Ellmers and fellow Republican Rep. George Holding were competing to represent the newly drawn second congressional district.
Advertisement
While Ellmers still lives in the new 2nd, Holding represented many counties absorbed into the district and chose to challenge Ellmers when his home was drawn into the 4th District.
A third candidate, Greg Brannon, is also in the battle for the 2nd District.
In a rare move where Donald Trump tried doing what traditional politicians do, the presumptive GOP nominee endorsed a congresswoman’s campaign for re-election.
Both Holding and Ellmers are conservative Republicans, but conservative interest groups gravitated to Holding, 48, and a lawyer from Raleigh.
Many scholars predicted the shift in ideological makeup of the NC congressional delegation as a result of redistricting in April, as illustrated by Ellmers’ loss. “George Holding is a pro-life stalwart who was always taken a pro-life position – at home and in Washington”.
Ellmers had angered many conservatives with her opposition to the nature of the rape exception in the House’s 20-week abortion ban, as well as a vote to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank and a vote to pass a Homeland Security spending bill that funded President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration. Despite a Trump robocall sent out Saturday, Ellmers became the first GOP incumbent to lose a primary this election.
Ellmers, one of the provision’s most vocal opponents, argued that the requirement would do additional damage to the GOP’s image among younger and female voters. He said he thought Ellmers didn’t stay true to her conservative principles, agreeing with the message of some of the anti-Ellmers attack ads.
Sandrock added, “She has become a mean girl on steroids in my view”.
“In order to raise money, you have to have a villain”, Ellmers told NPR”.
People who cannot secure an ID may vote a provisional ballot if they sign a declaration declaring why they couldn’t get identification.
The full text of the National Right to Life letter endorsing Congressman Holding is available here. Caudill noted that unaffiliated voters can request Republican, Democratic or non-partisan ballots without affecting their unaffiliated status.
Technically, Ellmers is the true incumbent of North Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District, but court-mandated redistricting has changed the district’s borders. “Whoo!” the North Carolina representative told Maggie Sandrock, unaware that news cameras lurked nearby.
But it’s not just her votes on fiscal issues that have angered conservative groups.
“They’re pretty close”, The IT manager said.
Holding trounced U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers with 53.38 percent of the vote across the district and 65 percent in Nash County.
“Renee Ellmers lost her job because she abandoned the limited-government principles she originally espoused”.
Advertisement
Ahead of Tuesday’s primary, Ellmers made headlines when she noted that a woman who she greeted by name “gained some weight”.
