An NC lawmaker’s controversial Facebook post led to a campaign windfall — for his opponent
A Facebook post by a North Carolina Republican lawmaker not only made headlines across the country and overseas last month but resulted in a windfall for his Democratic opponent.
Democrat Gail Young said the attention to Rep. Larry Pittman’s post brought her campaign at least $20,000. They’re running in House District 83, which includes a large portion of Cabarrus County from Concord to the Mecklenburg County line.
Pittman’s Facebook post came in response to protests that followed the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. He called protesters “ignorant thugs,” “criminals,” “domestic terrorists” and “vermin.” If they resist and attack police, he said, police should “shoot them.”
“This is war,” he wrote. “Our people have a right to expect our leaders to be on our side, not surrender to the lawless, godless mob.”
Young said contributions poured in after the story was picked up on social media.
“It came from all over the country,” she told the Observer Wednesday. “People were appalled by his words.”
With campaign reports due Friday, Young expects to report raising a total of around $173,000 for the campaign, with $155,000 cash on hand.
Pittman’s new report was unavailable. In the first quarter he reported raising $35,000, with about $18,000 on hand.
Pittman, a 65-year-old pastor, is running for a fifth term. He declined to comment Wednesday. “Sorry,” he said in an email, “I don’t do interviews.”
In 2018, Pittman won 53% of the vote against Young’s 47%. But she says a recent redistricting may have made the race more favorable to a Democrat, though the N.C. Free Enterprise Foundation still ranks it “strong Republican.”
Dana Walton, executive director of the Democratic Party’s House Caucus, said Young’s fundraising puts her in the top quarter of Democratic House challengers. In 2018, she outraised Pittman 4-1 before going on to lose.
A longtime Concord resident, Young, 65, is a retired division director in Mecklenburg County’s Land Use and Environmental Services Agency. She said she tries not to talk about her opponent but about issues like education, jobs and health care.
“I don’t think you win a race by talking about how bad your opponent is,” she said. “You win a race by talking about what’s important in your community.”
