'Nuclear' vote may clear obstacles for Watt

Democratic U.S. Rep. Mel Watt is confident he’ll be confirmed to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency now that Senate Democrats changed the chamber’s filibuster rule.

“I would say that certainly substantially improves the chances,” he says.

President Barack Obama nominated Watt last spring to head the agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Last month Senate Republicans blocked his confirmation.

But Thursday Senate Democrats triggered the so-called nuclear option. They changed the rules so that most judicial and executive-office appointments can move to confirmation votes with support from a simple majority of senators, not the 60-vote super-majority that had been in effect.

The Senate could vote on Watt’s nomination when it returns to session in early December.

Watt continues to be optimistic.

“I’ve known it’s not been about me,” he says. “Every once in a while they'll make some noises about qualifications. But no one felt they were saying that with a straight face. This has been about politics, and a lot of it has been directed at this president.

“I’ve never taken this personally I’ve been patient ... And I'm still patient.”

Another roadblock for Mel Watt?

It was way back in May that President Obama nominated U.S. Rep. Mel Watt, a Charlotte Democrat, to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The nomination has been  in limbo ever since, and now may be delayed even further.

Sen. Lindsay Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said on Fox News Monday that he plans to hold up all Senate appointments until the administration answers more questions about the Benghazi attack in September 2012.

"I'm going to block every appointment in the United States Senate until the survivors (of the attack in Benghazi)  are being made available to the Congress," Graham told Fox. "I'm tired of hearing from people on TV and reading about stuff in books."

Speculation is that Watt, first elected in 1992, won't run for re-election even if he doesn't get the housing post. He only raised $10 last quarter. Several Democrats are already campaigning for the seat.

Ten dollars explains the 12th District money race

At least four Democrats are already running hard for the Congressional seat held by U.S. Rep. Mel Watt of Charlotte, whose nomination to head the federal Housing Finance Agency still awaits Senate confirmation.

But there's a growing sense that Watt, first elected in 19992, won't run even if he doesn't get the federal post.

New reports filed this week with the Federal Election Commission show Watt raised just $10 in the 3rd quarter. That's not even lunch money in Washington.

By contrast, four people who want his seat have been busy raising money. Leading the field: two-term state Rep. Marcus Brandon of High Point. He raised $90,500 during the quarter and more than $143,000 for the campaign.

Brandon, the legislature's only openly gay member, appears to have a national fundraising base with contributions from New York to California.

Behind him was George Battle III, general counsel for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board. He's raised a total of $109,620.

State Rep. Alma Adams, an 11-term House member from Greensboro, has raised $89,493. And state Sen. Malcolm Graham of Charlotte has raised $57,150.

The 12th District stretches from Charlotte to Greensboro.

Other Democrats who have talked about running for the seat, including Reps. Beverly Earle and Rodney Moore of Charlotte, have yet to file reports.
 

A congressional district - and campaigns - in limbo

U.S. Rep. Mel Watt is spending the August recess doing what he does every year: "Trading Places" with constituents in his 12th Congressional District. On Wednesday he worked as a postal carrier, pharmacy technician and quality control inspector in the Triad.

But the job he really wants is in Washington. The Charlotte Democrat is waiting for Senate confirmation as head of the Housing Finance Agency.

But Watt's confirmation appears to be in limbo, as do the campaigns of several would be successors.

Politico ran a story today that says some Capitol Hill Democrats worry about Watt's confirmation. He made it out of the Senate Banking Committee on a party line vote. But Senate Democratic leaders didn't push hard for hhis confirmation before the month-long recess started last week. He needs 60 votes to overcome any Republican filibuster.

While Watt waits, so do at least a half-dozen people interested in his seat. Several already have filed papers with the Federal Election Commission.

“The only thing you can do is run your campaign and be ready when it's time to be ready,” says state Rep. Marcus Brandon, a two-term Democrat from High Point.

Sen. Malcolm Graham is in the same boat. He's already lined up a shadow team of consultants.

"Obviously we’ve got a team that's ready in the dugout, ready to come out and play if there's a resignation," he says.

If Watt were to be confirmed when Congress returns in September, it's unclear when a special election would be held. The longer it takes to actually have a vacancy, the more difficult it will be to prepare ballots by November.

12th District race is off and running

Nevermind that U.S. Rep. Mel Watt is still in the 12th District congressional seat he's had since 1993. The race to succeed him is on.

Watt, a Democrat, is President Obama's choice to become director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Though he has yet to be confirmed by the Senate -- and faced some harsh questions at his confirmation hearing last month -- candidates are already lining up for an expected special election.

Charlotte lawyer George Battle III on Wednesday becomes the first candidate to formally announce for Watt's seat. He has events planned in Greensboro and Charlotte.

Other expected candidates include state Sen. Malcolm Graham and Rep. Rodney Moore, both Charlotte Democrats. Several other legislators are also exploring the race.

On Tuesday, Public Policy Polling came out with a new poll on the prospective race. It showed Graham leading several challengers with 31 percent of the vote. Rep. Alma Adams from Greensboro had 22 percent.

Battle had 8 percent.

Rucho tries to set record straight against Watt

The 12th Congressional District, once the nation's most litigated, was back in court this week -- and sparked a war of words between two of Mecklenburg County's most influential politicians.

In a Raleigh courtroom, a special three-judge panel heard arguments in a case challenging the state's 2011 redistricting.

Testifying Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Mel Watt, a Charlotte Democrat, recounted a conversation with Republican Sen. Bob Rucho of Matthews, who chaired the Senate Redistricting Committee.

According to the Associated Press, Watt said Rucho told him that Republican leaders "had told him that they were going to ramp the 12th Congressional District up to over 50 percent black" and "had given him the task of going out and selling this to the black community as being in their interest."

