The Club for Growth released a statement saying “it has already raised $5.125 million to support Rep. Ted Budd’s (R-NC) campaign to become the next Senator from North Carolina.”

Retiring Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) told Politico that former Gov. Pat McCrory (R) is “the only one in the race that can win the general election.”

That would mean Burr is asserting Trump-endorsed Rep. Ted Budd (R) could not win.

Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) expressed bewilderment over former President Trump’s endorsement of Rep. Ted Budd in the GOP primary for the retiring senator’s seat, The Hill reports.

Said Burr: “I can’t tell you what motivates him. I’ve never seen individuals endorse a candidate a year before the primary. That’s unusual.”

A new Meeting Street Insights poll in North Carolina shows former Gov. Pat McCrory (R) leading the Republican Senate primary with 45%, followed by Rep. Ted Budd (R) with 19%, and former Rep. Mark Walker (R) at 12%.

However, once respondents are informed Budd secured former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, Budd leads with 46%, followed by McCrory at 27%, and Walker at 8%.

“A difference of opinion between former President Donald Trump and some activist North Carolina Republicans was highlighted when Senate candidate Mark Walker (R) told guests at a GOP luncheon that Trump’s former chief of staff engineered Trump’s surprise endorsement seven days prior of another candidate, Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC),” the Fayetteville Observer reports.

Said Walker: “Ah — my first thought — it was that Mark Meadows had orchestrated this whole event…”

“Walker accused Meadows of not telling Trump that Walker led a straw poll of Republican delegates earlier that day for the GOP 2022 Senate nomination.”

Former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) said he was “disappointed” in Donald Trump’s endorsement of Rep. Ted Budd (R) for U.S. Senate, calling the congressman “a Washington insider who has done more to oppose the Trump agenda than anyone in the race,” the Charlotte Observer reports.

Said McCrory: “The president got some bad advice and you could tell by the immediate reaction of the audience, which was no reaction to the individual he endorsed. They selected a Washington insider and I assume a Washington insider around the president made this very poor decision.”

“Former president Donald Trump jumped into a competitive Senate primary on Saturday night in North Carolina, endorsing Rep. Ted Budd for a hotly contested seat in the 2022 election,” the Washington Post reports.

“Trump’s surprise endorsement — which he said he told the congressman about 15 minutes before taking the stage at a convention center here — came minutes after his daughter-in-law Lara Trump said she was not going to be running for the seat in North Carolina.”

Politico: “Trump’s endorsement is a major boost for Budd, who is running against former Gov. Pat McCrory and former Rep. Mark Walker in the Senate primary.”

Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) announced he’ll run for North Carolina’s open U.S. Senate seat, the Raleigh News & Observer reports.

His announcement video features two monster trucks running over the “liberal agenda.”

Later, he describes how he will prevent America from becoming a “woke socialist wasteland.” After saying this, Budd is offered an assault weapon by a man in sunglasses. Budd declines it, saying “we can skip the shooting part, I own a gun store.”

Cheri Beasley (D), the first Black woman to serve as chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, announced she will run for U.S. Senate from North Carolina, the Raleigh News & Observer reports.

Beasley narrowly lost her 2020 election for chief justice by 401 votes to fellow Supreme Court Justice Paul Newby.

This is a pretty big recruitment for Senate Democrats.

Former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory’s (R) career in politics is not over, the Charlotte Observer reports.

“McCrory, a Republican who served one term as the state’s chief executive and 14 years as Charlotte’s mayor, has launched a campaign website announcing his run for North Carolina’s open U.S. Senate seat in 2022.”

“Pat McCrory, the former Republican governor of North Carolina, is planning to launch his campaign for the state’s open Senate seat this week,” Politico reports.

“The former governor, who won the office in 2012 and lost reelection in 2016, would begin the primary in the race to replace retiring GOP Sen. Richard Burr as an early frontrunner.”

If Lara Trump expects to run, she’ll likely need the full endorsement of her father-in-law to leapfrog the increasingly crowded GOP field.

“With Lara Trump still on the sidelines and landing a new gig on Fox News, Republican candidates are preparing to move on without her,” the Raleigh News and Observer reports.

“Three-term U.S. Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) is now ‘leaning towards’ running for the Senate seat — an indication that Trump may not enter the race for several months or at all.”

Said Club for Growth President David McIntosh, “It would be best if they weren’t both running.”

A new Meredith College survey finds Lara Trump leading in the Republican primary for the open U.S. Senate seat with 27%, followed by Pat McCrory at 17%, Mark Walker at 7% and Ted Budd at 6%.

On the Democratic side, no candidate polls above 13%.

“Sen. Thom Tillis would have lost his 2020 reelection bid in North Carolina if it weren’t for revelations of an extramarital affair by his highly touted Democratic opponent, the senator’s pollster said,” the Washington Examiner reports.

Pollster Glen Borger said two things particularly worked against Cal Cunningham: “One is, it connected him to John Edwards — young, smart, lawyer, handsome. Not the family man you think he is. And then secondly, his whole story, essentially, was a lie.”

Former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley “is expected to officially announce her candidacy in the next few weeks,” the Raleigh News and Observer reports.

“Bealsey lost a close election for chief justice in 2020, losing to Republican Paul Newby by 401 votes. It was the third statewide election for Beasley, who won a seat on the court of appeals in 2008. She was appointed to the state Supreme Court in 2012 and then won her seat in 2014.”

“A lifelong Republican’s decision to change party affiliations following the Capitol riot has evolved into a run for U.S. Senate,” the Raleigh News & Observer reports.

Said Kimrey Rhinehardt: “I felt like I had no political home. I think I’m on a mission to create one. Not just for me but people who feel the same that I do.”