2026 Midterm Elections
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Analysis: Unmasking the mystery money in the Phil Berger vs Sam Page contest • NC Newsline
The candidates have raised over two million dollars for their campaigns; it’s a lopsided split, with Berger so far raising 53 times as much as Page. But there’s even more money paying for mailers and ads from well-disguised groups backing Berger or Page. Who’s supplying that money?
ncnewsline.com
FIRST: This
sort of good local politics reporting deserves your click/traffic. There isn’t enough of it anymore. Anyway, the answer is both complex (in peeling back layers to discover true donors given NC election laws have increased opacity) but also sort of simple for Berger at least — Berger is getting a ton of national institutional GOP $$.
As for Page:
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It really is something that Republican primaries really just boil down to each candidate trying to show that they are more deplorable than the other.
“Candidate X claims to be a total piece of shit, but they’re not nearly as much of a piece of shit as I am!”
BillOfRights
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Does anyone think a lot of Republicans are voting for Crockett because they would rather run against her, and Democrats are voting for Paxton for the same reason?
I know people in Texas as different and Republicans are different, but 40% supporting Paxton over their incumbent Senator? The *Republican* Texas House impeached Paxton FFS.
I know people in Texas as different and Republicans are different, but 40% supporting Paxton over their incumbent Senator? The *Republican* Texas House impeached Paxton FFS.
The way you write that, you make it sound like it is a bad thing to be impeached by your own party. In Republican politics these days, that is a badge of honor.
altoheel
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Platner sat for lengthy interview with antisemitic conspiracy theorist, said he was ‘longtime fan’ of his show
Can we all at least agree that "no chummy interviews with antisemites" is a fair and reasonable litmus test for Democratic candidates?
Can we all at least agree that "no chummy interviews with antisemites" is a fair and reasonable litmus test for Democratic candidates?
Sarah Longwell played a focus group of Texas Republicans. Yes they know all about Paxton. But they hold Cornyn in really low regard. So much so, that they will for sure vote for Paxton.
Well…. You know…..those postcards were filled with exaggerations/innuendo at the least and outright lies at the most.
Charles Blackwood is a good man and good sheriff. Virtually everything David LaBarre talks about on the “Meet David” section of his campaign’s website are things the Orange County Sheriff’s Office is already doing or has already done.
Valerie Foushee is no tool of corporations.
Leftists are attacking good Liberal and/or moderate Democrats in these primaries.
aGDevil2k
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Anyone who is using Bernie as a vote for me reason.... Yeah no vote for you.
Bernie is annoying and never owned up to his toxicity in 16
Mulberry Heel
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Yes, but one is the longtime majority leader of the state senate who has used his power to wreck NC public ed piece by piece and is one of the major roadblocks to improving public ed in this state. The other will be a rookie legislator with little to no power to do much of anything. They're both hardcore MAGAs, but Page is the easy choice for anyone who cares about improving the lot of teachers, school staff, and state employees in general. Remove Berger and you remove one of the worst politicians this state has elected since at least Jesse Helms, and at the local and state level he's done even more damage than Helms. I'm not defending Page at all, and no doubt he's a Trumper goober, but as a newbie state senator he won't have a fraction of the power that Berger now holds over the legislature.
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Man. I want to like Platner. He keeps making it hard.
I just looked up this Nate Cornacchia and it is tough to be charitable. He is anti “DEI” and the “woke agenda”. Cornacchia recently appeared on the podcast of holocaust denier Jake Shields. Jake Shields runs with Nick Fuentes. Jake Shields hosted David Duke. Cornacchia also appears with Alex Jones. Cornecchia himself directly traffics in conspiracies like “the Jews killed Kennedy” and Israel platformed Zohran Mamdani because Israel needs another 9/11.
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Platner has a tried and true Nazi tattoo into his 40s. His campaign retweets Stew Peters just days ago. He goes on a far right podcast hosted by a guy who walks in “Hitler had some good ideas” circles. What the hell?
Planter often speaks folksy but also about the foundational materialism behind politics. In a recent interview he stated:
“I've always been politically, I was a big history buff when I was a kid, which in many ways kind of makes you sort of politically aware just because you're doing that. In high school, I was introduced to more critical thought, like Howard Zinn and Chomsky. I, you know, at that point, but I remember reading those things and like being like, yeah, some of this makes sense.”
From Pod Save America: Mar 1
I 100% agree with Platner that almost all of us move through distinctly different phases of awareness. But I have a hard time trusting th relatable aw shucks ignorance when that same person speaks pointedly about political materialism, claims to be a history buff since HS, and claims decades of influence by Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky.
I’d vote for him over Collins without hesitation. I do not trust him.
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Mulberry Heel
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I do think that Platner has definitely made some odd choices (to say the least) in everything from his taste in tattoos to some of the people he associates with. Having said that, he appears to be the odds-on favorite at this point to win the primary, and if I lived in Maine I'd definitely vote for him over Collins (and I'd vote for Mills as well if she wins the primary). There is cause for some concern that if elected he might turn into another Fetterman/Manchin type renegade Democrat who often acts more like Republican lite and will buck the party on key issues. OTOH, better to try something new rather than just elect Collins yet again, who we all know will vote pretty much down the line for whatever MAGA wants, after expressing her "concerns" some of the time. At this point Platner does seem to be an enigma though.
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Paine
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Idc about the sheriff primary. Nothing Allam has said about Foushee is inaccurate. We don’t need a candidate in a liberal district who is awash in AIPAC money, and I expect she will lose the primary on Tuesday.
altoheel
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At some point people who are still behind Platner have to confront the fact that he is either a) an antisemite or b) someone that is so ignorant that he keeps somehow stumbling into Nazi and Nazi adjacent whoopsies. Neither explanation makes him qualified to be a senator.
Collins is trash and I am not sold on Mills but Platner is just not the guy, I'm sorry.
Mulberry Heel
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So if it comes down to Platner versus Collins, who would you vote for - or would you just not vote? And I'm not arguing for Platner, just curious.
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As a donor , I received an update from his campaign. It looks like Chuck Schumer is all in on Janet Mills and his funneling money to her campaign. Platner expects a flood of attack ads unrelated to any policy platforms leading up to the primary despite the fact that not only is Platner leading Mills in the polls but is leading Susan Collins, as well. So it is game on for the next 100 days.
Good old Chuck... the champion of picking Dem losers.
altoheel
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It is a very difficult question, honestly, and I want to give you a thoughtful answer. Voting for Collins would be completely off the table so the real choice would be between Platner, third party, or leaving that spot blank on the ballot.
I am pretty utilitarian when I vote, so not necessarily considering it an endorsement of any particular candidate's entire platform or every life choice they've ver made, but just that they are a person who is likely to advance the kind of things that are important to me, and keep a Rep from winning. Where I stick on Platner is that, if he wins the primary I don't think he is going to keep a Rep from winning despite what the polls are saying here in March. I think he would lose to Collins because his track record has shown that he will continue to make unforced error after unforced error. And even more than that, I don't like what it would say about the Dem party that we would elect someone who is willing to make common cause with the alt-right. I hate the narrative that "bOtH pArTiEs ArE tHe SaMe" because they're clearly not - but this would be a step in that direction.
So with that long-winded explanation I think that I would wrestle with it up to election day and probably ultimately leave it blank.