What Went Down During The May 17 Primary Elections

With 29 percent of the vote in, Hines is leading in the Republican primary in North Carolina’s 13th district, with 32.5 percent of the vote. Opponents Barbour and Daughtry are trailing behind him, with 21.9 percent of the vote and 19.5 percent of the vote, respectively. As a reminder, Hines was heavily criticized for shopping around for a district to run in — it’s fair to say his ties to this district are not strong. His support from Trump and the Club for Growth may help him overcome that obstacle, though.

Ted Budd’s big victory tonight — with about a third of all ballots in, he’s at 56 percent of the vote — was by no means guaranteed. When he started his campaign, he was polling in the single digits, far behind former Gov. Pat McCrory. Now, McCrory is the one who’s behind, with less than half of Budd’s share of the vote.

So, what changed? It wasn’t just Trump. While Trump should take credit for elevating Budd’s campaign, his endorsement came almost a year ago, making it less pivotal than that of Vance in the Ohio Senate primary, where Trump endorsed just a few weeks before the primary.

Instead, Budd proved himself to be the rare candidate who performed better with primary and general election voters — and McCrory, who’s lost two previous statewide elections, wasn’t the strongest candidate, either. Despite his previous conservative record, he refashioned himself as the moderate candidate in the race, leaving him open to attacks from the left. But this didn’t make him seem more electable — according to a recent poll, Budd beat presumptive Democratic nominee Cheri Beasley, 48 percent to 41 percent, in a hypothetical head-to-head, but Beasley defeated McCrory, 44 percent to 39 percent.

Budd’s victory was a rare instance in which the party establishment’s interests aligned with the wishes of primary voters. But there’s more races ahead that will likely be more difficult.

In North Carolina’s 11th District, Cawthorn is still trailing Edward by nearly 8 percentage points with 42 percent of the vote in.