Barack Obama wades into NC’s 2020 elections with endorsements in key races
Former President Barack Obama released a list of political endorsements in 2020 races across the country Monday, including a number in North Carolina.
Obama’s endorsements are all of fellow Democrats. And he didn’t just focus on the big-name races like governor and U.S. Senate, where he endorsed Democrats Roy Cooper and Cal Cunningham. Cooper is facing Republican challenger and Lt. Gov. Dan Forest for the governor’s office and Cunningham, a former state legislator, is challenging Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.
As Democrats seek to take back control of the state legislature for the first time in a decade, Obama also waded into 15 races for seats in the N.C. Senate and House of Representatives.
Republicans currently hold 29 of 50 Senate seats and 65 of 120 House seats, so Democrats have to flip at least five Senate seats and six House seats if they want a majority. Last month, Democrats in legislative races raised several million dollars more than their Republican rivals, giving them an edge as the election begins to heat up.
“After spending a decade talking about gerrymandering, donors understand we have to control the state legislature,” Democratic Rep. Graig Meyer of Hillsborough, told The News & Observer at the time.
On Monday Obama endorsed three Democrats trying to flip seats in the state Senate:
▪ Donna Lake, who’s running against Sen. Jim Perry of Kinston.
▪ Allen Wellons, who’s running for an open Senate seat in Johnston and Nash counties against Republican Rep. Lisa Stone Barnes.
▪ Terri LeGrand, who’s running against Sen. Joyce Krawiec of Winston-Salem.
He also endorsed two incumbent Democratic senators, who both flipped GOP-held seats in 2018 and are now facing rematches with the Republicans they defeated two years ago:
▪ Sen. Harper Peterson of Wilmington, against Republican Michael Lee.
▪ Sen. Kirk deViere of Fayetteville, against Republican Wesley Meredith.
In the House, Obama endorsed several incumbent Democrats facing potentially competitive challenges from Republicans this year:
▪ Rep. Sydney Batch of Holly Springs, who’s facing Republican Erin Paré and Libertarian Liam Leaver.
▪ Rep. Terence Everitt of Wake Forest, who’s facing Republican Fred Von Canon and Libertarian Michael Nelson.
▪ Rep. Christy Clark of Charlotte, who has a rematch with Republican John Bradford whom she unseated in 2018.
▪ Rep. Brandon Lofton of Charlotte, who’s facing Don Pomeroy.
He also endorsed Kimberly Hardy of Fayetteville, who defeated Rep. Elmer Floyd in the Democratic primary and is now facing Republican Diane Wheatley.
Obama also endorsed some Democrats trying to flip GOP-held seats in the N.C. House:
▪ Brian Farkas, who’s running against Rep. Perrin Jones of Greenville.
▪ Frances Jackson, who’s running against Rep. John Szoka of Fayetteville.
▪ Ricky Hurtado, who’s running against Rep. Stephen Ross of Burlington.
▪ Dan Besse of Winston-Salem, who’s running against Republican Jeff Zenger of Lewisville for a seat being vacated by GOP Rep. Debra Conrad.
▪ Adam Ericson, who’s running against Ted Davis in the seat being vacated by Republican Rep. Holly Grange of Wilmington.
Other races
Obama didn’t make any endorsements in races for seats on North Carolina’s Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, and he only endorsed in some of the races for the Council of State seats that make up the state’s executive branch.
In those, he endorsed Yvonne Holley for lieutenant governor against Republican Mark Robinson, Ronnie Chatterji for treasurer against Republican Dale Folwell, and Jessica Holmes for labor commissioner against Republican Josh Dobson.
Obama also endorsed Patricia Timmons-Goodson — whom he once unsuccessfully nominated to be a federal judge in North Carolina — in her race this year for the 8th Congressional District, a seat held by Republican Rep. Richard Hudson.
That race had been thought fairly safe for Hudson, but last month the nonpartisan Cook Political Report changed its outlook from “likely Repulican” to “leans Republican,” reflecting strong fundraising numbers from Timmons-Goodson.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Domecast politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Megaphone, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published August 3, 2020 at 1:25 PM with the headline "Barack Obama wades into NC’s 2020 elections with endorsements in key races."
