• If you’ve wondered about the source of commercials touting the “conservative leadership” of GOP U.S. Reps. Renee Ellmers (2nd District) and Robert Pittenger (9th District), the funding comes from American Action Network, and independent campaign group closely aligned with House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio. Why now, a year before candidate filing? This writer’s speculation: GOP leaders hope to scare off potential primary challengers.
• Ricky Diaz, former spokesman for Gov. Pat McCrory, has returned to local politics, joining the PR team of the N.C. Republican Party.
• The Hill newspaper never stops rating U.S. Senate races, and in its most recent rankings of “most vulnerable” senators up for re-election in 2016, North Carolina Republican Richard Burr is 8th (down from 6th in their previous judgment), suggesting that whatever metrics the paper is using, the two-term incumbent’s prospects are improving.
• Both N.C. U.S. senators, Burr and Thom Tillis, are among the 47 Republicans who signed a letter to the leaders of Iran explaining that any deal about nuclear weapons made with the Obama administration needs congressional approval to have any sticking power.
• The limited-government advocacy group Club for Growth has ranked members of Congress, and the most conservative representative in the North Carolina delegation is recent John Locke Foundation honoree Virginia Foxx (R-5th District), followed closely by Walter Jones (R-3rd) and Mark Meadows (R-11th). The least conservative Republican? Ellmers.
