Field notes from the North Carolina U.S. Senate campaign — Vol. 5

So many candidates

The cast of characters in the U.S. Senate race grew over North Carolina’s second candidate filing period, but the plot hasn’t changed.

After being halted by a court ruling in redistricting lawsuits last December, filing restarted February 24 and closed at noon Friday.
Although there were some surprises in congressional and state legislative races, the direction of U.S. Senate primaries remains unchanged. Marjorie Eastman and Mark Walker filed Wednesday and Thursday respectively, joining Pat McCrory and Ted Budd in the top tier of the GOP’s 14 candidates.

Cheri Beasley’s main challengers dropped out of the race last year and although she is one of 11 Democrats, she has effectively cleared the field.

Shannon Bray of Apex is the lone Libertarian in the race and already headed for the fall ballot.

The order of names on the ballot were determined Friday by the State Board of Elections in accordance with a state law requiring a random selection, which means, in the words of the official release, “The order was determined by selecting a ball out of a bingo machine, with the letter on the ball corresponding with the first letter of the candidate’s last name.”

Yes, there’s a video.

Here’s the list (towns are from filings):

Democrats: James L. Carr, Jr. (Harrisburg); Robert Colon (Wilmington); Alyssia Rose-Katherine Hammond (Raleigh); Constance (Lov) Johnson (Charlotte); Tobias LaGrone (Greensboro); B. K. Maginnis (Charlotte); Rett Newton (Beaufort); Marcus W. Williams (Lumberton); Greg Antoine (Fayetteville); Cheri Beasley (Raleigh) and; Chrelle Booker (Columbus).

Republicans: Marjorie K. Eastman (Wake Forest); David Flaherty (Cameron); Benjamin E. Griffiths (Cleveland); Kenneth Harper, Jr. (Archdale); Pat McCrory (Charlotte); Charles Kenneth Moss (Randleman); Lichia Sibhatu (Raleigh); Debora Tshiovo (Moravian Falls); Mark Walker (Summerfield); Jen Banwart (Holly Springs); Ms. Lee A. Brian (Clayton); Leonard L. Bryant (Fayetteville); Ted Budd (Raleigh) and; Drew Bulecza (Lincolnton).

If you’re wondering if that’s a lot of candidates, it is.

Inspired by @gercohen, I updated the number of major party US Senate candidates per election back to 1966 and confirmed that 25 is indeed a whole lot of candidates for a US Senate election in NC.#ncpol #ncsen #control+G https://t.co/UgB5PPKQwr pic.twitter.com/VW7FSV120Q

— Chris Cooper (@chriscooperwcu) March 6, 2022

Key dates & deadlines

• Absentee ballot requests for the May 17 primary are open until 5 p.m. Tuesday (March 10). Ballots must be returned by 5 p.m. Election Day (May 17). Click here for information on voting by mail.
• Voter registration deadline for the primary is 5 p.m. Friday April 22. Click here to check your registration.
• North Carolina’s 17 day early voting period runs from April 17 to May 14. Eligible voters can also register in person and vote at the sites. Click here for more information on voting early in-person and here to look up lookup early voting sites in any county.

Reads

• News & Record — NC candidate filing ends; 26 running for US Senate seat
  WRAL — 7 competitive North Carolina political races you should watch
  Ballotpedia — U.S. Senate candidates in N.C. disagree on Senate leadership
  Salisbury Post — Budd, McCrory criticize Biden as North Carolina lawmakers condemn Putin for invasion
  WITN — U.S. Senate candidate Cheri Beasley visits New Bern