Competing Scandals Could Decide the Senate Race in North Carolina

U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R) pictured left and Candidate Cal Cunningham (D) pictured right. Source.

With the 2020 election less than a month away, both Democrats and Republicans are scrambling to get an edge at the polls. Control over the White House is not the only power at stake : there are also some key Senate races as Democrats attempt to “flip” the Senate. One of the crucial races for Democrats is the Senate seat in North Carolina. Currently, the seat is held by Republican Thom Tillis. Democrat Cal Cunningham is putting up a valiant fight to take it. This race gained attention at one level due to its importance for both parties, but at another is also notable because both candidates have faced scandals this year. 

In early September, Tillis came under fire for his campaign finances in the 2014 election. Tillis reportedly earned thousands of dollars from a company headed by current Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. The incident has been termed the “straw donor” scandal and many are calling for Tillis to address the issue. Former employees of DeJoy claim that during the 2014 election, they were pressured to make campaign donations to Republican candidates and then received bonuses to pay themselves back. This practice, both of pressuring political donations and reimbursing them, is illegal. However, Tillis claims he did not know about the incident. It is reasonable that Tillis would not have any reason to think there was a problem, especially if the company held a fundraiser and donated the funds, however, there would be a problem if there were employees who donated more than is expected based on their yearly salary. It does not help that Tillis has been unwilling to address the issue and has not called out DeJoy for his USPS cost-cutting measures during the election cycle.

Cunningham has recently been marred by his own, far more personal scandal involving an affair. Recently, it came to light that Cunningham, who is married, was having an affair with a married woman in California. Currently, the affair is under investigation by the Army due to Cunningham’s position as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve. In light of the scandal, Republicans have attempted to use the scandal as a means to discredit Cunningham’s character. This scandal has hurt Cunningham; his favorability was 34% before the scandal and has dropped to 25% since the scandal became public. This may appear to be damaging, but Cunningham still leads Tillis in the polls with 51% believing this is a familial issue and has nothing to do with the election. 

Scandals like that of Cunningham’s have been damaging to others in the past. Roy Moore, a Republican from Alabama, lost a Senate race that he should have won by a large margin because of allegations he had sexual relations with a minor. Also, Senator Al Franken faced criticism and many called for his resignation when reports of sexual misconduct were made public. However, it appears many Americans do not allow these scandals to affect their voting decisions; in fact, many seem as though they would rather look the other way. Scandals such as these have become almost natural in the political world with Presidents Trump and Clinton having their fair share. Many voters seem inclined to look the other way even if they do not agree with the morality of the candidates. This became evident during Trump’s election in 2016 and is still evident in Trump’s reelection campaign in 2020.

With both Tillis and Cunningham experiencing scandals, it does not appear the scandals will have much effect on the election. Cunningham still leads by a healthy margin over Tillis. This may be because voters want Tillis out, or simply prefer the Democratic platform over that of the Republicans. After all, Republicans are struggling to maintain voters due to many’s dislike of Republican President Trump. This race is very important to national level Democrats and Republicans as it could determine which party will have control over the Senate. With the uncertainty of the outcome of the Presidential race, Republicans could lose control of the Senate and the White House. This Senate race will ultimately come down to, at least in part, which flaws the voters are willing to look past.