ELIZABETHTOWN — Dan McCready, candidate for the U.S. House, visited Bladen County on Monday.

He made a stop at his campaign headquarters downtown, visiting with more than three dozen people late in the afternoon. In the race for North Carolina’s District 9 seat to the House, the Democrat is running against state Sen. Dan Bishop of Charlotte and Republican Party, Allen Smith of Charlotte and the Green Party, and Jeff Scott of Charlotte and the Libertarian Party.

The special election is necessary because the state Board of Elections failed to verify the Nov. 6 election, when McCready was 905 votes behind the Rev. Mark Harris. An evidentiary hearing centered on absentee ballots in Bladen and Robeson counties was held three months later, and ended with the board saying a new election would be held.

The seat belonged to Republican Robert Pittenger. It has been in Republican hands since 1963.

McCready’s talking points Monday included Medicaid expansion, drug prices and health care costs, teachers leaving North Carolina and schools being underfunded, and the voting irregularities in Bladen County that led to arrests.

McCready, a Charlotte businessman in the solar industry, said his campaign has 15 field organizers and eight offices. District 9 stretches from an eastern portion of Mecklenburg County to a southern portion of Cumberland County and northern portion of Bladen County, with all of Union, Anson, Richmond, Scotland and Robeson counties included.

Alan Wooten | Bladen Journal
Dan McCready is welcomed to Bladen County by Commissioner Arthur Bullock, a fellow Democrat who represents the county’s District 1. McCready is a candidate for the U.S. House seat representing District 9 in a special election Sept. 10.
https://www.bladenjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_dan-mccready-visit-071219.jpgAlan Wooten | Bladen Journal
Dan McCready is welcomed to Bladen County by Commissioner Arthur Bullock, a fellow Democrat who represents the county’s District 1. McCready is a candidate for the U.S. House seat representing District 9 in a special election Sept. 10.

Bladen Journal