The Republican majority in the NC state house, led by then–NC House Speaker Tim Moore, recently redrew Congressional District 14 to strongly favor candidates with Rs after their name. Moore went on to run in that district, winning easily and making it hard to dream up scenarios in which even the most popular Democrat can win in next year's election.

A serious challenger in the Republican primary is just as unlikely, although one Democrat has recently switched her party registration in hopes of achieving exactly. If Kate Barr's campaign gets any traction, I'll try to get her on Polk Lore in the not-too-distant future.

Meanwhile, there is at least one Democrat willing to dare to run against Moore. And, despite the odds, there’s a good chance he actually knows what he’s getting into. Brent Caldwell may not be familiar to most voters, and he has never run for public office before, but he’s been working behind the scenes in the Democratic Party for decades. He’s already paid a couple of visits to Polk County. He showed up for the No Kings Rally in Columbus last month, and then returned a couple of weeks later to attend a Polk Democrats gathering at FENCE.

Just before that event, we found a couple of rocking chairs on the porch of the Democratic Party Headquarters in Columbus and turned on the microphones.

Resources

Brent Caldwell for Congress

Yellow Dog Wire

Tariffs: The Horse Industry’s Journey into the Great Unknown

NC-14 Redistricting controversy