North Carolina's US Senate candidates make final push before election day

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, U.S. Senate candidate Ted Budd for North Carolina and Kathy Barnette, who finished third in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, spoke Thursday at the Maxwell Center in Goldsboro.

About 180 people attended the event where several Republican candidates accused public school systems of overreach when it comes to what children are taught. However, opponents and political analysts see this as a playbook tactic ahead of the midterm election.

“We’re fighting for our children,” Robinson said. “We’re fighting for our children.”

In the past, Robinson has made remarks about LGBTQ and sexually-charged material in schools.

On Thursday, Robinson doubled down on the statements.

“This is a systemic problem across the board, across the state [and] across the nation,” Robinson said.

Budd took aim at the Democratic Party as being part of the problem.

“To be blunt, they want to teach our kids our country is flawed,” Budd said. “It’s hopeless and it’s evil.”

Democrat Cheri Beasley is running against Budd. On Thursday, Beasley made stops in Johnson, Vance and Wilson counties.

“I’m fighting for all children for North Carolina, and they really do need us to stand in the gap for them,” Beasley said.

Beasley campaign spokesperson Kelci Hobson released a statement too.

“Cheri believes that we need to invest in our public schools and support our students, but Ted Budd is campaigning with Mark Robinson who wants to eliminate science and history from school curriculum,” Hobson wrote. “The difference couldn’t be any clearer.”

The political action committee 1776 Action hosted Thursday’s event ahead of the Nov. 8 midterm election.

North Association of Educators President Tamika Walker Kelly said it’s concerning for politics to invade public school systems.

“When we have these national groups coming in to push partisan talking points in our school board elections, it really concerns us that it distracts from what our students really need,” Kelly said.

Catawba College politics and history professor Dr. Michael Bitzer said tying cultural issues to schools appears to have an influence on voters.

“At this point, it is all about turning out your base of loyal voters, and I think we’re seeing that play out in terms of early votes,” Bitzer said.

As of Thursday, Bitzer mentioned how there is a little higher of an early-voter turnout compared to 2018.

In 2018, voters had an extra day to vote early compared to this year.

“Republicans see the cultural issues and tie that to schools,” Bitzer said. “That is their common strategy to fire up the base.

“It’s often times threatening voters to put fear into them that motivates them to get them to the polls.”

Candidates doing outreach are participating in several races, ranging from local school boards to the U.S. Senate race. They all left with the same message: Be sure to vote