Starting in January, North Carolina will have an additional seat in Congress because of its growing population.
What You Need To Know
Democrat Jeff Jackson is a state senator representing part of Mecklenburg County
Republican Pat Harrigan is a political newcomer and business owner
The 14th District includes large parts of the city of Charlotte and Gaston County
The 14th Congressional District includes a large chunk of the city of Charlotte and Gaston County.
Democrat Jeff Jackson is a state senator representing part of Mecklenburg County, and he’s a former Gaston County assistant district attorney.
The Afghanistan war veteran originally ran for U.S. Senate in N.C. but dropped out last year and endorsed Democrat Cheri Beasley. Jackson jumped into the 14th District race after redistricting was completed.
"They know me in the Mecklenburg part of the district, and they know me in the Gaston part of the district,” Jackson said.
Republican Pat Harrigan is a political newcomer. He and his wife own a gun manufacturing business in western North Carolina.
The Afghanistan war veteran said he decided to get involved in politics last year after watching the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
"I truly realized we had failed leadership that are leading us down the road to failed outcomes,” Harrigan said.
Jackson said the most important issue for him this election is protecting democracy.
"I still believe we’re in this moment that we saw on January 6, the political extremism is still running very high, we have 60% of Americans [who] will have an election denier on their ballot. I think that’s a major problem,” Jackson said.
Harrigan, who said he will accept the results of this election and would have voted to certify the results in 2020, said the most important issue this election is the economy and inflation.
“We have to get back to conservative fiscal policymaking. And where that starts is we have to have a balanced budget,” Harrigan said.
Harrigan will likely need to win over independent and unaffiliated voters in November.
Fifty-eight percent of voters that now make up the 14th district voted for Joe Biden in 2020 and only 41% voted for then-President Donald Trump, according to the Daily Kos.
When asked if there are issues he is more moderate on than members in his party, he told Spectrum News 1 it is immigration.
“The southern border is a national security concern … that being said we are missing the greatest opportunity we’ve had in 50 years in this country to reinvigorate domestic manufacturing because we don’t have the labor to support it … we have the technology to completely revamp our immigration system,” Harrigan said.
But Harrigan said he wouldn’t have voted for several major bills that passed with bipartisan support, including the bipartisan infrastructure law and the CHIPS legislation. He said there are some elements he liked and some he didn’t like in the bipartisan gun safety law.
Jackson said he thinks the age to purchase military style semi-automatic weapons should be 21, and he’s open to a wider ban on the guns.
On abortion, Harrigan agrees with the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, but doesn’t support a federal abortion ban. He said he also supports exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.
Jackson supports codifying Roe v. Wade in Congress.
While voters in the 14th District went blue in 2020, Jackson has garnered some criticism from Republicans for support he’s received from Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
When asked by Spectrum News 1 if there are issue he disagrees on with members in his party, he responded: "I’m sure there are. There are a whole lot of issues out there. I don’t come with a list of things for which I have ready disagreement, but I’m going to be a voice that’s focused on the best needs of this district."
With an open seat on the line and the race for who controls Congress expected to be close, this is a target seat for the political parties.