CHARLOTTE – The White House helped give N.C. Sen. Dan Bishop an edge over Democratic challenger Dan McCready in the race for the Ninth District House of Representatives seat.
Bishop finished with 3,937 more votes than McCready in the Sept. 10 special election, according to unofficial results.
President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence campaigned on Bishop’s behalf throughout the Ninth District on Sept. 9. Trump spoke in Fayetteville, while Pence campaigned in Charlotte, Marshville and Wingate, among other stops.
Trump tweeted support for Bishop a few times on Election Day, urging North Carolinians to vote for the Republican.
“Dan Bishop was down 17 points 3 weeks ago,” Trump tweeted before all the precincts were in. “He then asked me for help, we changed his strategy together, and he ran a great race.”
Trump also criticized CNN and MSNBC for barely talking about the District 9 race as it looked like Bishop was going to win.
Bishop had 96,081 votes (50.74%), followed by McCready’s 92,144 (48.66%), Libertarian Jeff Scott’s 767 (0.41%) and Green Party Allen Smith’s 371 (0.20%).
McCready had 7,084 more absentee one-stop votes and 289 mail-in votes than Bishop heading into Sept. 10. Bishop supporters made up that deficit and then some. Bishop had 11,310 more votes than McCready on Election Day.
Bishop thanked Trump, Pence and other supporters during his victory speech at W.H. Harris Lighting Company in Monroe.
“The White House leadership and all our Republican and conservative partners who were there for us every step of the way because they all understood what was at stake in this election,” Bishop said. “I told President Trump we weren’t tired of winning … are we tired of winning y’all? We’re not tired of winning…we’re just getting started because we are seeing the successful results of the President’s agenda.”
Bishop said the election result sent the message that voters said “no to the radical liberal policies being pushed by the Democrat Party.”
The Ninth District spans 210 districts across eight counties, including Mecklenburg and Union.
Union County was key to Bishop’s campaign, as he had 12,414 more votes than McCready. Bishop had more votes than McCready in 43 of Union County’s 52 precincts.
McCready led all Charlotte precincts with the exception of the one that voted at The Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints on Carmel Road. Bishop led precincts in the Matthews and Mint Hill area.
Charlotte races
Charlotte City Council incumbents Ed Driggs, Matt Newton and Larken Egleston not only won their primaries, but they won’t face opponents in the November election.
Driggs, a Republican representing the Ballantyne area on the council, defeated challenger Victoria Nwasike by 4,371 votes. On paper, Nwasike figured to be Driggs’ toughest opponent to date, considering her leadership roles with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Board and the Ballantyne Breakfast Club.
Victoria Watlington beat out two other Democrats to win the District 3 primary; she’ll have no opponents in November.
The election also chiseled other races.
Charlotte City Council At-Large incumbents Braxton Winston, James Mitchell, Dimple Ajmera and Julie Eiselt won their primary to take on Republican Joshua Richardson. Democrat challenger Malcolm Graham won his primary to take on Republican challenger Jacob Robinson for the District 2 seat.
Mayor Vi Lyles will take on Republican challenger David Michael Rice.
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