Who has money: Alma Adams. She who is known for her hats has raised the most money and has the most money on hand. Adams is also the only woman in the race, which could also be a significant advantage.
Who doesn’t have money: James “Smuggie” Mitchell, who’s dropping out. Mitchell says that the arrest Patrick Cannon really cut into his fundraising ability, which is kind of ironic. The people he was counting on for $1,000 were suddenly only writing only $100 or $200 checks. “I think the whole city of Charlotte has been kind of in a shock mode,” Mitchell said to the UPoR.
Who’s trying to the spin the race. Or has the most interesting spin on the race: Sen. Malcolm Graham of Charlotte. “When you’ve got one candidate in Greensboro and four others in Charlotte the math becomes tricky for a Charlotte-based candidate. That’s why it’s important we rally around the one in Charlotte with the best chance of winning otherwise we lose the seat to Greensboro.” Of course, Graham thinks that the candidate from Charlotte everyone should rally around is him. Note that he’s effectively saying that Adams will get through to the runoff.
Demographic note: With the amount of population growth in North Carolina, we can expect the state to add a congressional seat come 2022. And with Mecklenburg County’s population growing as much as it has, it may well also eliminate the need for a Charlotte to Greensboro bug-splat of a district to elect an African-American.
