Case Against Rep. Ted Budd
Congressman Budd didn’t waste a minute before he abandoned the “values” he ran on and went fully Washington. In just his first term, Congressman Budd has already left small businesses and working families behind to stand on the side of big Wall Street banks looking to squeeze another dollar out of the small businesses that once lined the main streets of Greensboro, High Point, Lexington, and Salisbury. As if pushing his “Ted Tax” on credit card transactions wasn’t enough to prove his eagerness to serve Wall Street special interests, Congressman Budd has been nothing more than a rubberstamp for Washington rather than an independent voice for the best interests of working North Carolinians.
In sharp contrast to Congressman Budd’s reckless partisanship, Kathy Manning has brought people together, regardless of their political party, to revitalize Greensboro, bring better paying jobs, and spur economic growth in her community. In addition to her work spurring economic development during good times, Kathy stood with North Carolinians when times were tough and worked with non-profit organizations that helped provide mortgage assistance, job retraining, and stocked food banks to communities that had been hit by the economic crisis in 2008.
The choice for voters fed up with Washington’s partisan gridlock is simple; more of the same tired partisanship, or a proven problem solver with a track record of getting things done for North Carolina families.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Headline: “Taking Wall Street’s Side, Young Congressman Infuriates Allies” [Bloomberg, 7/5/2017]
“Congressional candidate Kathy Manning’s inspiration for making her first bid for elected office personifies the phrase that the personal is political.” [High Point Enterprise, 4/10/2018]
“Budd supported Obamacare repeal and the GOP tax cuts. He split from most Republicans by opposing disaster-relief funding and, recently, joining just seven other House members in voting against renewing a federal grant program meant to rehabilitate brownfield industrial sites.” [Greensboro News & Record, Editorial, 12/10/2017]
Headline: “Congressional Hopeful Raises $530,000 In First Month” [Salisbury Post, 1/11/2018]
“Kyle Kondik, director of communications at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said that Democratic fundraising across many House districts has been successful, and that it can sometimes be a negative sign if an incumbent gets out-raised by a challenger. ‘We have a pretty stark example of that in North Carolina 13,’ Kondik said. ‘That’s a really big gap. So money’s not everything, but Manning is raising money at a level that will attract national interest from Democratic outside groups and should allow her to run a credible campaign against Budd. … That’s probably one of the worst challenger-to-incumbent fundraising ratios in the whole country. ‘” [Davidson Dispatch, 2/24/2018]
Ted Budd: Wall Street’s Man in Washington
The Ted Tax
It’s rare for a Congressman to so clearly side with banks on Wall Street and against small businesses on Main Street, but Congressman Budd pulled it off. By leading his party’s controversial push to allow big banks to charge retailers more for every single credit card transaction, Budd was immediately dubbed a “pawn” of Wall Street by retailers. But luckily for Congressman Budd, his friends on Wall Street didn’t forget his willingness to carry water for him in Washington and the American Banking Association has already started airing ads to prop up his flailing re-election campaign.
[Not] A Hero For the Little Man
Ted Budd has shown he’s willing to stand up for Wall Street and special interests, unfortunately he has failed to do the same for the North Carolina families he was elected to represent. While Washington Republicans play games with folks’ healthcare, Budd has raked in corporate and insurance company contributions, and voted to jack North Carolina families’ premiums up, impose an age tax on older North Carolinians, and jeopardize over 100,000 of his constituents’ healthcare. Importantly, that’s not the first vote he’s taken in Washington to jeopardize North Carolinians’ ability to afford care. And, while Budd voted to reward his special interest donors (and himself) with a huge tax handout, North Carolina families will be left footing the bill and paying higher premiums.
Good Thing Seniors Are There to Pay for Corporate Handouts
Not satisfied with the credit card swipe give-away he handed to Wall Street special interests, Congressman Budd and his party in Washington passed a tax handout to big corporations that will increase the deficit by up to $1.9 trillion and raise taxes on middle class families. And while corporations were buying back stock at record amounts, and even Republicans were admitting “there’s no evidence whatsoever that money’s been massively poured back into the American worker,” Congressman Budd voted with Speaker Ryan to put Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block as a way to pay for their corporate handouts. This is consistent with the fact that Budd already voted for a budget that cut Medicare and Medicaid.
THE PATH TO VICTORY
Increased enthusiasm in the NC-13 Democratic primary this year marked a change from historically depressed midterm turnout. Despite no notable top-of-ticket or statewide races in North Carolina this cycle, Democratic Congressional candidates are exciting voters, a positive sign for Democrats in November.
And Democratic enthusiasm is translating into support for Democratic candidates. Recent public polling by Patriot Majority USA showed that Congressman Budd’s job approval is in the red, with 51% of voters voicing disapproval for Budd’s performance in his two short years in Congress. In their first public head-to-head, Kathy only trails Budd by 3 points. That’s bad news for Congressman Budd, who is being consistently outraised by Kathy Manning. Her hard work fundraising will ensure she has the resources she needs to expose him for the Wall Street fraud he is and ensure voters know the work she has done in, and for, these communities for well over a decade. All of these factors explain why the Cook Political Report has moved this race to Lean Republican.
Votes in North Carolina’s Thirteenth district are heavily concentrated in Greensboro, Kathy Manning’s home, which contains almost half of total currently registered voters. The district is almost one-fourth African American (23.9%) by currently registered voters. Budd’s dismal polling and Manning’s formidable fundraising puts NC-13 on the map.