The Elections of March: Why a Democratic Primary in NCS38?

NC Senate District 38 -- Mecklenburg County

Primary challengers have popped up in some unlikely races this year, none perhaps more surprising than the two Democratic challengers to the incumbent Democratic senator in this Mecklenburg district. The winner of the primary is almost guaranteed to take the seat against weak Republican opposition next November.

Incumbent Democrat Mujtaba Mohammed is a 35-year-old millennial (born in 1985 in Toledo, Ohio, to immigrant parents from India) who earned his law degree from NC Central and who works primarily as a public defender. He took over 81% of the vote for the seat in 2018, which is why this district is rated "Likely Democratic." But before he got to the fall election in 2018, he had taken out three-term incumbent Democrat Joel Ford, who had regularly inserted his thumb in his caucus's eye by voting repeatedly with the Senate Republicans.

Mohammed has been active in the Senate as primary sponsor for bills relating especially to the welfare of children and to education. Never mind that the Republican overlords often maroon those bills in the Rules Committee. He was primary sponsor for bills to restore a child care tax credit, restore a bump in teacher salaries for a Master's degree, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a bill to Reinstate the Earned Income Tax Credit, a bill to raise the minimum wage in North Carolina, a bill to fully fund school counselors and psychologists, and a full repeal of HB2 (among others).

Democrat Laura Anthony is a 50-year-old Gen-X-er born in 1970 who appears to have been spurred to political activity by the Rise of Trump. As far as I can tell, she voted for the first time ever in 2016 and then again in 2018, but her Twitter feed strikes resonate progressive themes. She wrote on December 12, "Going into politics was not my plan. But our democracy is at risk. Access to healthcare is at risk. Women Rights are at risk. Free and Fair elections are at risk And that’s why I’m asking you to join me." Her first run for any public office.

Democrat Roderick Davis is a 36-year-old millennial born in 1984 and a perennial candidate. He ran for mayor of Charlotte in 2015, for the NC Senate seat in both 2016 and 2018, and for an at-large seat on the Charlotte City Council in 2017. In the 2018 primary for the senate seat, he got 631 votes out of 13,284 total votes cast. 

Republican Jack Brosch is a 61-year-old baby boomer born in 1958. He previously ran for Congress against Mel Watt in 2012, so self-immolation is sort of his MO.