With the 2014 U.S. Senate campaign beginning, candidates are staking their pressing issues in North Carolina.
After the N.C. General Assembly passed a controversial budget this summer, Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., posted a petition to her campaign website asking to restore money that was cut from the education budget.
The petition is just one of many that Hagan has posted on her website involving the state legislature — an area in which she has little influence as a U.S. Senator.
Mitch Kokai, a political analyst from the conservative John Locke Foundation, said he thinks Hagan posted this petition to get ready for elections next year.
“I think what she’s trying to do is stir up some interest among the Democratic base in getting support for her campaign,” he said. “Obviously, her run for re-election is going to be the big race in North Carolina.”
Kokai said it is also a way for Hagan to get the contact information for potential supporters.
The petition requires petition supporters to put their name, email address and ZIP code, which Kokai said will be a good database for Hagan to round up volunteers to support her, especially if the Republican nominee is N.C. House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg.
Tillis announced he is running for Hagan’s seat in early summer.
Kokai said it was interesting that Hagan has been sponsoring petitions related to issues in state politics — while ignoring the biggest national issue on everyone’s minds, which is the government shutdown.
“This petition deals with an issue that has absolutely nothing to do with U.S. Senate,” he said. “Rather than address a big key issue at the federal level that’s important to North Carolinians, instead she’s addressing this issue that has Democrats fired up at the state level.”
Rob Schofield, director of research and policy development for N.C. Policy Watch, said while Hagan is obviously doing this for political reasons, she is probably also doing this because she is passionate about the case.
“This is part of her campaign obviously,” he said. “It’s an issue that’s likely to resonate with her supporters.”
He said it was likely that she would use it if she ends up running against Tillis, who would be her biggest political opponent in the general election.
She could also use the poor approval ratings of the General Assembly during the Republican primary to try to knock Tillis out of the race.
“I think it’s almost certain that Hagan will make the performance of the General Assembly a campaign issue if Tillis is the nominee,” Schofield said. “It’s a great big softball to lob up there and knock out of the park for her.”
Schofield said he thinks Hagan and her campaign staff would love to hurt Tillis before the primary so Mark Harris, a pastor in Charlotte, takes the nomination.
“I’m sure they’d much rather run against Harris than Tillis,” he said.
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