N.C. and Ohio Primaries Key for Democrats to Turn House Blue
*By Christian Smith*
Turnout in primaries in four states on Tuesday may indicate how likely it will be that Democrats wrest control of Congress from Republicans in midterm elections.
Voters in Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia head to the polls Tuesday to determine who will contest House and Senate seats in November, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has focused its resources on House districts in two of those states ー North Carolina and Ohio ー where Democrats have the best chance of of flipping the seats from red to blue.
"A really important thing to look at besides the candidates themselves, in terms of who gets through, will be Democratic enthusiasm," said Meredith Kelly, a spokeswoman fro the DCCC. "If there's any sort of Democratic, unusual enthusiasm, unusual turnout it shows that people, or low turnout on the Republican side, that would be consistent with the special elections that we've seen and sort of consistent with the larger environment."
The DCCC is supporting candidates in 42 competitive House races across the country with its "Red to Blue" program, which provides organizational and fundraising support to candidates running in districts currently held by Republicans.
Four of those 42 candidates have primaries Tuesday in states that Trump won. Dan McCready, a Marine Corps veteran running for North Carolina's 9th district is running for a chance to unseat incumbent Republican Congressman Robert Pittenger. Kathy Manning, a lawyer and heir to the Kay chemical fortune, is running in North Carolina's 13th district. In Ohio, a state Trump won over Hillary Clinton by more than 8 percentage points, the DCCC is backing Aftab Pureval, Hamilton County clerk of courts, in the Ohio 1st district; and the president of world relief organization Team Rubicon, Ken Harbaugh, in the 7th district.
Kelly said that the DCCC chose candidates to support based on who had local, grassroots support; strong polling; and the ability to not just win a primary, but successfully contest the general election in November.
All four of those candidates in North Carolina and Ohio are expected to win their primaries, Kelly said. She suggested the most interesting race to watch Tuesday was the Republican primary in North Carolina's 9th district where Pittenger was in a tight race of his own against a local pastor, Mark Harris.
No matter the outcome in that primary, Kelly said many Republican candidates in previously reliable red districts won't be prepared for the challenge they'll face in the fall.
"I think that you're going to find that the Republicans are not ready for what's coming next," Kelly said. "These are underfunded, and they're not traditionally competitive seats, but because of the energy out there I think they're in for the races of their lives."
The National Republican Congressional Committee's press secretary, Jesse Hunt, said the Democrats don't have these tightly-contested seats in the bag, especially after House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said she would run for Speaker if Democrats retake the House.
"Pelosi is already the most unpopular politician in America," Hunt said in an [email to reporters] (http://www.businessinsider.com/nancy-pelosi-says-will-run-for-house-speaker-after-midterms-2018-5). "The prospect of her implementing an extremely progressive agenda will be a huge motivator for Republicans this fall."
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/voters-prepare-to-head-to-polls-in-beginning-of-primary-season).
Concerns over inflation have become one of the biggest worries for executives. A survey from The Conference Board shows that more than 900 CEOs consider inflation a top tier concern, a major shift from last year's survey that had it as a low-level concern. Rebecca Ray, Executive Vice President, Human Capital, The Conference Board joined Cheddar's Opening Bell for more.
Jordan Zakarin, Media Producer at A More Perfect Union, joined Cheddar News to break down the latest from Colorado, where at least 8,700 Kroger employees walked off the job in demand of increased benefits and wages.
With the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing rapidly approaching, clouds of controversy continue to swirl around China's treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority population, its surveillance state, and security for visiting athletes. Phelim Kine, China correspondent for Politico, joined Cheddar to break down the big storylines surrounding the Beijing Games and highlight what he saw as the complete disregard by top corporate sponsors like P&G, Airbnb, Intel, Visa, and Coca-Cola, for the controversies. "They spend $100 million for every Olympics that they sponsor, and they have frankly shown absolute willful indifference to any type of entreaty to essentially be more vocal about their concerns about human rights in China," he said. Kine also touched on the data privacy fears for athletes as visiting contingents are being told to carry burner phones to avoid security risks.
Texas's six-week abortion ban remains in effect after a federal appeals court ruling on Monday. The U.S. court of appeals for the fifth circuit temporarily transferred the case to the Texas Supreme Court, which is expected to leave the dispute in limbo for months to come. Katie Barlow, attorney and media editor of SCOTUSblog, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Hugh Odom, founder and president of Vertical Consultants, shared his expertise on telecommunications with Cheddar on the safety issue raised about 5G deployment by airlines. The installation was partially delayed again on Tuesday as the airlines warned of potentially catastrophic delays in a letter to the Biden administration. Later, both Verizon and AT&T relented and put a pause on some of the implementations. "The first thing the Biden administration needs to do is get everybody in the room and say, look, aviation industry, identify the problem — wireless industry, come up with a solution," said Odom.
Dave Levinthal, deputy Washington Bureau chief at Insider, joins Cheddar News to discuss Gallup's new survey that reveals more Americans leaned Republican by the end of 2021.
Women's March ATX rally, Saturday, Oct., 2, 2021, at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas. An expected decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in the coming year to severely restrict abortion rights or overturn Roe v. Wade entirely is setting off a renewed round of abortion battles in state legislatures. (AP Photo/Stephen Spillman, File)
Inflation in the U.S. is only getting hotter. The 12-month inflation rate for December 2021 was the highest in nearly 40 years - continuing the trend seen at the close of 2021.
The Consumer Price Index increased 7% in the 12-month period ending in December, marking the fastest increase since 1982. Scott Wren, Senior Global Market Strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, joined Cheddar's Movers for more.
If President Biden runs for re-election in 2024, he may not have anyone to debate. The Republican National Committee sent a letter to the commission on presidential debates, saying the RNC will require candidates to pledge not to participate in those general election debates. Paris Dennard, RNC national spokesperson, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
