Abortion moving on stage in N.C. Senate race

It didn't take some Republican U.S. Senate candidates long to criticize Republican Gov. Pat McCrory's decision not to appeal a federal judge's decision throwing out a requirement that women seeking abortions be shown a narrated ultrasound just before having the procedure.

Thom Tillis and Mark Harris responded quickly, asking McCrory to reverse his decision and appeal. Other GOP Senate candidates agreed.

All this signals that abortion is likely to be an issue in the race all year, just as it promises to be in other states.

Last week a New York Times story called it an "unexpectedly animating issue" in elections across the country. Republicans are using it to rev up their base. Democrats think it will fire up women.

The judge's decision involved the so-called Women's Right to Know law passed in 2011 and passed again over then-Gov. Bev Perdue's veto. And Judge Catherine Eagle's ruling puts it smack on the agenda in 2014.

"There's no question the ultrasound provision is a critical part of that law," says Harris. "We know that it gives critical information to women. I cannot imagine anyone wanting to resist the best information a woman could receive before making such a major life decision.”

Democratic incumbent Sen. Kay Hagan will be happy to take up that fight.

Says her spokeswoman Sadie Weiner: "Every Republican candidate in this race has advocated to restrict women's access to care, and it's disappointing they want to spend more time on this out-of-touch, irresponsible effort rather than focusing on jobs and the economy like middle-class families need them to."

GOP Senate hopefuls say 'no' on jobless vote

Six Republicans joined 54 Democratic U.S. senators Tuesday in clearing the way for a vote to extend federal unemployment benefits to 1.3 million Americans. The 60-37 procedural vote allows final consideration of the extension.

Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan, who has sparred with North Carolina Republican leaders over the issues this week, voted yes.

Sen. Richard Burr voted no. So would at least three of the five GOP hopefuls who hope to take on Hagan.

Jordan Shaw, a spokesman for House Speaker Thom Tillis, said only that the candidate would have voted against Tuesday's measure.

Mark Harris, a Charlotte pastor, issued a statement: "This is the latest example of the Washington DC establishment supporting policy that is forcing our Nation to pay bills on a credit card that is already maxed out," he said. "This extension of unemployment benefits unfortunately is not paid for and does not include anything to help put people back to work."

Bill Flynn, a Forsyth County broadcaster, said there's a better way to help the jobless.

"We need look no further than to the State of North Carolina to see how to effectively lower unemployment rates in the long term," he said. "Extending  unemployment benefits and increasing the already  burdensome deficits is not the answer. Compassion means rapidly building a better environment for jobs to grow. Specifically, lower taxes and less regulation ... "

Greg Brannon and Heather Grant could not be reached.

House Speaker John Boehner and other Republicans say they want Congress to come up with spending cuts to offset the $6.5 billion cost of extending benefits.

GOP Senate hopefuls not crazy about budget deal

Most of North Carolina's Republican U.S. Senate candidates oppose the budget deal hammered out between leaders of the GOP-controlled House and Senate Democratic leaders.

Not even House Speaker Thom Tillis, who's gotten money from the PACs from House leaders including Speaker John Boehner.

The House was voting late Thursday on the bill,  which would reverse some of last year's sequestration cuts. The New York Times reported that spending on defense and domestic programs would rise from $967 billion this fiscal year to over $1 trillion. However over 10 years deficits would go down, due in part to higher fees on air travel.

The bi-partisan compromise would forestall a second government shutdown next year.

Tillis wasn't available, but spokesman Jordan Shaw said he opposes it. "A trillion dollars in spending and debt is not the way to fix Washington's problems," Shaw said.

Other candidates panned the budget compromise.

"This budget deal is terrible," Cary physician Greg Brannon said in a statement. "It's yet another example of the lack of leadership in Washington. This deal won't reduce our $17 trillion debt by one cent, instead it continues to mortgage our children's future by replacing previously agreed to spending cuts with fairy tale cuts in the future."

Bill Flynn, a Forsyth County broadcaster, called his representative, Republican Virginia Foxx, and urged her to oppose the deal.

"Raising the deficit now only to cut it years down the road doesn't really address the issue of overspending  and federal growth that is hurting taxpayers now," he said.

Mark Harris, a Charlotte pastor, said before he can support the deal he wants to know if the defense cuts called for in the sequester would hurt the nation's national security.

