Trump’s support hasn’t saved this Senate candidate from weak poll numbers and poor fundraising: report

In North Carolina’s 2022 Republican U.S. Senate primary, Rep. Ted Budd has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump. But that endorsement, according to Politico reporter Natalie Allison, hasn’t saved Budd from weak poll numbers and poor fundraising.

Allison reports, “Rep. Ted Budd, the congressman Trump unexpectedly endorsed last summer, has fallen in recent polling and lagged in fundraising, leaving him chasing the frontrunner, former Gov. Pat McCrory. The presence of former Rep. Mark Walker in the primary…. is further complicating Budd’s efforts with just over two months to go until the state’s May primary.”

Walker, Allison notes, “is competing with Budd for the most conservative pro-Trump voters.” And according to Allison, there has been “speculation in Trumpworld that the former president has grown to regret his early endorsement of Budd.”

Politico, Allison adds, has obtained audio of Trump bringing up that North Carolina race during a Republican National Committee donor dinner in New Orleans on Saturday, March 5. And in that audio, the former president can be heard telling North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley, “How are we doing? How’s Ted Budd doing? OK. Alright, we gotta get Walker out of that race. Get him out of the race, Michael, right?”

In February, Allison notes, a poll conducted by Remington Research Group found Budd trailing McCrory by 11% and Walker trailing McCrory by 18%.

McCrory, Budd and Walker and competing for the U.S. Senate seat presently held by Republican Sen. Richard Burr, who isn’t seeking reelection.