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North Carolina Special Election Could Hint at Trump's Re-Election Prospects

Katherine Gypson

   WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump heads to North Carolina late
   Monday, aiming to swing a congressional race in the 2020 election
   battleground state that could provide insight into his re-election
   chances.

   Trump's rally aims to persuade voters in North Carolina's 9th
   Congressional District to head to the polls Tuesday to vote for
   Republican candidate Dan Bishop. His opponent, Democrat Dan McCready,
   will be trying to flip a district that Trump won in 2016 with 54% of
   the vote.

   The special election could provide an early test of whether highly
   educated women voters in suburban areas will throw their support to
   Democrats in marginally Republican districts as they did in a number of
   House races in the 2018 midterm elections.

   North Carolina is one of a handful of states seen by analysts as a
   possible swing state in the 2020 presidential election. This early
   race, fueled by heavy spending on the national level by both political
   parties, will be a key early indicator on a number of levels.

   Michael Bitzer, a professor of politics and history at Catawba College
   in North Carolina, said the election, "could serve in some ways as a
   canary in the coal mine if we're looking at the national narrative of
   college-educated, white suburban women, and how they may view the
   Republican Party under President Trump, and whether they are supportive
   of him and the party, or they've been turned off by his rhetoric."

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