- Democrat Kathy Manning is facing Republican Lee Haywood in the open race for North Carolina’s newly redrawn sixth congressional district in the Greensboro area.
- Manning is a former immigration lawyer and nonprofit leader in the Greensboro area. Haywood, a business owner in the area, has been actively involved in local Republican politics over the past few years.
- After court-ordered redistricting, the 6th district was redrawn to be more favorable to Democrats, now including the cities of Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point.
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The candidates
Democrat Kathy Manning is facing Republican Lee Haywood in the open race for North Carolina’s newly redrawn sixth congressional district in the Greensboro area.
Manning is a former immigration lawyer and small business owner who has been deeply involved with a number of local non-profits and economic development efforts in the Greensboro over the past decade, according to her campaign website.
She previously unsuccessfully challenged GOP Rep. Ted Budd in North Carolina’s 13th district in 2018, losing by six points. A portion of North Carolina’s old 13th district is now in the sixth following recent redistricting.
Haywood is a business owner in the Greensboro area who became active in Republican politics after President Barack Obama’s election in 2008, most recently serving as the chairman of the 6th district’s Republican Party chapter for over two years, he says on his campaign website.
The district's current representative, GOP Rep. Mark Walker, retired amid North Carolina's recent court-ordered redistricting.
The district
The new boundaries of North Carolina's second district were recently drawn after a court ordered the North Carolina legislature to redraw its entire congressional district maps in 2019, ruling that the previous map drawn by the GOP-controlled legislature disenfranchised voters from participating in fair elections by unfairly favoring Republicans.
While North Carolina's previous 13-district map had 10 districts that favored Republicans and three that favored Democrats, the new map contains eight districts that favor Republicans and five that favor Democrats, including the re-drawn second and sixth districts.
The previous sixth district included parts of eight counties in the central part of the state, according to the Winston-Salem Journal, including some of the area around Greensboro and Ashboro.
The new sixth district is far more compact and favorable to Democrats, now including all of Guilford County and a portion of Forsyth County, including the more reliably Democratic cities of Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point.
The money race
As of June 30, 2020, Manning has raised $1.4 million compared to Haywood's $15,365. Haywood has only spent $8,279 on his campaign - about $920,000 less than Manning, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Manning has over $309,000 in cash on hand compared to $7,000 for Haywood.
What experts say
The race between Manning and Haywood is rated as "likely Democratic" by Inside Elections and The Cook Political Report, and "safe Democratic" by Sabato 's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.