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“Bo Hines represents everything wrong with politics. When he’s not too busy plotting out his next career move or prancing around like the next Madison Cawthorn, he’s pushing a toxic agenda that is dangerous for North Carolinians. Working families deserve better than a guy who won his election on the backs of his MAGA Republican rich friends and passes out cheap Made-In-China campaign swag while promising to put America First in the same breath. Voters have a strong choice in Democrat Wiley Nickel this November, who will fight tooth and nail for North Carolina families in DC the same way he’s fought for them in the state legislature.” – DCCC Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney
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To: Interested Parties
From: Monica Robinson, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: May 17, 2022
Subject: The Case Against Bo Hines in NC-13
A candidate “we can’t support,” “just trying to cherry pick a district he can win,” who “[doesn’t] know anything about agriculture and the roads here and the needs we have” — that’s what North Carolina Republicans have to say about their brand new nominee in NC-13, Bo Hines.
Bo Hines, a 26-year-old “supreme opportunist,” surfed to victory today on a tidal wave of outside spending and Donald Trump’s endorsement. There’s just one big problem: Even local Republicans don’t want him. Hines has been battered for months by local headlines about his inability to raise money from North Carolinians, the local Republican opposition to his candidacy, and how his “youth and lack of connection to the district will be a real challenge” in his bid for this battleground district.
Club For Growth, the conservative super PAC who bought — er, we mean backed — Bo Hines’ candidacy pledged to spend an astronomical $1.3 million to drag him across the finish line in his GOP primary. And it took every penny they spent: Hines barely cleared the 30% of the vote required to avoid a runoff.
Now, Hines is going to face his toughest election challenge of all: The impossible task of convincing North Carolina voters to overlook his extreme, MAGA-Republican record this November. He aligned himself with the most fringe wing of his party, proudly touting endorsements from Madison Cawthorn, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Matt Gaetz. Hines has staked out extreme positions far out of step with what most North Carolinians believe — such as opposing reproductive rights and access to safe, legal abortion with no exceptions, and promoting false conspiracy theories about the 2020 election being stolen and refusing to condemn the armed insurrection attempt on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th.
In DC, Hines will be nothing more than a rubber stamp for MAGA Republicans who voted against investing in our infrastructure and creating jobs, intentionally misled Americans about COVID-19, and refused to deliver relief for small businesses and families to make it through the pandemic.
North Carolinians can’t afford to vote for Bo Hines. Fortunately, they’ll have another choice this November in Wiley Nickel.
Wiley Nickel is a father, husband, criminal defense attorney, and state senator. After losing his father to lung cancer when he was a teenager, Wiley understands the difference it can make for families to be able to access affordable, quality health care. He worked for two White House administrations — including for President Barack Obama, where he saw and learned from President Obama’s vision of hope and change for America. Wiley dedicated his life to improving the quality of life for hard-working families across North Carolina, and now, Wiley’s ready to take this mission to Congress as the next representative for NC-13.
From voting rights to a quality public education to reproductive health care, Wiley has fought tooth and nail for the issues important to North Carolinians. As a state senator, Wiley worked across the aisle to get things done, including passing legislation to expand rural broadband and protect victims of domestic abuse. He pushed for more support and benefits for military retirees, police officers, and firefighters, and he helped defeat bills that would have restricted voting rights across the state. He also fought back against GOP attempts to end safe, legal abortion, an issue that is even more critically important now as the Supreme Court of the United States appears poised to overturn Roe v. Wade.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:
HEADLINE: Local conservatives revolt against Trump House favorite [POLITICO, 04/07/22]
“WE CANNOT SUPPORT Bo Hines, a candidate from Winston-Salem, for our congressman.” [Johnston County Republican Men’s Organization, 04/07/22]
HEADLINE: Bo Hines is the supreme opportunist [Richmond County Daily Journal, 04/12/22]
HEADLINE: Hines faces GOP pushback to congressional bid ahead of NC Trump rally [WRAL, 04/08/22]
“This lack of local financial support is unusual in a congressional race, and it may fuel a familiar line of attack against Hines: That the 26-year-old first-time office-seeker, who has former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, is not invested in the district.” [WRAL, 04/21/22]
HEADLINE: In 13th Congressional race, Trump favorite Hines struggles to raise money in district [WRAL, 04/21/22]
“Bo Hines, the 26-year-old Trump-endorsed candidate, also showed up, but left before the forum began, causing some confusion as he had confirmed his participation in the forum with organizers.” [Carolina Journal, 03/21/22]
