MEMORANDUM
To: Interested Parties
From: Michael Beckendorf, DCCC Regional Political Director
Date: Monday, December 23, 2019
Subject: Following Filing Deadline, Republicans Forced To Play Defense In North Carolina
With the end of North Carolina’s filing period, Democrats are well-positioned to add AT LEAST two new seats, further derailing Republicans’ already steep path to a majority in 2020 and forcing them to play defense in additional districts across the state, in ways they may not be able to afford.
With this recently redrawn congressional map, even Republicans know there’s no chance of HOLDING seats as their members WALK(ER) away to greener MEADOWS, err pastures…
(We stand by these puns)
Democrats Are Poised to Add New Democratic Seats To Our Majority
North Carolina’s 2nd and 6th Congressional seats are both on track to flip in 2020.
The Democratic nominee for each district will be decided on March 3rd, with both races featuring strong Democrats focused on making health care more affordable, lowering prescription drug costs, and listening to their constituents, not billionaires and Washington special interests.
In NC-02, Democrats Monika Johnson-Hostler, Deborah Ross, and Andy Terrell are all running to represent the district.
In NC-06, Democrats Bruce Davis, Rhonda Foxx, Ed Hanes, Kathy Manning, and Derwin Montgomery are all running to represent the district.
Republicans have all but given up on these races with both Congressmen Holding and Walker choosing to retire rather than run in an election they knew they were going to lose because they know voters have no interest in their unpopular agenda.
Perhaps North Carolina Republican Party chairman for the 6th Congressional District Lee Haywood said it best when he announced his longshot candidacy for this district: “I am not expecting much support from the establishment GOP.”
These new seats make Republicans’ path to a majority all the more difficult as the number of seats they’ll need to flip just went up.
When these districts do flip next November, the newly elected Democrats will join our current North Carolina Democratic Congressional Delegation composed of Congressman Butterfield (NC-01), Congressman Price (NC-04), and Congresswoman Adams (NC-11) representing the state.
In 2020, Republicans Will Be Forced To Play Defense In North Carolina
In 2020, Republicans are in danger of losing at least two seats as Democrats put in the early work to invest in campaign infrastructure, conduct voter outreach, and compete in districts across the state.
NC-08: Patricia “Pat” Timmons-Goodson, born and raised in North Carolina, is the retired North Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice and former United States Commission on Civil Rights Vice Chair. She has a decades-long relationship with her community and the reputation she has built as a fighter for everyday North Carolinians put her in a strong position to unseat Congressman Hudson, an incumbent who has yet to run in a competitive general election and will have to explain to voters why he chose to strip away health care from his constituents, give tax cuts to billionaires, and vote against lowering prescription drug costs.
NC-11: Former Chair of the House Freedom Caucus Mark Meadows announced he would not run for re-election in NC-11, a district that became more competitive under these new congressional maps with the entire city of Asheville represented in the district.
His announcement came less than 48 hours before the North Carolina filing deadline, making him the third North Carolina Republican to retire in just the past 2 weeks and the 25th Republican to retire this year.
Not only does that create an additional open seat for Washington Republicans to defend, it’s yet another reminder that Republicans don’t usually retire if they believe they’ll win back the majority.
NC-09: When Congressman Dan Bishop took office, he immediately joined the ranks of the most reckless Republicans with his vote against lowering prescription drug costs for his constituents. Republicans will once more be forced to spend time and money they don’t have to defend these seats under these newly-drawn maps, while they pay lip service to challenging for the Majority.
Republicans Are In Trouble In 2020 With North Carolina In Play For Democrats
After two previous maps were struck down because of their obvious partisan gerrymanders, this new congressional map means Republicans will need to pick up more than 20 seats to win a majority in 2020. And as voters continue to oppose the Republicans’ agenda and House Republicans’ campaign arm remains unable to keep pace with the DCCC’s fundraising, Democrats are well-positioned to protect our House majority this coming cycle.
Meanwhile North Carolina voters are ready to use these new maps to elect more representatives who care about the real issues affecting them and their families across the nation.