‘It’s been a whirlwind:’ Knott and Daughtry to head to District 13 runoff
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RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — If you want to win North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District, you have a lot of ground to cover.
The district expanded from four counties to eight in a new congressional district map. It’s also gone from a toss-up in 2022 to a solid Republican win. The current representative is the democratic winner of that election, Rep. Wiley Nickel.
Nickel said he is not running in 2024.
“North Carolina Republicans have rigged the system to favor themselves and I don’t have a path to run for Congress in the 13th district,” Nickel told CBS 17 back in December.
The newly drawn map is a guaranteed seat for Republicans. The person who wins the primary is essentially the next person who goes to Congress.
“It’s been a whirlwind, we were thrilled to get into this runoff,” said candidate Brad Knott, former federal prosecutor.
Knott managed to get the coveted number two spot behind the number one voter choice Kelly Daughtry. No candidate reached the 30 percent plus one vote threshold to avoid a second primary.
14 people were on Tuesday’s GOP primary ballot. Knott needs Daughtry’s votes in order to win the May 14 primary runoff.
“This race for me has always been about what I’ve seen and the idea that I have to fix the problems that I dealt with as a prosecutor,” said Knott. “And of course the stakes are high, you know I’m not a politician really, I’ve never run before and my focus is to just talk to as many voters as I can.”
The race is expected to cost more with less voter turnout, since runoffs tend to have less turnout. Runoffs don’t tend to rally as many people to the polls. Extending an already expensive primary for another 10 weeks means more fundraising for Knott’s campaign. Daughtry has mostly remained self-funded.
Knott plans to keep relaying the same message that he believes has given him a second chance.
“I’m going to use my experience to serve the American people in Congress to take on spending, to take on illegal immigration and take on the open border, and that message resonated with a lot of voters and we think as we continue to run it will only resonate more,” he said.
The 13th District includes northern and southeastern Wake County and most of Granville County. It includes all of Harnett, Lee, Johnston, Person, Caswell and Franklin Counties.
CBS 17 has reached out to Kelly Daughtry’s campaign but has not yet received a response.
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