HEADLINE: Ahead of his visit, these Republicans say Trump made the wrong call in Johnston Co. race [Raleigh News & Observer, 04/08/22]
“Hines could face a tough road in the 13th. Carolina Journal spoke to several well-respected Johnston County conservative leaders who told CJ that Hines’ youth and lack of connection to the district will be a real challenge for the Trump-supported candidate.” [Carolina Journal, 03/17/22]
“Congressional candidate Bo Hines clearly sees North Carolina voters as facilitators of his ambitions. Twenty-six years old and possessed of scant experience in life and none in politics, the young Hines thirsts for a political career. Who elects him to office and what their interests happen to be are immaterial. He is, in sum, the supreme opportunist.” [Richmond County Daily Journal, 04/12/22]
HEADLINE: NC congressional candidate championing ‘America-first economy’ hands out Chinese-made hats to voters [WRAL, 05/10/22]
BO HINES: A POLITICAL OPPORTUNIST WHO DOESN’T CARE ABOUT YOU
BO HINES IS A POLITICAL OPPORTUNIST AND MEGALOMANIAC
Bo Hines’s record of undisguised political ambition and shameless district-shopping isn’t earning him any favors with the local Republicans he’ll need to support him at the polls this November. As a young college student at Yale (which, to be clear, was only seven years ago), Hines outlined his modest ambitions to become governor of North Carolina and, one day, president of the United States of America. In fact, he only transferred to Yale in the first place because he felt it would “give [him] the best opportunity” to have a political career. After the new maps were drawn, Hines coordinated with Donald Trump and Madison Cawthorn to plot out which new congressional district would give him the best shot at winning.
Shockingly, this zealous bid for political power has failed to impress the voters of North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District. In the first quarter of 2022, Bo Hines “didn’t get a single campaign donation over $50 from people he’s running to represent.” Until very recently, Hines lived on the other side of the state, and local Republicans were quick to frame him as a political opportunist (and even launched radio and newspaper ads hitting him for it). Hines continues to rack up embarrassing press coverage, earning headlines like “Bo Hines is the supreme political opportunist.” Hines can’t even win the support of his base — let alone independent-minded voters in this battleground congressional district.
TOO EXTREME AND TOO TOXIC FOR NORTH CAROLINA
Even if Bo Hines had community ties to the district, his extreme agenda would be enough to send any North Carolinian running in the other direction.
In the wake of alarming reports that the Supreme Court of the United States is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, Bo Hines would spell disaster for North Carolina women. He advocates for a total ban on abortion with “no exceptions,” and vowed to be “the most conservative member of the North Carolina Congressional Delegation.” He believes “in traditional marriage” and that “our core family values […] are rooted in Biblical principles.” He pledged to impose an extreme ten-year moratorium on all immigration and advocated for the Affordable Care Act to be dismantled.
It’s not just what Bo Hines believes, but the company he keeps. Hines has swiftly aligned himself with the most radical, far-right personalities in the Republican Party, including Donald Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Madison Cawthorn. This kind of extremism might have gotten Bo Hines through his Republican primary — but it won’t play with general election voters in NC-13.
SHAMELESSLY SPREADING CONSPIRACY THEORIES
To Bo Hines, democracy, law, and order are merely suggestions to be thrown away if they get in between him and his political ambitions. Hines has spread false conspiracy theories about the 2020 election results in North Carolina, saying that he believes the presidential election was stolen. He also promoted a debunked movie by Dinesh D’Souza that alleges ballot fraud, claiming that it will “prove” that election integrity “must be the top priority of every politician in 2022.” Rather than condemn the violent, armed insurrection attempt on the United States Capitol, Hines attempted to cast blame on Democrats for “[hating] American patriots like President Donald J. Trump.”
PATH TO VICTORY
There is a clear path to victory for a Democrat in North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District. In this battleground district, candidate qualifications matter — and Bo Hines is too radical and extreme for this open seat in a swing district.
The new NC-13 includes part of Raleigh and its immediate suburbs in Southern Wake County, as well as Johnston, Harnett and Wayne Counties. This new configuration is a well-educated, heavily suburban district that is quickly trending Democratic. President Biden, Governor Cooper, and Cal Cunningham all won this district in 2020. Under the new lines, Gov. Cooper would have received 54.0%. Democrats comprise a 3-point larger share of registered voters than Republicans do in the new NC-13, and Independents are fleeing the extremist GOP here in central North Carolina.
Districts like NC-13 all across the country have rejected extremist GOP politicians, and Bo Hines is no exception. The anti-abortion, pro-Big Lie, politically motivated agenda of Bo Hines is a terrible fit for this new district, and Wiley Nickel will defeat him in November. |
