Youtube/Dan Bishop Dan Bishop (right) is running against Dan McCready (left) to represent North Carolina's 9th Congressional District.
North Carolina State Senator Dan Bishop won the Republican Primary for the state’s 9th Congressional District on Tuesday.
Bishop’s victory comes after the chaotic 2018 general election where several people were arrested due to ballot fraud. Mark Harris, the original winner of the district’s race – by about 900 votes, decided to not seek out re-election after the Republican’s campaign was found to hire a political consultant who potentially tampered with absentee ballots.
With the win and vocal support from President Trump, Bishop hopes to use the momentum to take on Democrat Dan McCready, who has been on the ballot since the initial election, later this year in a special general election.
Congratulations to Dan Bishop on his big Republican Primary victory in the 9th Congressional District of North Carolina. Dan is strong on Crime, Loves our Military, Vets, 2A, and great Healthcare. He has my Complete and Total Endorsement! #MAGA
McCready and Bishop held dueling press conferences earlier this week.
Here’s what you need to know:
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1. Bishop is the Author of North Carolina’s Controversial ‘Bathroom Bill’
- In 2016, Bishop sponsored House Bill 2, a bill labeled the “bathroom bill” because it forced transgender people to use public bathrooms that lined up with their sex at birth.
H.B. 2 also voided a Charlotte ordinance that expanded LGBT rights and protections as well as stripping away protections for the LGBT community.
The bill sparked protests across the state and throughout the nation, at the time.
Hundreds of thousands call for repeal of #NorthCarolina anti-LGBT law as legislature returns #RepealHB2 t.co/JWJ760oylN
“They want you to call this a bathroom bill,” Rev. William J. Barber II, the president of the North Carolina N.A.A.C.P. told The New York Times at a 2016 protest. “It’s not a bathroom bill, but there’s a lot of stuff in here that ought to be thrown in the outhouse.”
The Associated Press calculated that the “bathroom bill” would lose the state $3.76 billion in revenue over 12 years, primarily from businesses that decided to not move opportunities into the state because of the potential law.
2. Bishop Raised the Most Money out of the Other GOP Candidates
Bishop, an attorney based in Charlotte, raised the most money from campaign contributions, per the AP. This includes $250,000 from Bishop’s own accounts.
Other candidates who were running for the primary nomination include Matthew Ridenhour, Leigh Brown and Stony Rushing. According to CBS News, Rushing even got the endorsement of the original GOP candidate, Mark Harris after he decided not to run due to health reasons.
Bishop won the primary with 14,178 votes (47.7%), with Rushing coming in second place with 5,820 votes (19.6%), Ridenhour in third with 5,065 votes (17%) and Brown in fourth with 2,624 votes (8.85%), all according to the Washington Post.
Since Bishop was able to amass support from over 30% of the electorate, he was able to avoid a run-off.
3. Bishop vs. McCready to be a ‘Barometer of Political Tides’
The Associated Press characterizes the general election in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District as a “barometer of political tides.”
Ever since the Democrats took back the House from Republicans in November of 2018, President Trump has been under immense pressure from the left.
With Democrats continuing to push forward with investigations into Russia’s election meddling, and the potential collaboration with the Trump campaign, it makes sense that President Trump is using his favorite social media outlet to vocalize his support for Bishop.
Congratulations to Dan Bishop on his big Republican Primary victory in the 9th Congressional District of North Carolina. Dan is strong on Crime, Loves our Military, Vets, 2A, and great Healthcare. He has my Complete and Total Endorsement! #MAGA
4. Bishop is Embracing his Inner-Trump
With President Trump continuing to be the face of the Republican Party, Bishop’s veer to the right makes sense, using buzzwords known to come out of President Trump’s mouth.
In a recent campaign ad, Bishop is seen talking about the two Dan’s in the race (McCready and Bishop both have the same first name), “the right Dan” and “the wrong Dan.”
“I’m the conservative Dan,” Bishop says in his ad titled “Right Dan.”
“Pro-Life, Pro-Gun, Pro Wall. The Dan who stands strong on principle. Wrong Dan? He’ll fall right in line with his friends — socialists, radicals, they hate the values that made America great,” Bishop says, with cutouts of Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Nancy Pelosi folding out behind a cutout of Dan McCready.
5. McCready Seems to be Taking the Moderate Path, Even With Bishop Labeling Him as a Socialist
According to the Charlotte Observer, Bishop challenged McCready wanting to know if he would support a socialist for the President of the United States, citing Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren as his gage for what a socialist is.
“Sounds like he’s afraid to run against a capitalist who’s built a business from scratch and a United States Marine,” McCready told reporters responding to Bishop’s jabs.
Dan McCready announcing his run for North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District.
McCready has also come out against impeachment, Medicare for all and the popular Green New Deal.
McCready told reporters, who asked if he agrees with the moves Democrats are making to impeach Trump, that, “I think he needs to be defeated at the ballot box.” McCready also told reporters that instead of Medicare for all, “we need to fix Obamacare,“ and that he supports creating more jobs in the clean energy sector.
“I believe this is a moral imperative to be protecting the one planet God has given us,” McCready said. “That said, I don’t think the Green New Deal is the way to do it.”