Just a month ago, some analysts and activists were questioning North Carolina Rep. Ted Budd’s (R-Advance) US Senate campaign even to the point where speculation was building that former President Donald Trump was about to pull his endorsement.

The tables have rapidly turned.

Yesterday, the fifth consecutive statewide survey was published showing Mr. Budd leading former Governor Pat McCrory as the two begin the final month of campaigning prior to the May 17 Republican primary. 

Survey USA published their latest study (4/6-10; 593 NC likely Republican primary voters; online) projecting Rep. Budd to a 33-23-7-2% advantage over Mr. McCrory, former US Rep. Mark Walker and author Marjorie Eastman. Since March 22nd, four other pollsters have published similar numbers. The McCrory camp has yet to counter with different figures.

Vitale & Associates was the first since early January to find Budd leading the race, a 32-29% margin over the former Governor according to their March 22-23 survey of 504 NC Republican primary likely voters.

The margin started gelling for the Budd campaign this month when three successive surveys gave the Congressman double-digit leads. Cygnal, Emerson College, and WPA Intelligence, all published just before the new Survey USA study, staked Rep. Budd to leads of 11, 16, and 13 percentage points, respectively, in their polls conducted between April 1st and 5th.

The turnaround is not particularly surprising. In relation to the Trump endorsement, early polling consistently showed the political horse race changing when the respondents were informed that the former President supported Mr. Budd. Though trailing Mr. McCrory in the initial ballot test, the fact that the two candidates flipped just on the knowledge of Trump’s endorsement was an early indicator that the former Governor and fourteen-year Charlotte Mayor held underlying political weaknesses.

The other clue suggesting McCrory could potentially collapse was the fact that 35% was his high-water mark in any of the twelve surveys results released since January 5 and he only averaged 27.7% in those dozen polls. This, for a former Governor before his own political party.

Though the 1st quarter 2022 financial disclosure totals are not yet due or published, Mr. Budd had raised slightly more money by the end of last year, $3.09 million to $3.03 million, and had $300,000+ more cash-on-hand. It is likely he will continue to show a resource edge.

What has helped turn the political fortunes is a multi-million dollar expenditure from the Club for Growth, which has hit the former Governor on decision he made to authorize subsidies for Chinese companies, what they say is his cozying up to liberals officeholders such as President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, and “Democrat lobbyists,” and revisiting his 2016 election foibles when he lost the Governorship and became the only North Carolina Republican incumbent to fall that year.

It appears that Mr. McCrory may be in free fall to the point where he can’t rebound. If so, Mr. Budd would advance from the Republican primary and into a general election against former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley (D), who, like Mr. McCrory, lost a very close re-election campaign the last time she was on the ballot.

North Carolina is a runoff state, but it is unlikely this contest will require a secondary vote. The Tar Heel State is the only political entity that employs a 30% runoff threshold, thus it is highly unlikely that the current field will split to the point that all four major candidates and the ten minor contenders who accompany them will fail to see one individual clinch the nomination.

We can expect the North Carolina Senate race to become one of the key general election contests that determines the next Senate majority and draw a great deal of national attention.