Trump to hold rally before North Carolina House special election
After over two years of campaigns and a voided November general election over allegations of ballot fraud, voters in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District will finally choose their next congressman on Tuesday. As the campaign comes to a close, President Trump is front and center in the election: Republican Dan Bishop has explicitly tied himself to the president and cast his opponent, Democrat Dan McCready, as a radical socialist.
The president will also be front and center at a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Monday, where Mr. Trump will stump for Bishop. A recent TV ad by Bishop's campaign shows footage of Mr. Trump praising the Republican candidate during a July rally in Greenville, North Carolina.
"He's going to be a great congressman...he will indeed defend your values," Mr. Trump said of Bishop during the July rally, which is better remembered for the chants of "send her back" by the audience, referring to Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
For McCready, the election on Tuesday is his second chance at the seat. McCready ran against Republican Mark Harris in 2018, and appeared to narrowly lose in the November election, before allegations of absentee ballot fraud prompted the state elections board to call a new election.
The memory of scandal during the November election may help McCready motivate supporters to turn out.
"We saw what we now know is the largest case of election fraud in modern-day American history," McCready recently said, according to The Washington Post. "And mark my words: This election on Sept. 10 is the people's chance to get justice."
Hurricane Dorian may have some effect on early voting. Four counties said they would close early voting because of the hurricane. The latest available early voting count shows more Democrats had voted — 40%, compared to 31% of ballots cast by Republicans. However, fewer than 11% of eligible voters have submitted their votes.
In the initial election in November, Harris appeared to lead McCready by 905 votes, but while a lopsided share of absentee ballots were counted favored Harris, an overwhelming amount of ballots requested but never returned or counted came from areas likely to favor McCready.
A contractor working for Harris' campaign, convicted felon Leslie McCrae Dowless, was accused of illegally collecting hundreds of absentee ballots during the race, throwing the true outcome into question. The state Board of Elections twice declined to certify a winner in the 9th District before calling a new election in February. Harris announced shortly afterward that he would not be running in the new election.
Bishop, a state senator, may be best known nationally for authoring a controversial 2016 bill which would have regulated which bathrooms transgender individuals could use.
Mr. Trump's rally in Fayetteville comes after Hurricane Dorian pummeled the Carolinas this week.
Aaron Navarro contributed to this report.