Holding wins North Carolina incumbent clash

Over the weekend, U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers’ campaign sent out an email featuring a recording from Trump saying he needs the North Carolina Republican’s help in Washington.

Holding beat Ellmers and doctor Greg Brannon on Tuesday by a wide margin in a redrawn North Carolina district that includes much of the territory that elected Holding before.

Ellmers lost favor with her base after being elected in the 2010 Republican takeover of the U.S. House when she curried favor with the former Speaker John Boehner’s leadership team.

“You’re eating a little too much pork barbecue”. Upset with her votes on spending and budgets, and on an abortion bill, opponents who once backed her have now spent over $1.1 million trying to defeat her in the state’s special primary.

The group celebrated the “pro-life victory” after Tuesday’s results. “Most incumbents have a pretty good arsenal behind them”.

“If you go to the very beginning when this race started, my record as a member of Congress was attacked, my votes were attacked and I had to respond to them. You can not vote on emotion”, he said.

Club for Growth Action spent almost $790,000 opposing Ellmers this election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Both those groups promote limited government spending.

Groups such as the American Conservative Union and the Susan B. Anthony List, a group opposed to abortion rights, gravitated to Holding. Ellmers, on the other hand, had an ACU score of 71 percent.

“Congressman Holding has been a faithful advocate for the sanctity of life, as evidenced by his excellent voting record, as well as his work and relationships with other champions of life”, said the List in a statement.

Ellmers was elected as a Tea Party conservative, but once in Washington she betrayed her base and became a foot soldier of the Establishment.

Holding raised almost $1.7 million, taking in about $266,000 in those six weeks in April and early May, and more after that.

While there’s been no reliable public polling of the race, Greene said Ellmers should be seen as the underdog, and he said he believes the ground games from these groups against Ellmers, especially, will make a big difference. State lawmakers then redrew the boundaries, and Holding was left out of his district. With expected low voter turnout and no runoff.

A general lack of awareness may have magnified the influence of groups that had staff members knocking on doors and calling voters.

The polls in North Carolina have closed. “Whoo!” Ellmers said as she walked past.

In November 2015, the court heard oral arguments in a challenge to the Three Judge Court Act, which requires the convening of a three-judge district court to decide certain important lawsuits such as those concerning voter redistricting. McLennan said this will be less about issues and more about persona.