As the midterm elections approach, Democrats continue to highlight the connections between a convicted sex offender, Harvey West Jr., and the North Carolina Republican Party and GOP candidates.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has launched a digital ad campaign targeting Republican US House candidate Laurie Buckhout for past ties to West.
Source: Democratic Congressional Campaign CommitteeBuckhout is currently running against Democratic Rep. Don Davis for North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, a race which Sabato’s Crystal Ball lists as a “toss-up.”
West’s influential roles in the state Republican Party for over a decade came under scrutiny earlier this year after an extensive report from the Asheville Watchdog.
Despite pleading guilty to indecent liberties with three minors in 2012, West continued to serve as a major figure in the local Republican Party. He was the chair of the 1st Congressional District’s GOP from 2019 until earlier this year, right after the Asheville Watchdog piece came out.
Buckhout appeared alongside West at events in the lead up to her victory in the March Republican primary.
But the connection between Buckhout and West did not begin this year. In 2023, Buckhout participated in a candidate forum that West hosted. West’s wife, Kim Cotten-West, was paid $42,000 as part of Buckhout’s 2024 campaign for Congress, which Buckhout lost to Davis.
