Rep. Ted Budd, the GOP candidate running against Democrat Cheri Beasley to replace retiring Senator Richard Burr, is off the rails. Here are portions of an editorial that ran in the “Triad City Beat” following a visit by Budd to Greensboro:
He’s already won the primary — in no small part because of Donald Trump’s full-throated endorsement. But it’s like he didn’t read the playbook on how to win a statewide election: Use the primary to appeal to your base, and then tack towards center to win over voters in the general election.
Budd, who rose to prominence in North Carolina by posting obnoxious billboards for his gun shop and then winning a crowded primary in a stacked district for his Congressional seat, has been leaning even harder on extreme positions that, simply put, North Carolinians do not like.
More than half of us want to keep or expand current abortion access in the state, yet Budd supports a near-total abortion ban, aligning with about 10 percent of the country. On July 15, he voted against a bill that would protect the freedom to travel for an abortion.
The next day he voted against marriage equality, which has never been more popular in this country — 71 percent approve.
On July 21, he voted against the Right to Contraception Act, which ensures Americans’ right to birth control, a position that 96 percent of us align with.
Last year Budd went against the infrastructure bill. This year, even Senator Thom Tillis supported a bipartisan gun-safety compromise; Budd went against the House version of the bill, though 68 percent of Americans supported it.
And let’s not forget how he got that Trump endorsement: By voting against impeachment, twice, and by voting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
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