Incumbent Mecklenburg lawmakers Ford and Moore unseated in NC primary

Two Democratic incumbents from Mecklenburg County — state Sen. Joel Ford and state Rep. Rodney Moore — were unseated by their opponents Tuesday.

Meanwhile, incumbent GOP Sen. Dan Bishop beat his primary challenger.

Ford's challenger, Mujtaba Mohammed, a former county Democratic Party official and assistant public defender, received endorsements by the Black Political Caucus and other groups. He had 52 percent of the vote while Ford had 41 percent.

During the campaign, Mohammed criticized Ford for working with Senate Republican leaders. Ford was one of four Democrats who joined Senate Republicans last summer in voting for the final legislative budget.

Ford said in response to that criticism that he had to engage with Republicans to help his Democratic district.

Mohammed will face Republican Richard Rivette in November.

In the District 39 race, Bishop handily defeated well-financed challenger Beth Monaghan. Bishop had 71 percent of the vote to Monaghan's 29 percent.

During the campaign, Monaghan attacked Bishop for his sponsorship of House Bill 2, the measure that required transgender people to use the bathroom of the gender they were born with when they were in government buildings.

The controversial law, opposed by LGBTQ groups and many corporations, cost North Carolina millions in lost jobs and events such as NCAA championships. It was later repealed.

Bishop pointed to Monaghan's past support for Democratic candidates. Records show she donated to Hillary Clinton and Roy Cooper in 2016 and to the state Democratic Party last year.

On Tuesday, he said Monaghan ran "a very spirited race," adding “I respect her a great deal.”

Voters in his district are conservative and do not think in terms of a single issue, he said.

“They want to put behind them controversies that can be put behind them and focus on the important things for conservatives,” Bishop said.

Monaghan said that despite her loss, the campaign had many triumphs. "Every single donor, volunteer, and vote showed the world that our state does not stand for bigotry," she said.

In November, Bishop will face the Democratic nominee, either Chad Stachowicz or Ann Harlan.

Stachowicz led by only five votes late Tuesday night.

With 57 percent of the vote, Nasif Majeed unseated Democratic state Rep. Rodney Moore.

“I have a long record of service in this community,” Majeed said Tuesday evening.

Priscilla Johnson was second with 23 percent. Moore, with 17 percent, has been accused of not reporting more than $10,000 in campaign contributions.

State elections officials said Moore has failed to respond to repeated requests for bank records about the unreported contributions.

Majeed will face GOP candidate Joshua Niday in November.

Staff writer Jim Morrill contributed.

This story was originally published May 8, 2018 at 7:57 PM with the headline "Incumbent Mecklenburg lawmakers Ford and Moore unseated in NC primary."