The race I was watching Tuesday Night was that of my State Senator, Ralph Hise.   No Democrat filed for the office but Hise did have a primary opponent, a county commissioner whose voting record had been to the left of Hise's, particularly on social issues.   At our county convention in March the primary opponent's speech consisted of an extended complaint about how Ralph wasn't bringing enough pork back to the district.  McDowell County Commissioner Mike Lavender never explained how he planned to cut the size of state government while simultaneously bringing more taxpayer money to the district.  The reception Lavender got was decidedly cool while Hise received a standing ovation.    

Then about three weeks ago I started to be flood with flyers, phone calls and even annoying pop up internet videos on AT and other conservative sites. They all asked if Ralph Hise had ever really been a conservative, accused him of having "gone Raleigh", of not having "mountain values" and completely misrepresented his voting record.  They weren't from Mike Lavender.  They had all been paid for by the State Employees Association of North Carolina, an SEIU affiliate based- you guessed it- in Raleigh. 

My county chairman estimates that at a minimum SEANC spent $200K trying to unseat Ralph just to replace him with a moderate Republican.   It didn't work.   Ralph won 61.99% of the vote.