House District 63: Rep. Steve Ross (R) vs. Ian Baltutis (D)
The state’s 63rd House District takes in most of western Alamance County and a part of Burlington. It is drawn to elect a Republican legislator, though in just the right circumstances a Democrat can eke out a win. Supporters of Ian Baltutis, Democratic nominee for the seat, hope the present circumstances are exactly the kind that could yield such an event.
Republican State Representative Steve Ross is the incumbent. He’s on the fringes of vulnerability because not only is a freshman legislator, but his opponent Baltutis, owner of a small business, has kept up with him in the money hunt. The 29-year-old Democratic challenger thinks the General Assembly is dysfunctional and Ross is part of the problem. And if a Democratic wave presents itself, then Ross could perhaps be its most surprising victim.
The chances of a statewide Democratic wave happening, however, are looking much less likely as a possibility than they were even two weeks ago. With Tillis beginning to hit his stride on the campaign trail, expect Republicans to come into the fold for their fellow party members up and down the ballot. Even in a wave situation, Ross isn’t very vulnerable, and Democrats have much better prospects.
Notably, Kay Hagan actually won Alamance – barely – in his first 2008 Senate run. Of course, she would have lost it had it not been for the fallout over the ‘Godless’ ad run by the Dole camp. Both HD-63 and HD-64 are drawn to minimize the influence of the city of Burlington, which increasingly votes heavily Democratic. If that city continues to trend in that direction, then both seats could conceivably fall. But that’s not very likely to happen. Ross and his seatmate in the 64th, Dennis Riddell, should be safe through the end of the decade as Alamance remains a strong county for Republicans.
Representative Ross is a vice-president financial adviser with Wells Fargo Advisors and previously served on the Burlington City Council and as the mayor. Baltutis, a Minnesota native, came to Alamance County to attend Elon University, where he received a degree in business administration. He was a candidate for Burlington Mayor in 2013. Currently, he is CEO of his company Vibration Solutions LLC.
John Wynne is the “conservative voice” at PoliticsNC, where he also provides polling analysis and commentary on legislative campaigns. When not writing about politics, he enjoys gardening and listening to opera. Contact: johncwynne@gmail.com.
I hope that there are 100,000 Suzies across the state. The Republicans know how to win an election but they certainly don’t know how to govern.
I hope there aren’t. We need fewer people gullible enough to vote for someone like Mayor McCheese in the first place. The Suzies of the state might have learned their lesson for now, but eventually a slicker snake oil salesman will come along and history will repeat itself.
The best thing that could happen to this state would be an Democratic tsunami to wipe out all the wrongs that this McCrory group has done to this state. And I voted for the idiot! I WILL NOT be voting for anyone associated with McCrory, Art Pope, Thom Tillis, or Phil Berger! The Democrats weren’t very good but they sure as hell didn’t wreak the havoc in DECADES of leadership this this legislature has wreaked in less than one gubernatorial term!