“He was telling me that he was going to have to sell this to the African-American community,” Watt recalled Tuesday, adding that Rucho asked for his help.

Watt said he was later upset to hear that Rucho had been telling people that Watt had helped influence the shape of the redrawn district. Watt said he wanted to let the public know the new district was not his idea.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/06/04/2939315/testimony-questions-redrawn-nc.html#storylink=cpy

“I don’t lie to people,” Watt said. “I don’t expect them to lie about me either.”

Rucho, Watt's former dentist, didn't get a chance to testify until Wednesday. On Thursday he sat down again to set the record straight.

First a little about the district. Half its registered voters are African American, an increase from 43 percent under the old plan. Sixty-four percent of voters are Democrats. That an increase from 58 percent. By putting more Democrats in the 12th District, Republicans effectively made some neighboring districts -- particularly the 8th -- friendlier to Republicans.

Rucho said he and GOP leaders wanted to put more Democrats in the 12th, not African Americans. He said he never told Watt GOP leaders had asked him to put more minority voters in the district.

"When he said we were drawing majority-minority districts as if we were using race, that's totally erroneous," Rucho said Thursday.

He said he never implied that Watt had endorsed the redrawn district. And Rucho added, "I didn't like being called a liar."

"I didn't like it when he misrepresented the facts of the case and I'm wondering for what reason? Especially under oath."

Watt could not be reached.

Watt: Dems could take back House

U.S. Rep. Mel Watt today defended his support for controversial tax cuts and said he "wouldn't be surprised" if Democrats regain the House in 2012.

"I'm not here to predict we will," the Charlotte Democrat told the Uptown Democratic Forum. "But I wouldn't be surprised."

Watt suggested numbers that might bode well for his party as it tries to regain the 25 seats it needs for control:

-- 54 Republicans won with less than 55 percent of the vote.
-- 61 won districts President Obama carried in 2008.
-- And 14 of them won districts carried by both Obama in 2008 and Democrat John Kerry in 2004.

He defended the 2010 health care law, which the new Republican-controlled House has voted to repeal. And he defended his vote in December for a bill that extended tax cuts for wealthy Americans. Many liberals opposed the bill.

Watt pointed to parts of the bill that extended unemployment benefits and cut the payroll tax for a year.

"It had a lot more in it for everyday, average working people than it did for rich people," he said.

Liberal or conservative: Where N.C. members of Congress rank

Just in time for the election, the National Journal has issued its voting analysis of members of Congress.

How do Carolina lawmakers rank?

Republican Richard Burr is the 9th most conservative member of the Senate, according to the analysis. He gets his highest conservative score on economic issues.

Democrat Kay Hagan ranks in the middle. She's got the 42nd most liberal voting record, or the 55th most conservative of the 100 senators.

In the House the magazine ranks North Carolina's House delegation among the "centrist" delegations, and South Carolina's as conservative.

Here are the rankings for Charlotte-area House members:

-- Republican Patrick McHenry: Tied for 17th most conservative in the 435-member House.
-- Democrat Larry Kissell: 214th most liberal; 217th most conservative.
-- Democrat Mel Watt: Tied for most liberal.
-- Republican Sue Myrick: 34th most conservative.
-- Democrat John Spratt of York: 165th most liberal; 266th most conservative.

How did a candidate from the N.C. coast end up running in the 12th District?

Republican Greg Dority was a candidate in search of a district.

The 51-year-old businessman lives in in coastal Beaufort County in the 3rd Congressional District. But that's been represented for years by fellow Republican Walter Jones Jr.

Since there's no residency requirement for congressional candidates, Dority ran in the Democratic-held 1st District in 2002 and again in 2004. This year, he saw that a Republican he considered stronger already had signed up to run.

So he looked at the 4th District, centered around Raleigh and Durham and represented by Democratic Rep. David Price. Again he saw that a stronger GOP candidate was in.

Finally he turned to the 12th District, which runs from Charlotte to Greensboro. And last week he filed, hoping to run against Democratic Rep. Mel Watt of Charlotte, which is 270 miles, or about 4 and a half hours, from his home in Little Washington.

"The 12th District is really being hurt hard," he says. "That's why I'm in this race, to talk a message of fiscal conservatism and what I think needs to be done to get people back to work."

Dority faces William "Doc" Gillenwater of Greensboro in the GOP primary. But he's already looking beyond that.

"I probably will not overwhelm it before the primary," he says, "but once the weather gets warm and the campaign season starts to crank up .... I’m going to be in that district a lot. And post- Labor Day, once we get into the sprint to the wire, I'll be there full time.”

Dority says he hopes to ride the wave of what he sees as a GOP year.

"I believe there is going to be a Republican tsunami that is going to be greater than '94 by a magnitude of, well a magnitude,” he says.

Graham: Going 'where the big boats are'?

State Sen. Malcolm Graham will start his third term Sunday. And it may be his last.

The Charlotte Democrat plans to have a personal swearing-in at his alma mater, Johnson C. Smith University. According to a press release, he'll also "address his future plans and priorities."

There's been speculation that Graham would run for mayor, likely facing city council member Anthony Foxx is a primary. But Graham seems to be looking beyond the mayor's office.

"We're going to end speculation," he said today. "Watching what Sen. (Barack) Obama has done has inspired me... I want to take my ship out where the big boats are ... We're looking at 2010, and hopefully somethings will open up Congressionally or even a U.S. Senate race."

He said Sunday he'll outline his plans, at least in general.

"I’m not trying to be coy or anything, but certainly I will be thinking out loud," he said. "Some people said of mayor, 'Why are you thinking that way when you ought to be thinking bigger?'

"I can’t sit back and wait for Congressman (Mel) Watt to sit back and decide that he’s had enough. It may be time for me to create my own opportunity.”