Free Republic

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined a crop of Tennessee Republicans endorsing former President Donald Trump's 2024 bid. Echoing her Senate counterpart, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), who backed Trump over the weekend, Blackburn lauded Trump's achievements on the economy and border on Monday, framing his election to a second term as the solution to stubbornly high inflation and the influx of illegal immigrants into the United States. She is the ninth senator to back Trump. HAGERTY BECOMES EIGHTH GOP SENATOR TO ENDORSE TRUMP IN 2024 PRIMARY"Under President Trump, our economy was booming, gas prices were low, and inflation was under control....

Republican Ted Budd defeated Cheri Beasley on Tuesday in the race for an open Senate seat in North Carolina, disappointing Democrats who saw it as a key pickup opportunity. Mr. Budd had received slightly more than 50% of the vote when NBC News and ABC News called the race for the Republican, who is a current House member. He will replace retiring Sen. Richard Burr, another Republican, in the upper chamber. Ms. Beasley, a former chief justice of the state Supreme Court, had positioned herself as one of the “flippable five” alongside Democrats trying to swipe Senate seats from the...

Former President Donald Trump released an ad urging voters to support America First Republican candidates to “help save America,” just days before next week’s midterm elections. The video starts with audio of Trump saying that next week’s election is a “referendum” on President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D), and Democrat Senate Leader Chuck Schumer (D).” “The radical left Democrat Congress is destroying our country,” Trump said. “You’re going to elect an incredible slate of True America First Republicans up and down the ballot.” The video displayed text encouraging voters to vote Republican while the montage of Trump’s audio...

Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) is seeking to codify a Trump-era rule that limits states throwing up regulatory roadblocks to pipeline construction, Breitbart News learned exclusively on Wednesday.The congressman and Trump-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate is set to introduce a bill on Thursday which would cement the 2020 Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule. The rule was created to limit states’ review power after Republicans in Congress reported that some states were using the permitting process detailed in Section 401 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to stop new energy projects.The bill is the House companion to Sen. Shelley Moore...

Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC), the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina, holds nearly a five percentage point lead over his general election opponent, Democratic nominee Cheri Beasley, according to a Cygnal poll released by the John Locke Foundation Thursday.The poll asked voters: “If the general election for U.S. Senate was held today, and you had to make a choice, who would you vote for?” Of the respondents, 45 percent selected Budd, who received President Donald Trump’s backing in the primary, while Beasley, a former chief justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court, garnered 40.3 percent of the...

Democrats are fighting tooth and nail to hold on to their ultra-narrow Senate majority this year in a midterm election cycle that has several of the party’s most vulnerable incumbents facing voters amid rising inflation and surging gas prices. Republicans need to net just one new seat this year to reclaim control of the upper chamber. Still, Democrats are more optimistic about their chances of holding their Senate majority than they are their House majority and are eyeing several opportunities to flip GOP-held seats.

Pat McCrory’s campaign did not expect to win. So instead of renting a hotel ballroom, their campaign event was at Selwyn Pub, a few blocks from his home in Myers Park. There were about 50 people there. They heard McCrory say he doesn’t know if he has a place in the Republican Party anymore. “Now I have to do some real self-evaluation of where I belong. And not only me, it’s where these people belong in our party,” McCrory, gesturing to his well-wishers. “I want to make sure we maintain a sense of civility, a sense of character and accomplishment.”...

U.S. Rep. Ted Budd, a Republican backed by former President Donald Trump in North Carolina’s Senate race, is pulling ahead of other GOP candidates in the polls for retiring Sen. Richard Burr’s seat. The Raleigh News & Observer reported Sunday that Budd, a Davie County native, is leading by the double digits in the polls ahead of former Gov. Pat McCrory, former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker and political newcomer Marjorie Eastman. He has skipped debates, strategizing to instead rely on campaign events and millions of dollars in advertisements to resonate with voters and secure the party ticket. The influential conservative...

Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC), endorsed by former President Trump, is leading among his opponents in the Republican Senate primary race, a new poll finds. The poll, conducted March 22-23, came just days after Budd gave an exclusive interview to Breitbart News on SiriusXM Patriot, where he detailed his recent trip to the United States-Mexico border and described the human and drug trafficking taking place by the Mexican drug cartels. Budd leads likely GOP voters with 32 percent, followed by former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory with 29 percent, and former Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC) with 12 percent, according to the...

New campaign filings show North Carolina U.S. Rep. Ted Budd brought in more money during the final three months of 2021 than his opponents in his bid for the Republican Party’s U.S. Senate nomination. It’s the first time since both candidates entered the race in April that Budd has reported raising more money than former Gov. Pat McCrory, his top competitor. Budd’s campaign on Monday reported raising more than $968,000 during the period ending Dec. 31, according to a Federal Election Commission filing. McCrory took in more than $748,000. Campaign finance filings are an indicator of a candidate’s strength and...

