Another Republican candidate jumps into US Senate scrum

Flynn's most recent run for office was a tilt at the the 6th Congressional District in 2012, the seat from which Congressman Howard Coble is retiring. Coble took 57 percent of the vote in that three-way primary. Flynn split the remaining votes with Guilford County Commissioner Billy Yow, taking home just over 22 percent of the ballots cast. 

As of Monday, the Federal Elections Commission still has Flynn listed as a U.S. House candidate, although a lag in updates is not unusual, especially when it comes to U.S. Senate data, which is not electronically filed with the commission. The most recent data posted by the commission show Flynn's congressional campaign with less than $100 on hand and debts of more than $30,000. It's unclear how much support Flynn may have statewide. His name has not been included in early polling on the race. 

"Senator Kay Hagan, with her Obama-centric voting record, is part of this problem. She is wrong for North Carolina and toxic to the goodness of America," Flynn writes on his campaign website, echoing other Republican candidates' early criticism of Hagan's support for the Affordable Care Act.

Flynn is now the fifth declared candidate in the Republican field, joining House Speaker Thom Tillis, North Carolina Baptist Convention President Mark Harris, Cary doctor Greg Brannon and Wilkesboro nurse Heather Grant.