2 years ago
Donald Trump’s pick in North Carolina’s contentious Republican Senate primary is struggling to gain traction, raising concerns among his powerful backers about his prospects in a race that is key to control of the Senate.
Rep. Ted Budd, the congressman Trump unexpectedly endorsed last summer, has fallen in recent polling and lagged in fundraising, leaving him chasing the front-runner, former Gov. Pat McCrory. The presence of former Rep. Mark Walker in the primary — who is competing with Budd for the most conservative, pro-Trump voters — is further complicating Budd’s efforts with just over two months to go until the state’s May primary.
Amid speculation in Trump world that the former president has grown to regret his early endorsement of Budd, Trump raised the issue at a Republican National Committee donor dinner in New Orleans on Saturday, according to audio of the event obtained by POLITICO.
“How are we doing? How’s Ted Budd doing? OK?” Trump asked North Carolina GOP Chair Michael Whatley from the stage. “All right, we gotta get Walker out of that race. Get him out of the race, Michael, right?”
Trump earlier this year reiterated his support for Budd. He even sought to convince Walker to bow out of the race by dangling a House endorsement in an attempt to clear the field.
Trump’s comments to top Republican supporters come as Walker — a former Baptist minister who was chair of the Republican Study Committee while in Congress — reiterated his intention to remain in the primary. Candidate filing in North Carolina has closed, meaning Walker’s spot on the ballot is now locked in.
Neither Whatley nor a Trump spokesperson provided a comment.
While Budd has kept a low profile in recent weeks, including declining to participate in a Republican candidate debate, Walker — who has struggled to raise money throughout the campaign — has relied on his strong suit of retail politics to generate a flurry of local earned media coverage.
A February poll by Remington Research Group conducted for Walker’s campaign and obtained by POLITICO shows Budd falling 5 points since a January survey by the firm. Remington’s most recent poll put McCrory at 35 percent, Budd at 24 percent, Walker at 17 percent and Marjorie Eastman — a late entrant into the race who has had moderate success with fundraising — at 3 percent. Undecideds make up 21 percent of voters, the poll found.
A separate poll, commissioned by the pro-Walker super PAC Awake Carolina, found Budd slipping even further. The survey, conducted by Ingress Research Group Feb. 27 and also obtained by POLITICO, found McCrory at 29 percent, Budd at 18 percent, Walker at 11 percent, Eastman at 4 percent and 35 percent still undecided. The firm polled 864 likely Republican primary voters using phone interviews and online questions, with a margin of error of 3.3 percent.
McCrory remained off the air as Club for Growth Action, the conservative super PAC backing Budd, has aired more than $4 million worth of ads since last year. Many of those criticized McCrory, who is portraying himself as a more moderate candidate, for being anti-Trump. As the pinch on Budd tightens — and as Club President David McIntosh has taken a close interest in the North Carolina primary — the group is now pouring millions more into ad buys, raising their initial pledge of $10 million to at least $14 million to support Budd.
“We’re going to do what it takes to win,” said Club for Growth spokesperson Joe Kildea.
But after months of attacks against him that went unanswered on air, McCrory is now hitting back. On Wednesday, the former governor is launching his first television ad in the race — a 30-second spot on Fox News going after Budd over recent comments he made about Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“He’s a very intelligent actor,” the ad, reviewed by POLITICO, quotes Budd saying in a recent TV interview. “There are strategic reasons why he would want to protect his southern and western flank. … We understand that.”
The spot, which seeks to portray Budd as sympathetic to Putin, is the first of its kind in a Senate race this cycle.
“These are serious times and we need serious senators,” McCrory says in the ad. “I don’t compliment our enemies. I stand for truth and freedom.”
Budd’s campaign pushed back on the ad’s characterization of his comments in the recent interview, in which Budd also referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as “evil” and “an international thug.”
“Governor McCrory has a long track-record of underestimating the opposition, which is why he’s already lost twice and is about to lose again,” Budd adviser Jonathan Felts said in a statement to POLITICO. McCrory lost a gubernatorial bid in the general election in 2008, was elected in 2012, and then lost reelection in 2016.
“Just like Obama and Biden, Governor McCrory seems determined to underestimate Putin. Ted Budd knows these are serious times that require strength, not the empty soundbites preferred by career politicians like Biden and McCrory, and he accurately described Putin as an evil, intelligent threat to be taken seriously.”
Glen Bolger, a pollster for McCrory, said Tuesday that he had just completed a survey this weekend of Republican primary voters in an unnamed state, that suggested the Putin line of attack could be effective.
Asked which country they would support “in the war between Russia and Ukraine,” 87 percent of GOP primary voters said Ukraine, while just 4 percent said Russia. Six percent said they weren’t sure. He wagers the anti-Russia sentiment is the same among voters across state and party lines right now.
“Republican primary voters don’t cotton to politicians who are soft on Russia,” Bolger said.
Alex Isenstadt contributed to this report.
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