North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis’s odds of winning his reelection bid just got a whole lot better.
Democratic North Carolina Senate candidate Cal Cunningham was asked four times on Friday whether he has engaged in any extramarital affairs besides the one to which he has already admitted.
Cunningham, who had every opportunity to deny additional affairs, declined to answer the questions. That is never a good sign — for Cunningham and the Democrats, that is. Tillis and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, on the other hand, are probably pleased as punch.
“I have taken responsibility for the hurt that I’ve caused in my personal life,” Cunningham said Friday during his first press conference since admitting last week to exchanging erotic texts with a public relations executive who is definitely not his wife.
The executive, Arlene Guzman Todd, claims she and Cunningham had at least one “intimate” encounter.
“I apologized to it,” Cunningham said Friday. “I apologized for it. And I know that this campaign — our campaign is about things that are much bigger and more important than just me. It’s about the very issues and people we were just talking to right here.”
Reporters at the press conference asked Cunningham, who has stayed out of public view since his affair first became known, whether there are additional women and whether voters should expect to hear additional allegations before Election Day.
Cunningham, a married father of two who is also a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, dodged each question, opting instead to attack his Republican opponent.
“I’m hearing from North Carolinians that are telling me in no uncertain terms that they want their Senate candidate talking about the issues like those that we’re talking about right here today. People are tired of hearing about personal issues,” he said.
Cunningham added, “I believe, and this campaign knows, that if I continue to hold Thom Tillis accountable for his failures, as we have, and I continue to focus on the issues of the lives of the people in this state, we will win this election.”
The Army Reserve said this week that it is investigating Cunningham for his affair with Guzman Todd. He could “face punishment for an extramarital affair under the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” according to the News & Observer.
“I hope all of you watching at home will accept this sincere apology and that we will continue to work together to change the direction of our country and strengthen our state,” Cunningham said. “I will not get sidetracked, and I hope you won’t either.”
Democrats must be furious. Cunningham is supposed to help them tilt control of the Senate. This race was supposed to be a sure thing, considering Cunningham has a 5.2-point lead over Tillis, according to a RealClearPolitics polling average.
But then this stuff comes out?
Democrats need this win in North Carolina. Perhaps that is why Biden campaign aides are already waving off Cunningham’s scandals as a big nothing.
“Hi, North Carolinian who’s been on Joe Biden’s campaign from the start here,” Biden campaign rapid response director Andrew Bates tweeted Friday following Cunningham’s less-than-stellar press conference. “A lesson I will never forget after the last 17 (hundred) months: reporters and voters very often care about opposite things.”
We will see about that come Election Day.
