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Republican Bo Hines is expected to take “the country in a far-right direction” due to his extreme views, as reported by WRAL.
WRAL highlights Hines’ extreme positions that he’s taken over the course of the campaign – from wanting to ban abortion with no exceptions, to denying the results of the 2020 presidential election, to advocating for a 10-year moratorium on immigration. For Bo Hines, a 27-year-old who has never had a real job and is paying for his campaign with a trust fund, “not coming across as out of touch or elitist has proved a difficult tightrope to walk.”
One thing is clear: With no ties to the district, no work experience, and no way to appeal to moderate or independent voters, Bo Hines is the wrong fit for North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District. Read excerpts from the profile below:
WRAL: Bo’s time? NC Republican political newcomer draws fire in bid for toss-up congressional seat
By Bryan Anderson
October 21, 2022
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The race for the state’s 13th Congressional District has intensified in recent weeks as Hines faces criticism from outside groups and his Democratic opponent, state Sen. Wiley Nickel, over his views on abortion, immigration and refusal to accept results from the 2020 presidential election.
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In the leadup to the May Republican primary, Hines campaigned alongside far-right politicians, including U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn in western North Carolina last year.
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He prominently displayed on his campaign website the support he received from Cawthorn and U.S. Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Marjorie Taylor-Greene of Georgia, who are known for spreading conspiracy theories.
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Hines faced criticism from people within his own party for embracing Trump and moving to the district weeks before the primary—actions that drew accusations of political opportunism.
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Political onlookers see Hines potentially taking the country in a far-right direction.
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“There are plenty of voters going to the polls, wondering: ‘Is this person going to be a rubber stamp for Trump?” said Asher Hildebrand, a professor of public policy at Duke University and former Democratic operative. “ ‘Is this person going to try to subvert American democracy? Is this person going to trample on my rights in the name of advancing an extreme ideological agenda?’ And those are very valid and pertinent questions to be asking about Bo Hines.”
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Hines thinks abortion should be unlawful except in cases where a mother’s life is at risk.
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Hines denies the results of the 2020 presidential election, saying he doesn’t believe it’s possible that Biden got more than 81 million votes.
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Hines steadily became more active in conservative politics, telling a North Carolina newspaper that he’d want to run for president or governor someday and a Connecticut newspaper that he’d pursue a Charlotte-area congressional seat as his foray into politics.
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In the meantime, Hines is trying to draw parallels between his life experiences and economic issues voters are confronting. But doing so while not coming across as out of touch or elitist has proved a difficult tightrope to walk.
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During an appearance on WRAL’s “On the Record” program last month, the Republican said the rising year-over-year costs of goods and services equates to a month of lost wages.
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But Hines doesn’t have a job outside the campaign trail. He is instead being financially supported through a trust fund set up by his parents.
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In a personal financial disclosure in May, Hines listed no other assets beyond his share of the “Hines Children’s Trust.” He withdrew between $100,001 and $1 million this year, according to the filing.
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If elected, Hines would join the House Freedom Caucus, a coalition that includes many of the chamber’s most ideologically extreme conservatives.
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Hines lacks extensive ties to the community he’s seeking to represent. Even his dog Winston is named after the city of Winston-Salem, where Hines lived with his wife and spent much of the 2022 election cycle campaigning before revised congressional maps prompted them to move to Fuquay-Varina weeks before the May primary election.
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Hines has also faced scrutiny for filming a TV ad at his grandfather’s out-of-state farm.
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Hines also received criticism for appearing to confuse the political term “banana republic” with a popular clothing chain, Banana Republic. He says he was making a joke by conflating the two.
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In expressing his policy views and life experiences, Hines has not always been clear. He has suggested a desire for blanket prohibitions on abortion and immigration access, but has since clarified exceptions he’d have on both issues.
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Despite these priorities, many GOP voters felt frustrated with their party becoming entrenched in unrelated culture war issues. For them, Trump’s support for Hines at rallies this year in Selma and Wilmington carry little importance.
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