Cook moves Kissell-Johnson race to “toss up”

The Cook Political Report, the gold standard for national election analysis, has moved North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District race between incumbent Democrat Larry Kissell and Republican Harold Johnson into the “toss up” category.

Until recently, Cook categorized the race as ?leaning? Democrat. In the interim, though, Johnson won a runoff against loose-canon candidate Tim D?Annunzio, a result that polling indicates makes the general election race more competitive.

Of note, Cook also switched Democratic U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge?s 2nd Congressional District from ?solid? Democrat to ?likely? Democrat. That puts it in the same category as U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler?s 11th Congressional District in the western region of the state.

Etheridge and Shuler will probably hang on, but the switch adds a little more interest. And you never know what developments might change the dynamics of the race.