Eric Mansfield Enters US Senate Race

Fayetteville medical doctor Eric Mansfield has announced his bid for the US Senate seat occupied currently by Sen. Thom Tillis, just one day after Cal Cunningham also announced.

Mansfield was elected to the NC Senate (District 21) in 2010 and served just one term. Before that term ended he opted to run for lieutenant governor in 2012, but lost the primary to Linda Coleman that year. I voted for Mansfield in that primary (and Coleman went on to lose to Dan Forest).

In a YouTube video announcing his candidacy, Mansfield talks about a near-death experience he had in 2018 when his heart stopped while he was driving home from a workout. His car crashed but he survived intact, and he says he was given a second chance.

To recap others in this Democratic Senate primary: Trevor Fuller is a Mecklenburg County Commissioner, and Erica D. Smith is currently in the NC Senate. No doubt others will also be announcing runs on the Democratic side, with Tillis looking increasingly vulnerable.

Eric Mansfield Announces for Dems State Party Chair

Never has the state Democratic Party needed new leadership at the top like it needs it now, and former state Sen. Eric Mansfield of Fayetteville announced via an email blast this morning that he's running. He has a website set up with an emerging plan for the future.

Here's part of what he said in his announcement:

I entered politics like many of my generation, inspired by the grassroots movement of President Obama’s 2008 campaign and the possibility of real meaningful change of our politics. My wife and I started the Fayetteville for Obama group, organized his first visit to Fayetteville, and knocked on doors. I was stirred by the notion that a diverse group of people can move their government when they have a common purpose. 

Encouraged by this example, I used this template for my campaign for the NC Senate. We knocked on nearly 10,000 doors. Daily knocking on doors taught me an invaluable lesson that I have continued to carry with me: Leadership does not emanate from the top down, but that it grows from people up.

At this critical junction in our Party’s history, we must not forget why we are Democrats and who we seek to serve. If the definition of a Democrat is someone who fights for the less fortunate, stands up for the weak, and defends the vulnerable then we are Democrats. If the definition of a Democrat is someone who believes that being fiscally responsible does not mean making irresponsible cuts to education, health care, and human services, then place us among the numbered. If being a Democrat means someone who fights for the right of every child to have an excellent education not based on their color, their zip code, or their socioeconomic status but solely because they our children then we are Democrats.