Clean sweep: Bishop, Cawthorn and Hudson win NC’s competitive Congressional races
Rep. Dan Bishop and Rep. Richard Hudson beat their Democratic challengers Tuesday, successfully rebuffing a well-funded push from state Democrats. Meanwhile western North Carolina elected the country’s youngest member of Congress.
Madison Cawthorn, 25, defeated retired Air Force colonel and Democrat Morris “Moe” Davis, according to the Associated Press, in the race for a newly-redrawn western North Carolina district that covers Asheville.
Shortly after his victory was announced by AP, Cawthorn tweeted “Cry more, lib.” Cawthorn’s rise to fame has also come with controversy, including accusations of sexual misconduct, racism, ties to white supremacy and lying about his record.
After AP called all of North Carolina’s Congressional races, the delegation will shift from 10 to three in favor of Republicans, to eight to five. Two of North Carolina’s 13 districts were redrawn and became Democratic pickups after court-mandated redistricting last year.
But Democrats failed to secure a victory in any of the three most competitive races, two in the Charlotte area and one in Asheville.
Here’s what we know, with all of the precincts reporting statewide. The North Carolina Board of Elections says there are around 117,000 outstanding absentee by-mail ballots, but it is not clear how many of those will be cast. Some of those voters could have decided to vote in person on election day or not voted.
Mail-in ballots had to be postmarked by Tuesday, but officials have until Nov. 12 to count them.
8th District (NC-08)
Despite a well-funded effort from Democrats, Hudson turned back former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Pat Timmons-Goodson in his re-election bid for the district that stretches from Cabarrus County to Fayetteville, according to AP.
Hudson led Timmons-Goodson 53% to 47% with all precincts reporting in the district.
After last year’s redistricting, the 8th District was made somewhat more friendly to Democrats — the current district voted for Trump 53% to 44% in 2016.
It’s closer to a swing district, but not close enough to make it competitive without a strong effort by a Democratic candidate. Team Blue got that strong candidate in Timmons-Goodson, the first black woman to serve on the state Supreme Court.
She raised over $3 million for her bid, and outside Democrats spent $1 million more on her campaign.
9th District (NC-09)
Bishop won his bid for his first full term in Congress against Democratic nominee and finance executive Cynthia Wallace in the long, snake-like district that covers south Charlotte to Robeson County, according to the Associated Press.
At a watch party in Monroe, Bishop called the support he received an “enormous blessing.”
Bishop was ahead of Wallace 56% to 44% with all precincts reporting.
The 9th District was pushed into the national spotlight after the 2018 Congressional midterm elections.
A voter fraud probe into the actions of campaign operative McCrae Dowless on behalf of the Republican candidate led to the invalidation of the election. Bishop, a former state senator, was elected in a hard-fought makeup race held last year.
Still, the dynamics that made the race close in 2018 and 2019 haven’t changed. The suburbs of Charlotte are becoming less conservative over time, and Democrats across the country are energized by anti-Trump fervor.
10th District (NC-10)
Rep. Patrick McHenry secured his ninth term in Congress Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. The Denver, N.C., Republican faced a challenge from former North Carolina Democratic Party chair David Parker.
McHenry led 69% to 31% with all of the precincts reporting in the district covering Lincoln, Iredell and Catawba counties.
11th District (NC-11)
The race was considered the most competitive in years for the district, which now covers all or part of 17 western counties.
But Cawthorn wound up with a sizable margin over Davis, with 54% of the vote to 42%, with all of the district’s precincts reporting.
The contest garnered national attention when Cawthorn defeated the candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump and Mark Meadows, who previously held the seat, in a GOP primary runoff in June. Meadows resigned to become Trump’s chief of staff.
Since then, Cawthorn became the focus of the race, as the GOP looks to the Hendersonville native to bridge its challenges with young voters. He has defended himself against several of the allegations against him and said he condemns racism.
“The days of AOC and the far left misleading the next generation of Americans are numbered,” Cawthorn said in a statement Tuesday evening. “Tonight, the voters of Western North Carolina chose to stand for freedom and a new generation of leadership in Washington.”
12th District (NC-12)
U.S. Rep. Alma Adams was re-elected as the Congresswoman for the majority of Charlotte, as she ran unopposed for her fourth term.
Adams was first elected in 2014 to represent the district, which at the time snaked along Interstate 85 from Charlotte to Greensboro. It was considered among the most gerrymandered districts in the country, before it was redrawn in 2016 and now is entirely inside of Mecklenburg County.
Adams won 100% of the vote, with all of the district’s precincts reporting.
13th District (NC-13)
U.S. Rep Ted Budd fended off a challenge from Democratic candidate Scott Huffman, winning his third term in Congress, according to AP.
Budd leads with 68% of the vote to Huffman’s 32% with all of the precincts in the districts reporting.
Budd, who lives in Davie County, was first elected in 2016. He is running in a redrawn district that still favors Republicans, and covers Rowan, Davie, Davidson, Randolph, Alamance, Caswell and Person counties, as well as portions of Chatham and Lee counties.
South Carolina’s 5th District (SC-5)
U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, who has held his seat since 2017, won re-election, beating Democratic challenger Moe Brown in South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District, according to AP.
With about 92% of precincts reporting Wednesday at 9:40 a.m., Norman had about a 20 percentage point lead.
Although he’s a first-time candidate, Brown, a former University of South Carolina wide receiver, has a proven record in the world of South Carolina politics.
Norman, a Rock Hill real estate developer, first took over the 5th District seat in a 2017 special election after Mick Mulvaney left to join President Donald Trump’s administration.
The Herald (of Rock Hill) staff writer Cailyn Derickson and (Raleigh) News & Observer staff writer Dan Kane contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 8:39 PM with the headline "Clean sweep: Bishop, Cawthorn and Hudson win NC’s competitive Congressional races."
