GOVERNOR: Democrat Gov. Mike Easley is term limited, so there is a war in both parties this year.
On the Republican side, the top two contenders appear to be state senator (and conservative) Fred Smith and long-time Charlotte Mayor (and moderate) Pat McCrory. Bill Graham, a businessman and outsider who lead a successful "cap the gas tax" grassroots campaign last year, and former state judge Bob Orr, both appear to have fallen far to the back of the race.
On the Democratic side, there's Richard Moore, State Treasurer, and Bev Perdue, Lt. Governor, who many outside the state will recognize from the infamous NC GOP 'Rev. Wright ad.' Moore has been insinuating in commercials that Perdue is a closet racist; Perdue has pulled a Huckabee, doing away with negative advertising only to put out several ads talking about how great she is for doing away with negative advertising.
NC-11: Football 'star' and local celebrity Heath Shuler (D) upset 8-term incumbent Charles Taylor (R) in this conservative district in 2006. Taylor had (rightfully) gained a reputation of corruption and couldn't overcome Shuler's star power and positioning as an independent "conservative Democrat," despite the fact he outspent Shuler by millions.
Shuler's real strength last time was the fact that he had no record. Even though everyone knew he'd vote for Pelosi as Speaker, he couldn't be pinned down as an enabler of liberals. This year is different; Shuler has voted with Pelosi 3/4 of the time, and all the world can see it.
The three Republicans seeking to unseat Shuler are Free Republic's own John Armor (Congressman Billybob), who has a thick resume of fighting for conservative causes as a constitutional lawyer; Asheville city councilman Carl Mumpower; and military veteran Spence Campbell.
NC-10: This heavily Republican district has been the site of an ugly primary contest between incumbent Patrick McHenry and challenger Lance Sigmon, a military vet.
McHenry is the congressman who called a security guard "two-bit" in the video seen on YouTube (a statement I believe was taken out of context by his critics). To make things worse, McHenry got into trouble with the DOJ when he posted video he'd shot of one of our bases in Iraq.
Lance Sigmon took advantage of the situation and accused McHenry of putting our troops in danger. As Sigmon turned up the rhetoric, McHenry countered by threatening him with legal action.
There's so much more to the story, with seemingly a new controversy coming out of this race every day.
There is a very small chance that the Democrats could take this seat in November, if McHenry survives the primary but is sufficiently bloodied up, then has to face Democrat Daniel Johnson, another military vet, who has begun to position himself as an independent moderate within his party, like Shuler did two years ago.
NC-3: Incumbent Walter Jones (R) went from being the guy who popularized "freedom fries" to taking the Ron Paul line on Iraq, and now he has a challenger in Joe McLaughlin, a vet and county commissioner. It's hard to say if this seat would stay Republican if McLaughlin wins the nomination.
NC-4: This district is safe for the Democrats. The GOP primary seems to be more a quest to determine the soul of the party in the district, with conservative Augustus Cho facing Paulite libertarian BJ Lawson.
NC ping
GO, CONGRESSMAN BILLYBOB, GO!!! ;)
Best of luck to you today, sir.
Just kissed hubby good-bye and sent him out the door to serve as our precinct judge. Although the party affiliation of the governor is supposed to determine the selection of chief precinct judges in NC, our precinct can’t find a dem tho will do it, so my dearly beloved rep husband has the job. ;) I will take him lunch when I go vote this afternoon.
It’s a long hard day and I say thank you to all who are willing to do this. Maybe I will make some brownies to take over to them.
Walter Jones is one of the two Republican representatives who always votes against the Patriot Act. He also is a “cut and run” guy.
I get the honor of voting for my FRiend John today! Good luck CB!
Two things:
1. We have a horse in this race...Congressman BillyBob...Go Johnny go!
2. The presidential exit polls will be wrong.
I wonder how the People’s Republic of Orange County will vote.
Most Rs in the family voted for Keyes.
Ds voted for HRC.
Got one R who will vote after school today - for Keyes.
The Is? They might get around to it today if a nap or something don't get in the way :-) .
Good morning, Mitchell. Best wishes to Congressman Billybob today!
I sent my husband off with a “who to vote for” list :-). I’ll be heading to the poll for my two candidates (see tagline) when the school traffic clears out, and will be back and forth during the day.
It certainly is a beautiful day for the primary! You think I should take the snake? She’d enjoy it!
bookmark
good luck John!
We need you there
Having lived in NC for MANY years (and wishing I was back there now) I follow these contests with interest
LOL! That's true.
She's also recruited Andy Griffith to appear in some folksy-downhome TV ads :-/
What makes Smith a conservative and McCrory a moderate?
Just based on the TV and radio ads, I like McCrory a lot more than Smith.
Term limits, Howard. I know, he's a Republican, but he's been up there for at least 25 years.
And he joined the cut-n-run crowd on Iraq a while ago, so while he'll keep his seat by default, I won't vote for him.
I am voting for HRC today. I never imagined that would happen! (I have been a registered Jessecrat for 32 years)
Drudge is headlining that HRC will lose by 15 points. The only reason I can think of for doing this is to discourage BHO voters from standing in line to vote.
My guess is that BHO wins by 7 points.
Best of luck to you today, sir...
Have the networks projected the winners yet?
Could we have a complete live thread for both primaries in the breaking news section?
This is my first post here at Free Republic. I just voted this morning with my mother. We voted for Joe McLaughlin over Walter Jones. We also voted for Fred Smith for Governor. I voted “No Preference” instead of voting for McCain. Voting for him in the general election will be enough.