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Kirk Ross

Kirk Ross, 2022 Election Correspondent, is a longtime North Carolina journalist covering the 2022 U.S. Senate race for Policy Watch and States Newsroom. For the past decade, Kirk has reported on state politics and public policy as a member of the Capital Press Corps for Carolina Public Press and the Washington Post and on environmental, climate change and energy policy for Coastal Review. Kirk was a Chapel Hill News and News & Observer local government and education reporter, managing editor of INDY Week and co-founder and editor of the fondly-remembered Carrboro Citizen weekly. [email protected] 919-737-5096

Despite fragility of abortion rights, NC voter turnout remains strong but not extraordinary at the close of early voting

By: - November 5, 2022

The final push is on and get out the vote efforts shift to Tuesday in an election in which the key for Democrats and Republicans has been to rev up enthusiasm among their most reliable voters. As early voting wraps up, the vote totals are higher than at this time in the last midterm election, […]

In-person voting starts Thursday: Where things stand and what NC voters need to know

By: - October 19, 2022

North Carolina’s 359 early voting sites open up this week for in-person voting and same day registration. This year’s in-person early voting period runs from Thursday October 20 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, November 5. Election Day is Tuesday, November 8. Voters can use any early voting site in the county where they’re registered. The […]

As race remains tight, Beasley and Budd will hold only debate of Senate campaign Friday night

By: - October 6, 2022

The first and only debate in North Carolina’s 2022 U.S. Senate race takes place Friday night at 8 p.m., giving voters their first look at the state’s next senator on a debate stage this cycle. Neither candidate participated in a debate during the primary. Former state Supreme Court Chief Justice and Democratic Party nominee Cheri […]

With voting by mail already underway, Beasley-Budd Senate race remains neck and neck

By: - September 23, 2022

The latest polls show that the gap between Cheri Beasley and Ted Budd continues to narrow, while the candidates’ differences on key issues have sharpened ahead of what could be their one and only debate. Budd, who avoided debates during an extended and contentious GOP primary, agreed to go toe-to-toe with Beasley, who faced nominal opposition and no debates in the Democratic primary, on Oct. 7. The event will air on Spectrum News and be moderated by Tim Boyum.

Latest polling finds big gap in candidate “favorability” ratings is influencing NC’s U.S. Senate race

By: - September 7, 2022

With the start of early voting just seven weeks away, Democrat Cheri Beasley continues to run stronger than pundits had projected. It’s probably just a coincidence that the Pantone company chose "Very Peri," a vibrant purple, as its 2022 color of the year, but it would be hard to find a better shade to describe North Carolina’s electorate. Both are trending this fall.

U.S Senate race update: Beasley and Budd tied in new poll

By: - August 19, 2022

A new Civitas poll that shows Cheri Beasley and Ted Budd tied is the latest in a string of indications that North Carolina’s U.S. Senate race has reached toss-up status. The poll was released Thursday at a briefing by the conservative John Locke Foundation. It showed Beasley and Budd with 42.3% with 12.6% undecided. Libertarian […]

With “go everywhere” strategy, Beasley breaks with Democratic playbook for statewide races

By: - August 11, 2022

In her attempt to break the Democratic Party’s streak of losses in U.S. Senate races, Cheri Beasley has billed herself as a different kind of Democrat. Over the past year, perhaps the most convincing case for that has been the stops on her itineraries.

Green Party ordered on the ballot in Senate race

By: - August 8, 2022

North Carolina Green Party Senate candidate Matthew Hoh says he’s ramping up his campaign now that a federal judge has ordered that the party’s nominees be placed on the 2022 ballot. “From the very beginning, we have worked towards a speedy resolution to being placed onto the ballot; this is something that should have occurred […]

Beasley vs. Budd: With 12 weeks to go, Democratic Senate candidate finds surprising momentum

By: - July 26, 2022

Pivotal contest that some had already conceded to the GOP is shaping up to be closer than expected With less than three months to go before the start of early voting, North Carolina’s closely watched contest for an open U.S Senate seat remains as close as it is contentious. Going into summer the race between Rep. Ted Budd and former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley appeared tilted in favor of the Republican.

U.S. Senate race field notes — Vol. 10

By: - May 25, 2022

Door for more candidates is still ajar The networks weren’t very deep into their election night coverage when the field of candidates in this year’s U.S. Senate race dropped from 26-3. For the record, left standing and on the ballot in the fall are are Republican Rep. Ted Budd, Democrat and former state Supreme Court […]

NC will select finalists in high-stakes U.S. Senate election tomorrow

By: - May 16, 2022

Stage to be set for momentous 175-day sprint to November 8 Election Day for the 2022 primary arrives tomorrow, but in North Carolina the general election campaign has already begun for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat, a race that is expected to be one of the costliest and combative in state history.

National prognosticators say NC Senate race will favor whichever GOP candidate emerges from May 17 primary

By: - April 29, 2022

Presumed Democratic nominee Cheri Beasley faces an uphill fight, but will bring plenty of experience and funding to the effort Absentee ballots are starting to roll in and in-person early voting began Thursday in this year’s U.S. Senate primary, an election in which nearly all of the focus is on the bare-knuckled fight in the Republican race. But even before that’s decided, the country’s top political prognosticators are out with predictions for the fall.