North Carolina GOP Senate Primary

Former North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory and Rep. Ted Budd are facing off for retiring Senator Richard Burr’s seat.

McCrory was the odds-on favorite to win the primary but Trump’s endorsement of Budd flipped the entire race on its head. In what will be a test of Trump’s might, Budd has remained steadily in the lead according to polls.

The recent poll from The Hill and Emerson College also found that Budd is the GOP candidate best positioned to take on the likely Democratic Senate nominee Cheri Beasley in November; in a hypothetical head-to-head match-up, Budd led Beasley 48 percent to 41 percent. (per The Hill)