Republican Rep. Dan Bishop announces NC attorney general run to ‘restore law and order’

U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop, a Charlotte Republican, announced Thursday morning he will run for N.C. attorney general instead of seeking reelection to the 8th Congressional District seat.

“To have the news break that, in fact, I’m going to be a candidate, to come home in North Carolina and seek the spot of attorney general, and do that on WBT radio, I can’t think of a better place and thanks for having me,” Bishop said Thursday morning to the hosts, Bo Thompson and Beth Troutman.

Bishop told the hosts that he and his wife thought a lot about his decision and it felt like the right time to come back to North Carolina. He also missed practicing law, he said.

“I think it’s a particular time to reinforce support for prosecutors and front line law enforcement officers,” Bishop said. “I think there’s an opportunity to use the influence of that office to restore law and order to our cities like Asheville, in particular, Charlotte, and some others.”

Rumors of a potential attorney general run from Bishop have been circulating for months and helped clear the field of some Republicans. But even last week, Bishop told The Charlotte Observer he was still mulling the decision.

Bishop told WBT he did not intend to make the announcement Thursday morning but called it serendipitous.

Bishop leaving Congress

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican who serves with Bishop on the ultraconservative Freedom Caucus, posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, his support of Bishop’s candidacy. Gaetz called Bishop “a fighter.”

“He has my TOTAL endorsement,” Gaetz wrote.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Republican from Colorado, posted that she was sad to lose Bishop in the House and that he’s “truly one of our greatest.”

“I am, however, THRILLED for the people of North Carolina in knowing that they’ll get a chance to elect an INCREDIBLE Attorney General, Boebert wrote on the social media platform X.

Bishop said on the radio a friend approached him on the House floor last week and told him he felt it was right for Bishop to run for attorney general. “

Bishop said he felt Congress was stuck in status quo. He’s frustrated by the border security, social media censorship and the indictments against former President Donald Trump, who was scheduled for an arraignment in Washington, D.C., later Thursday for his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection and his attempts to hold onto his power.

Bishop said Congress hasn’t taken steps to solve his frustrations.

His words echoed a sentiment he made earlier in the year as the U.S. House struggled to elect a House speaker. Bishop said then he didn’t plan to be in Congress the rest of his life, and he would leave if he felt his colleagues couldn’t make the changes necessary to the institution.

On Thursday, Bishop said he had anxiety about actually taking that step.

“I really intended to go to Washington, and to do what people expected me to do to be a reliable voice for them — to be a fighter,” Bishop said. “That sounds a little corny.”

He added that a number of people have said they still want him fighting for them in D.C.

“What I want that person to know — anybody who feels that way —is this is another way to do the same fight very much on a different stage,” he said.

What does Bishop’s attorney general run mean?

Walking away from his congressional seat means giving up a solidly red district that Bishop would likely win again. While Bishop has lived in Charlotte, his district covers a number of counties to the east of the city.

Despite the General Assembly being set to redraw the districts in the fall, Bishop’s district doesn’t appear to be one being eyed for major change. Over the past decade and through multiple rounds of court-ordered redistricting, the 8th has remained strongly Republican, covering less populated counties to the east of Charlotte. Bishop’s departure means he’s leaving the field wide open to Republicans wanting a shot at higher office.

On the other hand, North Carolinians haven’t elected a Republican attorney general in North Carolina since the late 1800s — something Bishop acknowledged in his announcement Thursday morning.

“This would be a historic election to win,” said Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University. “He is by no means guaranteed a victory so he has essentially traded an almost sure thing for a 50-50 gamble.”

Cooper said it’s unusual for a member of Congress to run for a statewide office, particularly attorney general, but he said in some ways it makes sense for Bishop because he could make decisions alone instead of as one of 435 members.

“But it is interesting because Bishop does seem to have gained some level of prominence in Congress,” Cooper said. “Which makes the move even more surprise, although it has been rumored for months.”

Bishop’s campaign competition

That prominence could help Bishop as he tries to out raise any potential competitor. Bishop told Thompson and Troutman when Josh Stein ran in 2020 he far out-raised Republicans. Stein is not running for reelection but instead pursuing the governor’s mansion.

Bishop will face Tom Murry, an Army veteran, attorney, prosecutor and former N.C. House member in the Republican primary.

If he advances out of the primary, Bishop could face U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson — a Democrat who’s the subject of widespread speculation that he could jump into the attorney general race, too. That’s partially due to separate speculation about how or whether legislators might redraw Jackson’s 14th Congressional District this year. For his part, Jackson is waiting to announce his intentions.

“I’m going to wait until the new maps come out before I take a look at that option, but I did hear his announcement and as a prosecutor, I don’t think that anyone who supported overturning an election should be talking about law and order,” Jackson said Thursday to The Charlotte Observer.

Both Marine Corps Col. and attorney Tim Dunn and attorney Charles Ingram have announced as Democratic candidates.

The Democratic Attorney General Association released a statement Thursday morning calling Bishop’s the “definition of a far-right, out of touch politician who is far outside the mainstream.”

Brent Woodcox, a political operative who works for Republicans, reacted to Bishop’s news on Twitter Thursday saying, “With this announcement, Dan Bishop immediately becomes the most viable candidate for AG that Republicans have ever fielded in NC.”

Club for Growth President David McIntosh came out Thursday morning in support of Bishop, saying the congressman “is a conservative champion that the people of North Carolina deserve as attorney general.”

Club for Growth is a conservative Super PAC that has helped raise million in North Carolina and pushed candidates like Sen. Ted Budd to the front of races.

Who is Dan Bishop?

Bishop’s family is originally from Bladen County, and he began his political career on the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners in 2004. In 2015, he was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives.

In 2016, Bishop then joined the North Carolina Senate and made a name for himself becoming the architect of the notorious House Bill 2, known as the bathroom bill, that forced transgender people to use public bathrooms based on the gender listed on their birth certificates. The bill, which was repealed, led businesses to cancel previously announced expansions, conventions and performers to cancel events and some cities and states to ban government-funded travel to the state.

In 2019, Bishop was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. As a member of the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, he’s helped efforts in recent months to challenge House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s leadership and hold him accountable to promises the caucus said he made to them to become speaker.