Former President Trump and his allies are struggling to clear the Republican field in North Carolina’s wide-open U.S. Senate race and galvanize GOP voters around his preferred candidate, Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.). Despite winning the former president’s endorsement early on, Budd has so far failed to become the runaway favorite in the GOP primary and has regularly trailed his chief rival, former Gov. Pat McCrory, in polling. That set off an effort by Trump and Budd’s allies to nudge former Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) out of the race by promising an endorsement if Walker runs instead for a Greensboro-area House...

Some of them, anyway. Donald Trump has endorsed candidates in 15 Senate contests to date, according to Politico. Many of them are incumbent Senators. They are expected to cruise to renomination by the GOP. But, says Politico, some of the others are struggling. Politico cites Mo Brooks in Alabama, Kelly Tshibaka in Alaska, Ted Budd in North Carolina, and Sean Parnell in Pennsylvania (Parnell recently withdrew from the race due to allegations of spousal abuse). Trump hasn’t endorsed Blake Masters, but did appear at a Mar-a-Logo fundraiser for the Arizona Republican. Masters is also struggling, according to Politico. I don’t...

Some high-dollar donors to former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory put their money behind Rep. Ted Budd, his U.S. Senate primary opponent, after Donald Trump endorsed Budd this year, records show. Why it matters: The former president's endorsement can be literal currency in Republican primary fights. The shifting allegiances between McCrory and Budd illustrate how Trump can single-handedly alter not just support but the money race in high-profile political fights. Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free What's happening: David Congdon, the executive chairman of trucking giant Old Dominion Freight...

A handful of open Senate seats have drawn a crowd of Republicans vying to replace outgoing GOP senators. Those senators are mostly staying neutral in the primaries — at least for now. Alabama’s Richard C. Shelby is so far the only retiring senator to take sides in a primary, backing his former chief of staff, Katie Britt. While others weigh picking a favorite, the primary fields have continued to grow. In some races, vocal backers of Donald Trump are battling each other to succeed senators who have openly criticized the former president or have built reputations as legislative deal-makers. Two...

It doesn't get any better in the U.S. Senate race where former party state chair Jane Timken, perennial right-wing candidate Josh Mandel and author J.D. Vance are fighting over who is the most Trumpian. Ohio State Sen. Matt Dolan jumped into the race, giving the anti-Trump forces an outside shot if the others split their vote. It'll be interesting to see if retiring Sen. Rob Portman — who didn't stand up to Trump for four years — will show political courage now that he’s not facing voters. It’s not much better in neighboring Pennsylvania, where the leading Republican U.S. Senate...

Day 446 Of The Dictatorship Of COVID-19, Day 446 Of America And The World Held Hostage The Australian Police State-Chicommunism Down Under The scene Today in Melbourne Australia's second largest city as small business owners protested the fourth lockdown of the state of Victoria... Don't even get started with a protest you will not be allowed to do so its Communist China Down Under. US Travel Bans For All Cops In Victoria Australia not to mention the government of that state. That's on my platform for next POTUS which should be Trump IMHO. He's the only Wild Card in the...

Lara Trump said during North Carolina’s Republican Convention Saturday night that she would not seek the state party’s nomination to run for U.S. Senate, citing her young children – but she left open the possibility of a future run. "No for now," she said, thanking the supporters in her home state. "Not no forever." After she left the state, former President Donald Trump endorsed Rep. Ted Budd, R-N.C, as "your next senator" to the crowd. "A lot of you don’t know him that well, but you’re gonna know him probably within a few minutes," he said. "Ted Budd." Then he...

We are very proud to announce our endorsement of U.S. Congressman Ted Budd (R-NC) for U.S. Senate in North Carolina to replace retiring Senator Richard Burr (R-NC). Ted is a conservative outsider. He grew up on a cattle and commercial chicken farm in Davie County where he still lives today with his wife, Amy Kate, and three kids. Ted is also a fighter. He joined the House Freedom Caucus and has a record of standing up to the liberals in both parties. Now is the time for conservatives to unite behind strong, principled leaders like Ted Budd who are taking...

EXCLUSIVE: A resolution introduced Thursday by House Republicans condemns allegedly “anti-American” statements by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., after remarks in which she called for supporters to begin “dismantling the whole system of oppression.” The resolution, introduced by Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz. – and co-sponsored by Reps. Scott Perry, R-Pa., Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., Andy Harris, R-Md., Chip Roy, R-Texas, Ted Budd, R-N.C., Ralph Norman, R-S.C., Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., and Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz. – accuses Omar of having “a documented history of expressing anti-American sentiments.”

Republican Reps. Zeldin, Stefanik and Budd introduced a resolution Wednesday to condemn the rise of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment in politics. The resolution specifically called out Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, the leaders of the Women’s March, as well as Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar who have expressed their support for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement. The BDS movement calls for companies and groups to protest and penalize the state of Israel over its treatment of the Palestinian people. Many of those who are in opposition to the movement label it as anti-Semitic because...