‘On a war footing:’ NC candidates learn how to campaign in the time of a pandemic
Gone are the rallies and fundraisers. Gone, too, are the public forums, speeches and bustling headquarters.
The coronavirus has infected one of North Carolina’s busiest election years, altering the rhythms of politics and campaigns. It’s also changing what candidates say and how they say it.
“This is fundamentally going to reshape the election in ways that we can’t even comprehend yet,” said Morgan Jackson, a Raleigh-based Democratic consultant.
Even President Donald Trump has stopped his rallies. So have Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.
For many North Carolina candidates, the pandemic itself has become the defining issue.
“We’re just on a war footing now and there’s a job to do,” said Sen. Jeff Jackson. “Campaigning is irrelevant. This is about actually doing the job.”
The Charlotte Democrat said he starts every day “figuring out the big picture on where we’re at as a state with this, then communicating it via email and social media, then answering as many questions as possible.”
Sen. Jim Perry, a Kinston Republican, is also using social media and web-based broadcasts to update people on the government response and dispel rumors.
“I have found that people are content starved,” Perry told the Observer. “Hurricanes are bad enough. But they know what to expect. The unknown is what is causing so much anxiety.”
The crisis could help incumbents, who can get things done and convey information in their official capacity.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has delivered regular briefings and executive orders during the crisis. That’s helped push his approval rating to 62% in a recent poll by the conservative Civitas Institute.
But challengers are also looking for ways to help during the crisis.
Democrat Cynthia Wallace, running for Congress in the 9th District, held a Zoom Town Hall meeting this week with a local doctor. Last week Guilford County Democratic lawmakers held a virtual town hall on the state’s coronavirus response.
A lot of candidates are learning on the fly.
“We are making decisions on a daily basis on ways to campaign in the midst of a pandemic crisis,” said Chris Sinclair of Raleigh, a Republican consultant. For him and his legislative clients, that means slowing down fundraising calls as tens of thousands of people suddenly find themselves out of work.
“You’d have to be completely tone deaf to ask for money,” Sinclair said. “Its a matter of respect. It’s a matter of recognizing what’s going on. It doesn’t mean you stop. It just means you hold off.”
Not all candidates are stopping their fundraising.
“In the coming weeks, we will become more innovative and more digital,” Democrat Pat Timmons-Goodson, an 8th Congressional District candidate said in a fundraising email. “Our social media presence will increase and we will reach more of you in your homes instead of on the campaign trail. We continue to need your support . . . as we attempt to find new ways to connect with voters.”
For some, that means turning more to the Internet.
“The fact of the matter is the election is going to happen regardless of the timeline,” said Republican consultant Paul Shumaker, who works with U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis. “We have to continue to be prepared. We just have to shift strategies.
Samantha Cotten, a spokeswoman for Trump Victory, said volunteers “are participating in digital trainings and making voter contact calls” for Republicans up and down the ballot.
Cooper has canceled in-person campaign events through mid-May. Democrat Wayne Goodwin has stopped for at least 30 days in his run for insurance commissioner. Goodwin, who chairs the state Democratic Party, said in an email that he’s trying to “reach out to voters about policy positions and fundraising using more of available technology than ever before — phone calls, conference calls, emails, and social and digital media posts.”
His opponent, Republican incumbent Mike Causey, said he’s been active on social media but has limited fundraising.
“I’m not really doing much with the campaign,” he said. “People are not in a campaign mode with this pandemic. They’re concerned with their personal safety, income and jobs.”
Shumaker, the Republican consultant, said candidates have to figure out how to navigate the new landscape.
‘The reality,” he said, “is Election Day is going to be here Nov. 3 whether we’re ready for it or not.”
