Now that results in North Carolina are coming in, here’s some background on the state’s Democratic Senate race. Eleven candidates are running in the primary to succeed retiring Republican Richard Burr. Though a number of Democrats have thrown their hat in the ring, it’s not immediately clear how far one will go in a state like North Carolina — a swing-state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 2008.
While polling for this race has been scarce, Trump’s favored candidate, Rep. Ted Budd, seems to have the upper-hand in the GOP primary. On the Democratic side, meanwhile, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley is largely viewed as the front-runner. Not only does she have ample fundraising in her favor, but she opened up a major lead in December when her most formidable competitor, state Sen. Jeff Jackson, dropped out of the race and endorsed Beasley. It’s clear already that Republicans anticipate Beasley will clear the Democratic field tonight. Ahead of tonight’s race, national Republicans doled out a $1.3 million in ads in which they try to paint Beasley as “soft on crime” during her tenure on the state Supreme Court.