One More GOP Crackpot Who Probably Won't Get Into Congress-- Mark Harris (NC-09)

Keep digging' Mark

Dan McCready isn't my kind of candidate. He has already joined the Blue Dogs and New Dems, the Republican wing of the Democratic Party and is likely to take a very conservative posture when it comes to crucial congressional votes-- more or less your father's kind of Republican but with a "D" next to his name, not a Trumpian fascist or 2018 right-wing extremist. With the connivance of the DCCC, he won the NC-09 May 8th primary.

The Republican incumbent, Robert Pittenger, a solid conservative, was defeated by a neo-fascist extremist, Mark Harris in that primary, probably making it easier for McCready, a Marine vet, to win the general election. McCready didn't just win his primary overwhelmingly-- 36,098 (82.8%) to 7,922 (17.2%)-- he won more votes than the 3 Republican combined!

• Mark Harris- 17,302 (48.54%)
• Robert Pittender- 16,474 (46.22%)
• Clarence Goins- 1,867 (5.24%)

As of the April 18 FEC reporting deadline, Pittenger had spent $1,000,061 to Harris' $465,043. McCready, who has raided the most money, spent $695,478 on the primary. Ryan's House Majority PAC spent around $75,000 attacking Harris. As of that last filing deadline, McCready had $1,220,648 cash on hand to Harris' $70,804.

The district takes up most of the state's southern tier that borders on South Carolina but much of the population lives in metro Charlotte-- Cherry, Colonial Heights, Eastover, Meyers Park, south into the cities suburbs and exurbs-- and most of Fayetteville and its suburbs. Although the district's PVI is R+8 and although Trump beat Hillary there 54.4% to 42.8%, demographics are trending blue. In a wave election, NC-09 would be a good pick to flip Democratic, especially this year when Harris had been unable to soothe the bitterness and rancor of the Pittenger backers. That's confirmed by a Civitas poll of likely voters released yesterday, showing McCready ahead by 7 points.

• Mark Harris- 36%
• Dan McCready- 43%
• Jeff Scott (Libertarian)- 3%

By 49-43% NC-09 voters disapprove of the way Trump is doing his job. But Harris' biggest problem is because women dislike him-- by 16 points. While the poll was in the field a Democratic SuperPAC, American Bridge, discovered a sermon Harris did as a Baptist minister, implying, strongly, that women belong in the home, not in the workplace. It was picked up widely by the local media. He questioned whether a career was the "healthiest pursuit" for women.

In the sermon, Harris, then pastor of Charlotte's First Baptist Church, spoke about "God's plan for biblical womanhood" and barriers to it.

"The first one... is that we’ve had in our own culture a new supreme pursuit," he said. "There is a new supreme pursuit from the traditional pursuit of being a wife or a mother... 
"In our culture today, girls are taught from grade school... that what is most honorable in life is a career, and their ultimate goal in life is simply to be able to grow up and be independent of anyone or anything," he said.

"But nobody has seemed to ask the question that I think is critically important to ask: Is that a healthy pursuit for society? Is that the healthiest pursuit for our homes? ...Is that the healthiest pursuit for the sexes in our generation?"

...In a statement, McCready said the sermon reflects someone "out of step."

"As a Christian, I believe that we are all created in God's image," he said. "That means men and women are equally valuable and equally capable and should be treated as such in their homes, careers, and in society. Mr. Harris' comments suggest otherwise. This is just another example of how out of step Mr. Harris is-- not just with this district but with this century."


...Harris' sermon came a year after he helped lead the successful 2012 push for what was known as Amendment One, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman. It was later nullified when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage.