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Pittenger Wins Narrowly, Adams Comfortably In Congressional Primaries

There were a lot of unknowns going into yesterday’s congressional primaries. New districts mandated by court order meant new voters and new challengers for incumbents. Plus, a separate Election Day from most other races meant especially low turnout.

In the 9th District Republican primary, Congressman Robert Pittenger appears to have survived, but barely.  And the 12th District Democratic primary was a campaign in which challengers cast incumbent Alma Adams as an outsider, but Mecklenburg County voters embraced her.

12th District

Alma Adams supporters cheered as results came in at Charlotte's Unknown Brewery. In a victory speech, the 70-year-old congresswoman said though her background is in Greensboro, she's a Mecklenburg County voter now. 

"And I'm just so delighted. You know we have this saying 'Charlotte has a lot.'  But I'm gonna tell you I'm gonna go to Congress, I'm going back to Congress, to make sure Charlotte gets a lot more," Adams said to applause.

She said after the speech that her campaign focused on the issues, even as her opponents questioned where she lives. Adams has a home in Greensboro, but moved to Charlotte after the district was redrawn entirely within Mecklenburg County.

"It’s unfortunate that my opponents focus seemed to be on me and where they thought I was sleeping," she said. "As I said before people are looking for someone that they can trust, that they can make a commitment to serving them and that’s what they saw in me."

Adams won the primary with 42 percent of the vote, beating former state Sen. Malcolm Graham of Charlotte, who had 29 percent, and state Rep. Tricia Cotham of Matthews, with 21 percent.  

Graham and Cotham spent the past few weeks hammering Adams for being from Greensboro and talking up their own local roots. Speaking at his home Tuesday night, Graham said he and Cotham split the vote.

"Although we wanted a congressman to speak with one voice for our community, we had too many Mecklenburgers on the ballot and I think that tipped the scale for her as well," Graham said. 

Graham also lost to Adams two years ago, though he won in Mecklenburg County. But he couldn't match the incumbent on fundraising this time around.

"In politics, it's a money game. And certainly, we got outspent 4 to 1 and I think that was reflective at the ballot box as well," he said. 

Cotham's supporters waited for results - and their candidate - at Sir Edmond Halley's restaurant off Park Road where her mother, county commissioner Pat Cotham, worked the crowd in her daughter’s absence.

"We didn’t break any of the rules, we did everything with class, and we met a lot of great voters and talked to a lot of people, and that’s always a good thing," Pat Cotham said. 

When Tricia Cotham finally arrived  - well after the race was decided - she was in tears, but proud of her campaign.

"I’ve spent my whole life serving our county in numerous capacities and, you know, in Mecklenburg we’re always friendly we’re always professional, we’re just really good people, and I know I reflected that well," she said. 

Adams will face Republican Leon Threatt of Matthews in November. He won his party primary easily over two opponents yesterday, with 42 percent of the vote. Threatt is a pastor at Christian Faith Assembly church in Charlotte and a former Charlotte police officer.

9th District

When Congressman Robert Pittenger arrived at his election night party, he methodically worked the room. Shaking hands, thanking volunteers

And smiled for photos, including the requisite picture with an infant.

But away from the smiles and shutters, election staff were glued to their computers – refreshing again and again to see what the latest vote tallies showed. And they were nervous.

Credit Tom Bullock / WFAE
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WFAE
Robert Pittenger just after arriving at his election night party

North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District once encompassed much of Mecklenburg County, stretching north to Iredell County.

But his path to the Republican nomination now runs through just a fraction of his power base in Mecklenburg, running east to the outskirts of Fayetteville.

In some ways, Pittenger says, he was an incumbent and still an unknown.

“Well, obviously it was a struggle to get well known out in the far east part of the new district.”

This opened the door two his two challengers: Todd Johnson, a former Union County Commissioner and Mark Harris, senior pastor at First Baptist Church in uptown.

And throughout the night, both challengers would take turns leading in the vote.

Johnson won Union County – whose voters make up 27 percent of the district’s population. That’s more than Mecklenburg. But Johnson soon gave up the lead to Mark Harris.

But as the night went on and more precincts reported from Mecklenburg County, the gap closed. And then it was Pittenger’s supporters chance to cheer.

When all the votes were counted, the margin separating Pittenger and Harris was just 142 votes, out of more than 26,000 cast.

Pittenger smiled as he gave his victory speech.

“We’re going to bring reforms to this country. The next few months you’re going to see reforms to the regulatory environment. Reform the tax code. Reform health care. Reform our ability to communicate to the American people in the way we can protect them from the egregious executive abuse of our president.”

But as Pittenger celebrated, Mark Harris told his supporters nothing has been decided.

“You’ve been willing to stand strong. You’ve been willing to fight strong. And I’m standing before you tonight to tell you the fight is not over.”

As a cost-saving measure, the General Assembly did away with runoff elections for this special primary. But recounts are still in place.

And Pittenger won by just over half a percent. Well within what’s needed to trigger a recount. The Harris campaign wasted no time announcing they will ask for just that.

There’s another point Harris made in his, “I’m not conceding to anything speech.”

“The results that I want to make sure you understand tonight is that more than 65 percent of the voters of the new 9th District of North Carolina have rejected the current leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives.

But Pittenger himself doesn’t see it as a repudiation.

“I don’t think they rejected me they just didn’t know me. And so they’ll get a chance to get to know me.”

And Pittenger is hitching his wagon to someone he hopes will help with that introduction. De Facto Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump.

“I’m going to actively support him because to me the alternative is someone I cannot support and that’s either Bernie or Bernie with a dress on.”

“Bernie with a dress” is a knock on presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

As for the ongoing controversy over Donald Trump’s comments about the American judge of Mexican heritage in the Trump University case, Congressman Pittenger simply says:

“Mr. Trump has a lot of rough edges, I don’t question that.”

The winner takes on Democrat Christian Cano in November.

WFAE reporters Sarah Delia,  Ana Lucia Murillo and Michael Tomsic contributed to this story. 

David Boraks previously covered climate change and the environment for WFAE. See more at www.wfae.org/climate-news. He also has covered housing and homelessness, energy and the environment, transportation and business.
Tom Bullock decided to trade the khaki clad masses and traffic of Washington DC for Charlotte in 2014. Before joining WFAE, Tom spent 15 years working for NPR. Over that time he served as everything from an intern to senior producer of NPR’s Election Unit. Tom also spent five years as the senior producer of NPR’s Foreign Desk where he produced and reported from Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Haiti, Egypt, Libya, Lebanon among others. Tom is looking forward to finally convincing his young daughter, Charlotte, that her new hometown was not, in fact, named after her.