Mark Walker to join Trump campaign, likely ending House primary fight

Former Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) has accepted a position with former President Trump’s campaign and will apparently not contest a primary against fellow Republican Addison McDowell, a former staffer to Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) endorsed by Trump in the House race.

“I’ve asked Congressman Mark Walker to join my Campaign team to work with Faith Groups and Minority Communities, and he has agreed to immediately do so,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social Wednesday.

“Mark and I had many Wins together, and we look forward to continuing to build bridges to all Communities in our Great Nation, and advancing this important work in the White House. Welcome Mark!” Trump continued in his Truth Social post.

In his own statement posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Walker said he was “honored to hear from President Trump asking if I would take the lead position as the Director of Outreach for faith and minority communities effective immediately.”

“I’m delighted to accept this position and after the Biden administration is defeated in November, I’m grateful for the offer to continue our work with President Trump in the White House,” Walker continued in the statement. “My heart is to see all Americans succeed, as evidenced by my work in Congress with [Historically Black colleges and universities] along with minority and evangelical initiatives.”

Walker’s statement did not explicitly state that he was not going to continue to contest the GOP nomination for the seat, though he confirmed to several local media outlets that he was ending his campaign.

In a primary last week, McDowell won 26 percent of the vote compared to 24 percent for Walker, which had set up a runoff election.

McDowell will be the heavy favorite to win the seat this fall given the makeup of the district.

Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.) announced at the end of last year that she won’t seek reelection to the seat, calling the new North Carolina congressional maps “egregiously gerrymandered.”

“I would love nothing more than to continue representing our community in Congress. Unfortunately, the egregiously gerrymandered maps do not make this race competitive, and I cannot in good conscience ask people to invest their time, resources and efforts in a campaign that is rigged against us,” Manning said in a statement.

Walker launched and then dropped a bid to become the Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina in a span of a few months last year. He dropped the gubernatorial bid to instead run for his old House seat, following new congressional maps being approved for the Tar Heel State.

The Hill has reached out to Walker’s campaign.