Trump to stump for Senate candidate Budd in North Carolina

Former President Trump will be heading to North Carolina later this month to stump for North Carolina Senate hopeful Rep. Ted Budd (R), according to an advisory from his Save America PAC.

Trump is slated to campaign for the North Carolina lawmaker and his other endorsees in the state on Sept. 23 in Wilmington, N.C., about a month and a half out from the November midterms. 

Budd is going head to head with former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Cheri Beasley (D), and the North Carolina Senate race is considered one of the most competitive this election cycle. It has been rated “lean Republican” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

FiveThirtyEight’s average of polls shows Beasley barely leading Budd 44.6 percent to 44.1 percent respectively. Federal financial filings show the former North Carolina Supreme Court justice has a financial edge over Budd.

A federal financial filing from Budd’s campaign, which was filed in mid-July, shows he had about $1.8 million cash on hand at that point in his campaign compared to Beasley, who reported $4.8 million cash on hand at the end of the same period. 

Some Republicans have shifted to a bearish stance on their prospects of flipping the Senate, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) most notably apprehensive about the chances of doing so amid concerns over candidate quality. Some Republican contenders have been dogged by negative headlines and have shown lagging fundraising figures. 

At the same time, Democrats are still dogged by President Biden’s low approval ratings and decades-high inflation. Data from the Labor Department released on Tuesday showed consumer prices ticking slightly upward.