Fierce North Carolina congressional race could hinge on other names on the ballot

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (AP) — As Laurie Buckhout made her way around Nash County GOP headquarters in Rocky Mount, she seemed to be in high spirits. The Republican congressional candidate bounced around the crowded room, hugging and laughing with volunteers set to canvass local neighborhoods that afternoon.

But a scandal emerging in North Carolina politics was getting harder to ignore. The day before Buckhout’s Nash County visit, CNN released a bombshell report detailing alleged racist and sexual comments made by Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson — the GOP nominee for governor — on an online pornography forum more than a decade ago.

Addressing the volunteers, Buckhout spoke generally about the importance of the race. Then she paused and acknowledged “the elephant in the room.”

“My fight is right here, and when you fight, the most important part is not to get distracted by somebody over there rattling sabers,” she said. “It’s to keep moving forward and fighting for this district.”

There’s a delicate balancing act unfolding in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District — a battleground district in a battleground state, and one of the few toss-up congressional races across the Southeast.

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