Ross’s “Midnight Rollout”

by | Oct 14, 2015 | 2016 Elections, Carolina Strategic Analysis, Features, NC Politics, US Senate | 9 comments

Former State Representative Deborah Ross is now running for U.S. Senate against Richard Burr. Her campaign began with a video, launched under a cloak of darkness and in the aftermath of a Democratic presidential debate. The North Carolina Republican Party is already questioning her “midnight rollout” and pointing out her record of voting for tax increases while in the legislature.

Ross’s entrance was expected. Also expected was the non-candidacy of State Rep. Duane Hall, who ended his trial balloon by announcing he wasn’t running and that a top-notch nominee would soon be stepping forward, paving the way for Ross. The former legislator from Wake County is now the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination to challenge Burr. She’ll be boosted by her appeal to women and her base in the Triangle. Other contenders will have difficulty competing with her when it comes to raising money.

Other candidates: no one is expecting former Congressman Heath Shuler to run. And we’re still waiting on State Sen. Joel Ford. I would be surprised if he gives up a safe seat in the legislature for what would be a tough battle in both the primary and the general. Spring Lake Mayor Chris Rey is already a candidate but he’s going to have to prove a superb campaigner in order to beat Ross. His biography gives him an outside shot at doing so.

When it comes to Ross, the big concern is that she’s too liberal to win statewide. Regardless of who the party ends up nominating, Sen. Burr starts out as the clear favorite for reelection. Democrats better hope for a blue wave, led by a strong presidential nominee, in order to change that calculation.

9 Comments

  1. Keith

    Gee! “No response” to questions about the NRA!!?? You just don’t know how to listen to the “sounds of silence.” Burr, the “son of a prominent minister,” said ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in response to the Charleston murders, whose victims included ministers.

  2. Bruce T Nash II

    It was announced last year, I believe, that Mr. Burr was the recipient of the largest amount donated to a sitting US Senator by the NRA, to the tune of over $800,000. Upon reading that jaw-dropping amount, I immediately send a message to Mr. Burr, asking ‘how much money would the citizens of North Carolina have to pay him to support the PEOPLE of North Carolina?’

    I got no response. Surprise!!

    Richard Burr does NOTHING for the PEOPLE of our state. We need real representation in the PEOPLE’s Congress, and we, at least in my HR district (5, “represented” by Ms Virginia Foxx) are getting none from either our Senator or Representative.

    If we elect Ms. Ross, will she be the Senator of the PEOPLE of North Carolina?

    We can hope! I intend to vote for her. We no longer need the likes of Richard Burr, the sweetheart of the NRA, the oil/fracking business, and not the PEOPLE’s Senator

    • TY Thompson

      Attacking Burr on second amendment issues is a great strategy for getting him re-elected. Reps, Unaffiliateds, and a lot of Dems in the rural counties like their guns. Far better approaches exist. Take Veterans issues for example. Burr is already making noises about how veterans appreciate him for keeping America safe as Chair of the Senate Intel Committee. But he’s hugely vulnerable if a Dem candidate points out that when he was on the Veterans affairs committee, he was completely unaware of the massive VA scandal that was unfolding.

  3. larry

    Dude…there ya go being a word smith again…..cloak of darkness…midnight roll out…aftermath of a Democratic presidential debate….
    If the Republicans…you…and the Burr campaign are so confident of Burr being the “clear favorite for re-election” why the rabid reaction and characterization ? I guess you really do fear that BIG BLUE WAVE COME NOVEMBER 2016! As you should.

  4. Cosmic janitor

    The republikan party’s affiliate corporate entities own the media airwaves and the electronic voting/tabulation machines, giving republikans an immediate advantage in all electoral races. These circumstances gave Burr his first election victory over Bowles when miraculously the lead switched to Burrs advantage immediately after the polls closed – something considered a statistical improbability. Ross would make what Burr never will be, a genuine representative of the people. Burr represents one thing and one thing only: republikan crony corporatism – which is a politically correct way of saying fascism.

    • TY Thompson

      Well, fascists apparently are popular in this state or Burr wouldn’t be in office. On an other note, if NC

      • TY Thompson

        Dems want to beat Burr, they shouldn’t waste their strongest candidate, Roy Cooper, on a less important race. The Senate is where it matters.

    • Nortlety

      Bowles led in the polls in the race largely because Burr kept a very low profile until the last 3-4 weeks of the campaign when he unleashed the money he had raised in a massive onslaught of media ads. By the time Election Day arrived Burr had a lead in most every public poll.

  5. Elizabeth M.T. O'Nan

    What a breath of fresh air. May we hope for a pregressive that will represent the people and not the corporate 1%?

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