From lobbying to Congress? NC candidate’s fundraiser draws questions about his support

When a lawmaker leaves office, there’s a good chance they’ll become a lobbyist.

Sometimes, though, the revolving door swings in the other direction.

Addison McDowell resigned as a lobbyist on Dec. 13, according to state records, the same day he announced he would run for Congress in the Triad with an endorsement from former President Donald Trump.

Last week, McDowell, a former lobbyist for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and a candidate for North Carolina’s 6th Congressional District, highlighted his ties to the people he lobbied when he announced a Jan. 30 fundraiser that is being hosted by some of the biggest names in North Carolina politics, including both lawmakers and lobbyists.

Among the politicians are:

• Sen. Phil Berger

• Sen. Danny Britt

• Sen. Jim Perry

• Rep. Destin Hall

• Rep. John Bell

• Rep. Jason Saine

• Rep. Jeff McNeely

• Rep. Jake Johnson

• Rep. Brenden Jones

• Rep. Mitchell Setzer

• Rep. Jeff Zenger

But the campaign for one of his GOP primary-election opponents, Christian Castelli, is taking issue with the event, saying McDowell’s constituents deserve to know whether he represents them or big insurance companies.

“It appears safe to say Addison McDowell has chosen his allegiance and who he wants to represent,” said Alfredo Dyce, Castelli’s political consultant, in a written statement to McClatchy. “His very first public fundraiser includes paid lobbyists and members of the North Carolina General Assembly. These General Assembly members likely feel the pressure of a lobbyist persistently asking them for money. It’s a shame.”

Jonathan Felts, McDowell’s senior advisor, said in six weeks, McDowell has gained the endorsement of Trump and conservative Republican lawmakers across the 6th District.

“I appreciate our opponents getting us some press on that point,” Felts said in a written statement to McClatchy. “Addison is the candidate with the big momentum and that’s fueling our friend-making efforts across the district as he gains support.”

The fundraiser is being held in Raleigh, far outside the district, with lawmakers who represent other areas of the state.

Felts added, “If you think a Republican candidate in North Carolina being supported by conservative Republicans is a bad thing, you’re either a moron or consulting for a candidate running on fumes with no momentum.”

Concerns about the pipeline between Congress and lobbying usually focus on Washington lobbying firms, which McDowell is not a part of.

And in North Carolina, a lobbyist considering running for a state office even reached out to the state ethics commission to ensure that he or she was doing everything by the book. The ethics commission told potential candidates that it was OK to continue lobbying while running for the state legislature, as long as they resigned before being sworn in, if they were elected.

McDowell worked as a lobbyist for two organizations, Blue Cross NC and the North Carolina League of Municipalities, but was only registered to lobby for the insurance company when he filed to run for Congress.

Political influence

McDowell, a Davidson County resident, is one of six Republican candidates looking to succeed Rep. Kathy Manning, a Democrat from Greensboro, who decided to not seek reelection after redistricting changed her district into a Republican stronghold. No Democrat is running for the seat.

Besides Castelli, former Rep. Mark Walker, former High Point Mayor Jay Wagner, former N.C. State football player Bo Hines and Mary Ann Contogiannis, a plastic surgeon, are running in the Republican primary.

McDowell announced his candidacy on Dec. 13, with the surprise addition that he had the “complete and total” endorsement of former President Donald Trump to go with it.

Only four days before, Trump signaled his support of Hines, leaving many to believe Hines would get the endorsement. The Walker camp has also sought Trump’s endorsement in past elections, including his run for U.S. Senate in 2022.

On Monday morning, Hines received an endorsement from Club for Growth PAC, an influential donor to Republican candidates and one of the most sought-after endorsements other than Trump himself. The group, which once worked closely with Trump, now appears critical of the former president, Politico reported.

Both Trump’s support, and the financial backing of Club for Growth, helped elevate North Carolina’s Ted Budd above his rivals in the primary for Senate in 2022.

Budd, who went on to win the Senate seat, and McDowell share campaign adviser Felts.

When McDowell announced his campaign and Trump’s endorsement, few knew McDowell had even been considering running for Congress, and he came with little name recognition.

But those in North Carolina’s inner political circles may have known him due to his lobbying efforts in Raleigh.

“There is no mistaking the job Addison McDowell woke up every morning to perform,” Dyce said in a written statement. “He was a lobbyist fighting for the special interests of Big Insurance. … He represented the very specific, very uncompromising, very determined mission of a Big Insurance company.”

Revolving door of lawmakers becoming lobbyists

The employment of people who have worked in Congress for lobbying firms is known as the “revolving door” but typically is focused on members of Congress leaving for lucrative positions as lobbyists.

North Carolina is no stranger to that. Both Sen. Richard Burr, a Republican, and Rep. G.K. Butterfield, a Democrat, retired at the end of their terms that expired in 2023 and are now working as lobbyists.

Open Secrets tracks the employment of influential people in Washington, and found that nearly 50% of members who left Congress in 2019 became lobbyists.

Sens. Michael Bennet and Jon Tester, both Democrats, say this pipeline from Congress to lobbying is inappropriate.

In June, they filed a bill that would prevent members of Congress from ever becoming lobbyists and force their staff into a cooling-off period of six years. The current period is just one year.

“Members of Congress should spend their time in Washington representing the American people and not auditioning for high-paying lobbying jobs,” Bennet said in a news release when he filed his bill. “By banning members of Congress from lobbying when they leave office, we can begin to restore the American people’s faith in our government.”

If McDowell wins his election, he wouldn’t be the first lobbyist turned member of Congress from North Carolina.

Rep. Deborah Ross, a Democrat representing Wake County, served as a lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union until she ran and won a seat in the state House in 2002. She resigned in 2013 to work as a lawyer. She later launched a failed U.S. Senate campaign, and in 2020 won a seat in the U.S. House.

As Ross campaigned for the Senate, she proposed banning members of Congress from becoming lobbyists until after a 10-year cooling-off period.

NC Reality Check is an N&O series holding those in power accountable and shining a light on public issues that affect the Triangle or North Carolina. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@newsobserver.com