WaPo: “Both Carrington and Massey are among a legion of frustrated Democrats in North Carolina eager for a fresh approach after watching their party lose four consecutive U.S. Senate races in a purple state — including, most recently, former state senator Cal Cunningham’s two-point loss last year to incumbent GOP Sen. Thom Tillis.
The two early front-runners are offering a stark choice to the state’s Democrats in 2022. Beasley is a different kind of candidate — an African American woman and veteran judge who has previously run three statewide campaigns — who is so far overseeing a largely conventional campaign that has prioritized fundraising, endorsements and a low-key listening tour of the state.
Jackson, on the other hand, is a very familiar type of candidate — a White male Army veteran and former state prosecutor — but one who is offering a wholly different kind of campaign from past Senate candidates in North Carolina. It’s one built on a significant social media presence and a barnstorming tour inspired by Beto O’Rourke’s 2018 run in Texas that is drawing sizable crowds of curious Democrats many months before the primary.
The two are offering competing answers to a high-stakes question with national implications: How do Democrats motivate voters in a midterm election year where political head winds have traditionally blown against the president’s party?”