NC’s Mark Walker staying in Senate race, turning down Trump’s offer

U.S. Rep. Ted Budd can’t get rid of the opponent who might threaten his chance to win North Carolina’s U.S. Senate race.

On Thursday, former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker announced his plans to continue his campaign — for now.

“The last 45 days have been a whirlwind,” Walker said. “When we stepped away from Congress, it was in our hearts to run across North Carolina to be able to take what we’ve been able to do in central North Carolina, and take it across the state for the U.S. Senate.”

The announcement comes despite an endorsement offered in early December by former President Donald Trump if Walker leaves the Senate race and runs for House. That would ensure he doesn’t split Budd’s votes in the Republican primary and give the win to former Gov. Pat McCrory.

“It obviously is better for McCrory than Budd,” said Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University. “I think Walker and Budd are competing for many of the same voters. Ideologically they are virtually indistinguishable. Demographically they are very similar. There’s just not much daylight between the two of them, except for Trump’s endorsement.”

Trump took Walker by surprise in June when he announced his endorsement of Budd. Walker has consistently polled behind Budd and McCrory.

Walker’s campaign

Walker’s announcement Thursday surprised few — he’s made it repeatedly since November, while still teasing a possible House run.

His campaign event was in Greensboro, miles outside of the 7th Congressional District where he could have run with Trump’s blessing.

Walker’s guests were greeted by a bus covered in a giant tarp that, when removed, revealed his plan.

“So obviously, as you see the bus tonight, what we’re basically saying is that we’re going to stay on that path, and we’re going to keep working at this,” Walker said.

Ahead of Thursday’s rally, Politico reported that the former president wasn’t happy with Budd’s performance in the race and was reconsidering his support. But Trump put out a statement soon after saying that “Budd is leading the pack in North Carolina,” serving another blow to Walker’s campaign.

“I am proud of him, and he is going to win big,” Trump said in the written statement. “Ted Budd is the ONLY U.S. Senate candidate in North Carolina who has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”

Trump’s endorsement of Budd, and millions of dollars spent by the group Club for Growth advertising that endorsement and promoting him, have lifted Budd to become a front-runner, along with McCrory, in polling results.

Even political newcomer Marjorie Eastman is beginning to show strength, encroaching on Walker’s position in fundraising. Walker reported raising $533,619 between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30. He hasn’t yet filed his most recent Federal Elections Commission report due Monday, but Eastman said she would report raising more than $400,000 in the last quarter of the year.

Few people see Walker as having a path forward in the Senate race. In December, it looked likely that Walker would take up Trump’s offer to give him an endorsement if he changed to a 7th district run.

He and U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn met with Trump at Mar-A-Lago to hash out a plan that would put Walker in position to run for Congress and move Cawthorn-endorsed Bo Hines from a 7th district run to the 4th Congressional District.

Neither man lives in either of those districts, but U.S. laws don’t require residency of a federal representative.

Walker’s team told The News & Observer in December that they believed the endorsement was finalized.

But around the same time, North Carolina’s judicial system moved the state’s filing period from December until late February.

If Walker’s race isn’t confusing enough, the newly drawn districts for the state’s House and Senate and U.S. House seats are tied up in gerrymandering lawsuits making their way through the state’s court system, leaving the maps in flux.

Walker had already played his hand by going public with his consideration of a campaign switch. So just before Christmas he and his wife released a video saying he would stick with the Senate race and reevaluate through the holidays.

When he stayed silent throughout January, his opponents, and potential opponents, believed Walker was waiting to see what happened with the maps.

For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at link.chtbl.com/underthedomenc or wherever you get your podcasts.

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