News & Record: “A longtime Republican and former Capitol Hill staffer says she’s aiming to run for a North Carolina U.S. Senate seat next year as an independent candidate.
Kimrey Rhinehardt of Pittsboro has started collecting the nearly 83,200 signatures of registered voters she’d need for her name to be on the ballot in fall 2022. She’s got 13 months to meet the threshold, according to the N.C. State Board of Elections.
Rhinehardt, who runs a consulting firm, told news outlets she officially changed her affiliation a few days after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot by extremist supporters of Donald Trump who tried to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory. Trump and many Republicans amplified falsehoods about the elections.
“I felt like I had no political home,” Rhinehardt said. “I think I’m on a mission to create one. Not just for me but people who feel the same that I do.””