Local Democrats tell DCCC to butt out of the 13th Congressional primary

Democratic Party delegates for North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District passed a resolution today requesting that the DCCC, the House Democrats’ fundraising arm, stay out of the primary election as voters select a nominee to challenge Republican incumbent Ted Budd in the state’s most heavily contested congressional race.

The resolution approved today by the NC 13th District Democrats during their annual convention at GTCC’s Jamestown campus called support by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee “a disruptive and undemocratic force,” while calling on the state party to “demand that the DCCC support of candidates during the primary election process be forbidden.”

The DCCC named Kathy Manning, a Greensboro philanthropist and heir to the Kay Chemical fortune who is running in the 13th district, to its “Red to Blue” list shortly after she announced her campaign in December 2017. The committee describes “Red to Blue” as “a highly competitive and battle-tested program at the DCCC that arms top-tier candidates with organizational and fundraising support to help them continue to run strong campaigns.” Manning’s fundraising totals — $530,000 before filing had even begun — prompted two prospective African-American candidates, Bruce Davis and Beniah McMiller, to bow out of the race. Manning faces one opponent in the Democratic primary — Adam Coker, a long-haul truck driver who has been campaigning almost continuously since early 2017. To date, Manning has raised $1.3 million, compared to $54,475 by Coker.

The vote by a show of hands by delegates at the 13th Congressional District convention demonstrated “extremely strong support” for the resolution,” said Josh Brown, a delegate who is also Guilford County vice chair for High Point. A video of the vote provided by Coker shows that the delegates overwhelmingly supported the resolution, with the possible exception one person. Brown said about 100 delegates attended the convention.

Read more: https://triad-city-beat.com/local-democrats-tell-dccc-butt-13th-congressional-primary/