‘Democracy on the line’ in 2022 elections, Democrats tell Charlotte crowd

In several speeches in Charlotte Monday, Democratic candidates and party officials framed the 2022 election as a “battle for democracy” and for the future of the country.

Matching the tone of Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, who campaigned for Cheri Beasley last week, speakers in the East Town Market parking lot decried Republicans as extremist and divisive. Beasley is the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in North Carolina and the former chief justice of the state Supreme Court. She’s running against Republican nominee and congressman Ted Budd, who challenged the 2020 election results in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.

A small crowd of supporters listened Monday while wearing Democratic T-shirts, holding signs and cheering. Among the crowd were some legislators, including state Sen. Joyce Waddell and state Rep. Nasif Majeed.

Rep. Alma Adams urged voters Monday to “save our democracy and take our country back.”

North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Bobbie Richardson said the future of America’s democracy is on the line — a line echoed by Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Republicans also have framed the election in stark terms, calling Democrats “radicals.” Some candidates, including Tyler Lee, who is running against Adams to represent much of Mecklenburg County in Congress, has gone further, calling Democrats “evil.”

When asked, Emhoff said he wasn’t worried about Democrats’ rhetoric inflaming divisions between Americans of different political parties.

“There’s only one side to this,” he said. “There’s ... the American side. There’s the side of patriots. That message is resonating, and people should be afraid.”

During his speech, Emhoff pointed to voter suppression and baseless questions about the integrity of the 2020 election. Republicans who continue to call question to Biden’s election, he said, are “tearing this country apart.”

Beasley not in attendance

Beasley did not attend the event in Charlotte Monday. She was at a campaign event in Brunswick County.

Emhoff’s visit marks the third time a White House official has come to North Carolina this year. President Joe Biden came to Greensboro in April. Harris visited Charlotte in July.

Beasley has faced questions from Republicans for not attending the administration events. Simultaneously, Republicans have said Beasley would be a “rubber stamp” for Biden’s policies.

“Cheri Beasley avoiding the Biden administration in person, yet still backing his disastrous agenda at every turn, is not surprising given how often she talks out of both sides of her mouth,” Republican National Committee spokeswoman Taylor Mazock said in an emailed statement.

Dory MacMillan, Beasley’s communications director, called the comments a distraction.

“Cheri is focused on talking to voters and running a campaign to represent the people of this state — which is exactly what she shared in her public community conversation in Brunswick County earlier today, and why she’s excited to continue traveling across the state through election day,” MacMillan said.

Preparing for close elections

Along with Emhoff, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison, Rep. Shontel Monique Brown of Ohio and North Carolina state Sen. Jeff Jackson, who is running for Congress, spoke in Charlotte Monday.

Budd campaigned Monday with Pat Harrigan, a Republican running against Jackson in Mecklenburg and Gaston counties. Budd posted on Twitter about the “Get Out The Vote” event, saying Republicans have to take back the House and Senate to “stop the Biden agenda.” Budd will appear tomorrow with Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in Selma, southeast of Raleigh.

Harrison said Beasley is “well positioned to win this race.”

Brown said in her first election, to a city council near Cleveland, she won by seven votes. She encouraged attendees to show out in record numbers in November.

Jackson said some races in Mecklenburg County could be as close as 1% between the winner and the loser. Beasley, he said, “must be our next U.S. senator.”

This story was originally published October 24, 2022 at 6:01 PM.

Will Wright

The Charlotte Observer

Will Wright covers politics in Charlotte and North Carolina. He previously covered eastern Kentucky for the Lexington Herald-Leader, and worked as a reporting fellow at The New York Times.