The race for Congress

The congressional districts that include Cumberland County are among key races in the country that likely could determine whether Republicans are able to retain control of the U.S. House, experts say.

The most closely watched in North Carolina is District 9, where moderate Democrat Dan McCready, a former Marine, is pitted against Republican Mark Harris, a pastor who aligns with President Trump. If McCready is able to win in this Republican-leaning district on Nov. 6, it will be the first time for a Democrat in 55 years.

Nationwide, Democrats have to show a net gain of 23 seats in this midterm election to regain power of the House, and political scientists believe the 9th District is one of their better chances. The district covers southern Cumberland County and parts of downtown and east Fayetteville, as well as sections of Hope Mills, and it spans along the South Carolina border from Robeson, Bladen and Scotland counties to Charlotte.

McCready has carried along a significant lead in fundraising, according to the latest Federal Election Commission data. Through Sept. 30, McCready had raised $4.3 million compared with $1.6 million for Harris.

But polls have gone back and forth.

Republicans have held this district since 1963. Rep. Robert Pittenger has served the district since 2013 but lost in the GOP primary to Harris, who is a former president of the State Baptist Convention.

Harris has brought firepower to his campaign with a visit by Trump, who helped raise money for him in Charlotte on Aug. 31. Early this month, Second Lady Karen Pence was in the Queen City for a Harris rally.

McCready, meanwhile, was in Fayetteville on Friday with Democratic Congressman John Lewis, a civil rights leader who encouraged a crowd at Fayetteville State University to vote.

McCready, a Harvard business school graduate and Iraq veteran, talks often about his service in the Marines. He has called Harris “extreme” and “divisive,” to which Harris has frequently tried to associate McCready with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

“McCready has a really good resume and he seems to be attracting money from inside and outside of the state,” said David McLennan, professor of political science at Meredith College. “He's doing really well in terms of fundraising. So he's got a lot of things in his favor in a district that even back in 2016 was very close. I think the Democrats have targeted this district in terms of candidate recruitment and money even before Pittenger lost.”

Catawba College political science professor Michael Bitzer said if the Democrats are able to flip District 9, it will be “an early indicator of a very good evening” for the party.

“That district traditionally is considered on the borderline of a safe Republican seat, and I think this year's dynamics have pushed it to competitive,” he said.

McCready said if elected he would focus on what's best for the country instead of partisan politics.

"The Congress is completely broken," he said. "People show up there with good intentions, but it becomes all about their own re-election, the money, the special interests — whatever their party leadership says. And folks in North Carolina are getting left behind by the Washington politicians.”

He calls himself part of a new generation of leaders who would go to Washington “as Americans first” to “fix the mess.”

He said if elected, he would protect Social Security and Medicare and push for affordable health care for every American. McCready said he supports tax cuts for the middle class and balancing the national debt, as he said he had to do operating a small solar energy business with a fellow Marine.

“Congress should have to do the same thing. Mark Harris supports a tax bill that blows a $2 trillion hole in our debt, burdening our middle class and all of our children with even more crushing debt," he said.

McCready said if elected he would like to form a 9-11 young veterans caucus from both sides of the aisle that can serve as one voice in Washington. “I had the honor of leading a platoon of 65 Marines during the surge in 2007 and 2008 in Iraq,” he said. “We came from all over the country and we never cared about where you came from and who your parents were. We never cared about the color of your skin, and we didn't even care if you were a Republican and Democrat.”

Harris said McCready portrays himself as a conservative but is really a liberal. His campaign is encouraging Republicans to get out and vote.

“We certainly need to emphasize the importance of people turning out," he said. "To not do so is to hand over the gavel of the speaker's chair to Nancy Pelosi. It is a matter of keeping the agenda that the president has put out for us and that we keep moving down that path, or whether everybody wants to take a step back, repeal the tax cuts, put all the regulations back in place.”

He said there are a number of issues on which he differs with McCready. “He opposed the tax cut that was passed in 2017. I was in favor of that tax cut,” Harris said.

Harris said he supports Trump's proposal to build a border wall while his opponent “only speaks in vague terms of securing the border.”

Harris helped lead a state effort to pass a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in 2012, which was later overturned by the courts. He said he is pro-life.

“(McCready) has demonstrated that he supports abortion on demand,” he said. “I support the president's agenda that he has set to replace Obamacare. (McCready) wants to keep Obamacare. Ultimately, this election really is going to be about control of the House.”

Getting less attention is the District 8 race, which extends from Fayetteville in the east to Concord in the west, but it also is considered potentially vulnerable for Republicans.

Incumbent Richard Hudson of Concord has held the seat since 2013. Challenging him is Democrat Frank McNeill, who has served three terms on the Aberdeen City Council, two terms as Aberdeen mayor and another term on the Moore County Board of Education.

Hudson has a significant lead in fundraising. Through Sept. 30, he had raised $2.2 million compared with McNeill’s $595,769, according to FEC filings.

Hudson said he has done his best to stay in touch with people in his district and go to bat for them in Washington.

“My approach has always been to spend a lot of time in the community," he said.

Hudson said he wants to continue with progress Congress has made, such as the tax cuts. "A lot of people are very optimistic about the direction of the economy," he said.

He said he's also worked to support the military. “I've worked very hard to restore the cuts we've seen in the last eight or nine years in our military. We've gotten two pay raises in a row for our troops and also a lot of money for equipment and training to try and rebuild our readiness.”

McNeill said he wants to bring civility to Congress.

“People are just so sick of the way Washington is behaving, the way they are berating each other," he said. "I come from a culture in local government in which you work together to get things done. If you disagree, you disagree, but don't become disagreeable. You don't become ugly."

McNeill said he doesn't believe insurance companies should be able to discriminate in covering people with pre-existing conditions, which is a provision of the Affordable Care Act.

“That wasn't there before the Affordable Care Act,” he said. “I've talked to people who have diabetes who say if that goes away, they can't get insurance at any price. (Hudson) has voted numerous times to do away with the plan."

Political experts say other key races in the state are District 2 and District 13.

In District 2, Republican incumbent George Holding is challenged by Democrat Linda Coleman. The Republican-leaning district includes eastern Wake County, parts of Johnston County and all of Franklin and Harnett counties.

Coleman is a former Wake County commissioner and former state House member. Holding is a lawyer and former aide to U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms. He was formerly the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

In the 13th district in the Greensboro area, first-term Republican Rep. Ted Budd, a gun shop owner and investment analyst from Advance, is being challenged by Kathy Manning, a former immigration lawyer from Greensboro.

John Henderson can be reached at jhenderson@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3596.