Trump-Endorsed Ted Budd Wins North Carolina GOP Senate Primary
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Republican congressman Ted Budd has won the North Carolina GOP Senate primary to replace retiring Republican Senator Richard Burr, besting former Governor Pat McCrory and adding another name to the roster of Trump-endorsed candidates to have secured the party nomination in a swing state.
A member of the House Freedom Caucus, which has largely embraced the “America First” platform popularized by Trump, Budd contested the 2020 presidential election results after the January 6 riot. Nonetheless, Budd’s victory advances the thesis that Trump’s backing remains valuable for dominating key Republican races.
“I think it was huge,” Budd told Fox News of the role Trump’s endorsement played in the contest on Tuesday. “But it really helps especially when you work hard like we’ve done. We’ve stayed focused. We’ve worked hard. Stay humble and go out and ask people for their prayers, their support and their vote.”
His opponent, McCrory, a more mainstream conservative, lost his 2016 gubernatorial reelection by two-tenths of a point even as Trump won the state by 3.6 points. He garnered national attention at the time for enacting North Carolina’s “bathroom bill,” which required people to use public bathrooms that corresponded with their biological sex, triggering a wave of backlash and boycotts calling to cancel business in the state.
While Budd benefitted from $11 million worth of financial support from the influential economic conservative Club for Growth, McCrory was hit repeatedly by the organization on the campaign trial as well as by Trump for being too moderate of a Republican.
Over the last few weeks, Budd outpaced McCory in the polls to hold a firm 18-point lead, and was projected to win decisively. To secure the seat in the Senate, he must defeat Democrat Cheri Beasley, the former chief justice of the state’s supreme court, who is expected to win the party’s primary with no major challengers.
