{"id":3849,"date":"2020-09-09T10:52:58","date_gmt":"2020-09-09T10:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=3849"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:52:38","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:52:38","slug":"ross-looks-to-add-a-democrat-seat-in-redrawn-nc-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/09\/09\/ross-looks-to-add-a-democrat-seat-in-redrawn-nc-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Wake County congressional seat looking promising for Democrats"},"content":{"rendered":"
Even as a Republican running for a GOP held seat, Alan Swain has to level with himself. Things don\u2019t look good for his campaign in the redrawn 2nd Congressional District.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI’m a realist. It’s a tough, uphill battle,\u201d Swain said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Once deep red, the 2nd is now projected to flip blue. <\/span>The Cook Political Report<\/span><\/a> rates the race \u201clikely Democratic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Swain\u2019s opponent, Deborah Ross, is a fixture in the state\u2019s Democratic party. She challenged Republican Sen. Richard Burr in the 2016 Senate race, losing by a narrow margin of <\/span>51.1% to 45.3%<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Ross is on the ballot after winning the <\/span>Democratic primary in March<\/span><\/a> alongside Swain and Libertarian Jeff Matemu, who both ran uncontested.<\/span><\/p>\n The path to a new Democratic House seat emerged after a panel of judges ruled the <\/span>old map was unconstitutional<\/span><\/a> due to gerrymandering. In the newly redrawn boundaries, <\/span>eight districts are expected to lean Republican and five Democrat<\/span><\/a>, compared to the previous 10 to three divide.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The 2nd District was <\/span>formerly composed of<\/span><\/a> Franklin, Harnett and Nash counties, and pieces of Johnston, Wake and Wilson counties were mixed in too. In 2016, Franklin, Harnett, Nash and Johnston voted for both President Donald Trump and Burr.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Now the district is contained solely in Wake County, with the additions of urban Raleigh and Cary providing a Democratic shift to the district\u2019s limits. Meredith College political scientist David McLennan called that an advantage for Ross.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNow [the district] encompasses a lot of Wake County, which is very favorable to Democrats,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ross won <\/span>Wake County 55.33% to 41.51%<\/span> in her 2016 Senate race.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n The new boundaries pushed current Congressman George Holding, a Republican, to not seek reelection.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat I have learned about our government, and elections, and public life could fill a book,\u201d Holding said in a public statement announcing his retirement in December. \u201cI should add, candidly, that, yes, the newly redrawn Congressional Districts were part of the reason I have decided not to seek reelection.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The candidates<\/strong><\/p>\n Ross\u2019s fundraising adds another advantage. She has raised over $1.3 million through June 30. She had a generous headstart with $57,783 left over from her Senate campaign against Swain, who has yet to hit $100,000. He is running a largely self-funded race and has donated almost $25,000 to his effort.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Still, the Republican candidate\u2019s resume makes him formidable. As a retired Army colonel, a former executive officer to the White House drug czar for two administrations and a small business entrepreneur, Swain has diverse work experience. His next goal is to support his community with a seat in Washington.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI served my country, and now I\u2019m being asked to serve a second time. I was a citizen soldier. And now I\u2019m being asked to be a citizen statesman,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Neither candidate was born in North Carolina, but both have woven themselves into their adopted communities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ross arrived in North Carolina over 25 years ago to attend law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She and her husband now live in Raleigh with their dog, Wylie.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After practicing as a civil rights lawyer, Ross made her political debut running for the North Carolina House of Representatives, where she served for more than 10 years. While in office, she acted as both majority and minority whip, as well as the chair of the Judiciary, Ethics and Election Laws committees.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ross said her time as a state legislator allowed her to push her policy agenda while collaborating with other politicians across the aisle.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>I brought people together to find solutions, even people I did not always agree with, whether it was government ethics reform, expanding voting rights, increasing pay for educators, or issues of racial justice,\u201d Ross wrote in an email statement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She also served as the state director of the American Civil Liberties Union, a point Burr\u2019s campaign used in the Senate race to paint her as <\/span>too liberal to lead the state<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ross\u2019s involvement in state politics makes her a familiar name on the ballot. She\u2019ll use that popularity\u00a0 to her advantage, McLennan said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShe’s well-known,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you look at her time when she was in the Legislature, she spent as much time if not more than any person I’ve ever seen, not just being in her office but going up into her district.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Swain, who moved to Raleigh in 2017 to spend more time with his three daughters and grandchildren, began volunteering with the North Carolina Republican Party following the 2018 midterm election.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNext thing I knew after several interviews they asked me, \u2018we want you to run for office,\u2019 and here I am running for Congress,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The coronavirus pandemic has allowed Swain to serve his community in a new way. As president of the North Carolina Asian American Coalition, Swain, who is half Japanese, has partnered with 19 other Asian organizations to purchase personal protective equipment for healthcare workers. Together, they have contributed over 50,000 items to more than 60 hospitals in North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and India, according to Swain\u2019s campaign website. He said he has also provided disposable masks to local small businesses out of his own pocket.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Swain said these acts highlight his commitment to Wake County. That commitment is at the core of his politics, he added. Although <\/span>he lists priorities<\/span><\/a> such as increasing funding for law enforcement, advocating for school choice and protecting the Second Amendment, he said his focus is on what benefits the 2nd District.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI may have conservative views, but I want to do what’s best for Wake County in North Carolina and the city of Raleigh,\u201d he said. “If it doesn’t help Wake County, if it doesn’t help the state of North Carolina, I’m not going to vote in favor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The \u201cD.C. gridlock,\u201d motivated him to seek office. Frustrated by a lack of bipartisan collaboration in Washington, Swain said he hopes to draft and support House bills that will have a chance to pass in the Senate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He said he\u2019ll follow former President Harry Truman\u2019s advice on navigating D.C.: \u201cif you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI’m not a career politician. I’m not seeking any higher office,\u201d he said. \u201cI don’t need this job. I want to make a difference.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n On <\/span>her campaign website<\/span><\/a>, Ross outlines nine priorities from access to affordable health care to providing a path to citizenship that keeps families together. Some of her agenda items include creating a public option for health insurance, increasing the maximum Pell Grant award to increase college affordability and protecting access to abortion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI will work to pass paid sick leave, increase the minimum wage, protect and strengthen Social Security, and fight to end inequities in health care and education,\u201d she wrote.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The path forward<\/strong><\/p>\n For now, though, Ross and her team are focused on voter registration.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy team is working with a coordinated field effort to turn out voters in our district to help elect Democrats up and down the ticket,\u201d she wrote.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For a Swain victory, there would need to be an increase of Republicans voters in November, according to McLennan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt would take a massive turnout by Republicans and a lower than expected turnout among Democrats for Deborah Ross to lose,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The 2nd District boundary contains almost 80% of Wake County. Swain knows in Wake there are 282,534 registered Democrats compared to 184,791 Republicans <\/span>as of Sept. 5<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere are more Democrats registered in my county or my district than there are Republicans. The whole fight for me has to be in the center,\u201d Swain said. \u201cBut that doesn’t change my desire to represent this county.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Heading into the final two months ahead of election day, Ross has over 25 times the cash on hand at $473,072 compared to Swain\u2019s $18,221.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ross has spent over $25,000 so far on Facebook advertisements, mainly used to ask for donations to her campaign and introduce herself to voters. Swain, on the other hand, has spent just over $1,600 on the platform.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n