The Caucus: First in Fight

First in Fight

Rocky Mount Mayor Sandy Roberson recently announced that he won’t continue his GOP primary run in the 1st Congressional District, citing reconfigured voting lines and a need to attend to his city’s financial crisis.

A new city manager performed a detailed review of the city’s finances, concluding that Rocky Mount spent millions more each month than it received and would need to lay off about 100 municipal workers.

Roberson has long had his eye on Congress. In 2022, he narrowly lost a primary in the northeastern part of the state to Republican businesswoman Sandy Smith.

With Roberson’s exit, state Sen. Bobby Hanig may be atop the GOP leaderboard to take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis, whose district state legislators redrew at the urging of President Donald Trump.

Hanig served in the House beginning in 2019 before moving to the opposite side of the building in 2022. Since then, he’s fought with party leadership, including Rules Chairman Bill Rabon and Senate leader Phil Berger over a proposed ban on shrimp trawling. He told reporters on the first day of candidate filing his campaign for Congress has 130 volunteers and has had a presence in all but three counties in the district.

“We’re the team to beat,” Hanig said. “There’s no question.”

Three other Republicans are seeking the party’s nomination: Lenoir County Commissioner Eric Rouse, Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck, and divorce attorney Ashley-Nicole Russell. 

Of note: Rouse is being bolstered by Jonathan Felts, a GOP operative with a history of getting candidates with less name ID endorsed by Trump and elected.

Rouse, who unsuccessfully ran against U.S. Rep. Greg Murphy in 2019, is now presenting himself as the candidate most aligned with Trump. After filing his candidacy paperwork this month, Rouse took aim at Hanig for endorsing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over Trump in the 2024 presidential primaries.

“We don’t need people who come in and just say, ‘Well, I’m going to run and I’m the America First candidate,’ and they endorse DeSantis,” Rouse said. “That’s ridiculous. I’ve been with Trump from the beginning.”

Asked about the possibility of the president inserting himself into the primary race, Hanig replied, “Trump’s endorsement would be a blessing, but it’s not necessary to win.”

— Bryan Anderson

Thanks for reading The Caucus, a politics newsletter anchored by Bryan Anderson. Reach us with tips or ideas at politics@theassemblync.com.

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Trail Mix

• Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley announced Trump will be in Rocky Mount with him on Friday night. According to the announcement, doors open at 6 p.m. 
• All congressional incumbents have filed their reelection paperwork. Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Moore filed on Friday, while GOP Reps. David Rouzer and Brad Knott and Democratic Rep. Davis submitted on Monday. 
• Former state Rep. Raymond Smith Jr. is running in the 3rd Congressional District. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because we reported last week that Smith accused his former colleague, Michael Wray, of telling him, “Whites should marry Whites and Blacks should marry Blacks.”
• Republican state Rep. Matthew Winslow of Franklin County isn’t seeking reelection. He said in a statement he wants to prioritize his family and small business. Cory Thornton, who is on the zoning board for the town of Louisburg, filed for the GOP nomination on Monday morning.
• Jessica Bichler, a Wilmington small business owner, is running on the Democratic side in state Senate District 7 to unseat GOP incumbent Michael Lee. Bichler’s candidacy represents one of two pickup opportunities for Senate Democrats to break the GOP’s supermajority in the chamber.
• Democrat Harris Walker filed his paperwork in House District 25, seeking to stymie Democrat Lorenza Wilkins’ chance for a general election rematch with Republican state Rep. Allen Chesser. 
• For the third consecutive election cycle, Joseph Gibson III has filed to primary Republican state Rep. Reece Pyrtle of Rockingham County. Last year, local Republicans failed to remove Gibson from the ballot over a felony record. The Anti-Defamation League also alleged Gibson had ties to neo-Nazis.
• Pamela Ayscue Perry, a Vance County school teacher who has only voted for Democrats in primaries, is running as a Republican, looking to stymie former Republican state Rep. Frank Sossamon.

Battle of the Books

Remember that explosive scene last week where House Majority Leader Brenden Jones threw books to condemn explicit reading materials he said were available to children in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools?

Well, we have an update from Jones. Following the hearing, he directed the school board to provide monthly reports demonstrating the district’s adherence to a 2023 state law prohibiting instruction on gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality for students from kindergarten through fourth grade.

In Their Defense

The U.S. House last week passed the defense spending bill that includes full federal recognition for the Lumbee Tribe, which my colleague Sarah Nagem recently covered. U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis’s spokesperson told Sarah that the bill could come up for a vote in the Senate as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday. Stay tuned.

— Bryan Anderson

Hurry Up and Wait

A judge said two men who have been incarcerated for 23 years didn’t kill the grandfather of NBA star Chris Paul. So they packed their bags, gave away their food and few belongings, and waited for release from prison.

“They went down to receiving because they were told they were being picked up to go home, and then they were told, ‘Sorry, just kidding, go back to your cell,’ and they had already given all their things away,” said Christine Mumma, the attorney representing both men.

—Tori Newby

What’s on Tap?

• County elections boards have until Friday to submit plans for early voting times and locations to the State Board of Elections. Any counties that don’t reach consensus will submit competing proposals to the NCSBE, which would likely make a decision early next year. As of Monday afternoon, 73 counties adopted plans unanimously, while six had mixed plans: Craven, Cumberland, Guilford, Harnett, Pitt, and Wayne. Democrats have also objected to the Jackson County Board of Elections Republican majority proposal, which would remove Western Carolina University as a voting site. (Follow me on X for an update on Friday.)
• As promised, no votes in the General Assembly, making 2025 the least productive long session in terms of the number of laws enacted since Republicans took control of the legislature in 2011.
• Candidates have until 5 p.m. today to withdraw their candidacies if they filed already and now regret it.
• The State Board of Elections meets at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
• The newly formed House Select Committee on Property Tax Reduction and Reform holds its first meeting at 10 a.m. Wednesday. But don’t expect to see any new legislation, as inaugural committee meetings tend to mainly involve a staff presentation on the current state of things.

— Bryan Anderson

Around the State: Days before his arrest on sex crime charges, former state  Rep. Cecil Brockman told a 911 dispatcher that he was trying to get in contact with his “friend,” who was walking in Thomasville (News & Observer); State Sen. Tom McInnis accused his GOP primary challenger, Ray Daly, of running a false and defamatory ad (CityView); Randolph County Commissioners dissolved the public library’s board of trustees after the trustees allowed a picture book about a transgender boy in the children’s section (WFDD); Folks really want to move to North Carolina and, apparently, Arkansas and Idaho (Axios).

Year in Review: What’s been the biggest political story of the year? Shoot me an email! I’ll be on New Frame, Inc’s Do Politics Better Podcast on Thursday and WUNC’s Due South program on Friday to recap the messy year that was in North Carolina politics.

Upcoming Birthdays: Yours truly today; Sen. Brad Overcash on Thursday, December 18.

Let us know what’s on your radar at politics@theassemblync.com.