Donald Trump clears the deck in NC congressional race
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RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — One thing is clear. Whatever is happening in a New York courtroom, Donald Trump still has a tremendous impact on North Carolina’s political future. That includes the election for who will represent a wide swath of central North Carolina in Congress.
The newly drawn 13th congressional district is now so Republican that current Democratic Representative Wiley Nickel isn’t running again. So for all intents and purposes, the former president has chosen the next congressperson.
Former prosecutor Brad Knott and his campaign have the endorsement of Donald Trump at their backs as they continue to go door-to-door asking for votes.
Knott also has another key endorsement. His opponent Kelly Daughtry announced Thursday she is suspending her campaign in the runoff election as she sees no path to winning.
“In a low information low attention race where not a lot of people are paying attention, but those people who are paying attention are almost surely Donald Trump supporters and that kind of information gets through. That’s very likely a game changer in a race like this,” said NC State political scientist Steven Greene.
Former President Trump endorses Brad Knott for NC’s 13th Congressional District
It’s something Brad Knott acknowledges. “His nod was a tremendous boost and a big piece of the momentum that we’re feeling right now,” Knott told CBS 17.
Someone dropping out after another candidate gets a Trump endorsement isn’t that unheard of. But it is unusual for a candidate to suspend their campaign after voting has already begun. We’re in the middle of early voting, the runoff is May 14th and the Trump endorsement was weeks ago. Daughtry could technically still win the election because her name will remain on the ballot.
“Once the election is already underway, people have voted. It is really unusual to just drop out at this time and it is curious to try and understand what exactly would motivate that,” said Green.
There are other factors that could be at play. Where are the votes that Daughtry and Knott didn’t get in the first primary going? “Even without even without Trump’s endorsement, it’s entirely possible that she was not going to win this because she didn’t even have 30%, and it could be that most of her opponents were going to array behind Brad Knott. And, you know, things like that happen in runoff elections all the time,” said Greene.
Local Matters: 1-on-1 with NC congressional candidate Brad Knott
The other issue may be as simple as money. Daughtry’s campaign in 2022 and 2024, have largely been self financed.
“That might be the simplest answer. It’s one thing to throw other people’s money away on a campaign that you can’t win. It’s another to throw your own money away on a campaign that you have decided you cannot win,” Greene said.
When CBS 17 asked Kelly Daughtry’s campaign for further comment, we were referred to her Facebook page.
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