"This bill currently being touted as a compromise shouldn't be viewed as a potential victory," he said in a statement, "rather the first of many steps that are desperately needed to fix the out-of-control spending that is pushing our debt and deficit through the roof."

Update 5:20: Heather Grant of Wilkes County said the deal doesn't go far enough.

"All the cuts come from projected spending in years 9 and 10. It does increase the DOD budget, but at the same time cuts military pay for 2014," she said in an email. "To me, this in and of itself is unacceptable. We cannot continue to punish those who volunteer to defend our way of life while refusing to reign in parts of government that are not even authorized under our Constitution."

GOP spotlight turns to ... Gastonia

Gastonia will be ground zero this week on North Carolina's U.S. Senate race and the Republican fight against Obamacare.

Thursday night, four of the five announced Republican candidates vying for Democrat Kay Hagan's U.S. Senate seat will take part in a town hall forum sponsored by The Tea party of Greater Gaston County.

It will likely mark the first time the four -- Cary physician Greg Brannon, Charlotte pastor Mark Harris, Wilkes County nurse Heather Grant and Forsyth County broadcaster Bill Flynn will be at the same event. It's unclear whether House Speaker Thom Tillis was invited.

Earlier that day Tillis will be at a Charlotte fundraiser with Karl Rove, former advisor to President George W. Bush. The two will headline a noon fundraiser at Bank of America Stadium. There's no love lost between Rove and the tea party.

Earlier this year he created a group called the Conservative Victory Project to try to ensure the party nominate candidates who can win the general election. Rove and other Republicans are trying to avoid situations like those in Missouri and Indiana last year where tea party-backed candidates lost.

And Friday, the House Oversight Committee, with Chairman Darrell Issa will hold a field hearing at the Gaston County Courthouse. The hearing will be the committee's first anywhere on Obamacare, The title of the hearing: "Obamacare Implementation: Sticker Shock of Increased Premiums for Healthcare Coverage."

UPDATE 3:30. A Tillis spokesman said he was invited to the tea party gathering but was unable to make it.  

N.C. shutdown costs: Not as much as Democrats claimed

It was a screeching headline on the press release Tuesday from The Democratic Senate Campaign Committee Tuesday: "Thom Tillis, Mark Harris, Greg Brannon & Heather Grant’s Reckless & Irresponsible Government Shutdown Cost North Carolina’s Economy Up To $340 Million."

Like its Republican counterpart, the DSCC takes every opportunity to put its opponents in a bad light. And it's true that Tillis, Harris, Brannon and Grant -- the announced GOP Senate candidates -- have said they supported efforts that led to a shutdown. And most if not all opposed this month's compromise that ended it.

But $340 million? According to John Mousseau of Moody's Analytics, the real figure is $95 million.

Why the discrepancy?

According to DSCC spokesman Matt Canter, the larger figure was based on national information provided by Moody's, based on  figures from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and used by Pew researchers and published by outlets such as USA Today.

But when I called Moody's, Mousseau said the shutdown cost North Carolina $95 million. Still a lot of money, certainly, but not $340 million. Apparently that state information wasn't available to the DSCC at the time it sent its release, which was reported on at least one N.C. media site.

The DSCC used the best information it had at the time.

"What both numbers show is that the GOP shutdown caused unnecessary damage to North Carolina's economy and should never have happened," Canter said.

Mark Harris recruits another former NCGOP official

Rev. Mark Harris won't officially enter North Carolina's U.S. Senate race until next week. But he's already snared another former official of the state Republican Party to run his campaign.

Harris announced that Mike Rusher will manage his campaign. Rusher, former chief of staff for the state GOP, joins former state party chairman Robin Hayes, who will co-chair the Harris campaign.

Harris is pastor of Charlotte's First Baptist Church and president of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. He plans a fly-around announcement tour on Oct. 2, starting in Wilmington and ending in Charlotte.

Rusher headed the national GOP Victory Campaign in North Carolina in 2012. Before that he was an aide to state Senate Leader Phil Berger. The announcement of his position with the Harris campaign comes a day after Berger formally bowed out of the Senate race.

Harris will be the fourth Republican to announce for the seat of Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, joining House Speaker Thom Tillis, Cary physician Greg Brannon and Wilkesboro nurse Heather Grant.

UPDATE: Rusher was victory director from January to August 2012. He left to join the N.C. GOP first as operations director then as chief of staff.