Greg Brannon
Greg Brannon was a 2016 Republican candidate who sought election to the U.S. House to represent the 2nd Congressional District of North Carolina.[1] Brannon was defeated by incumbent George Holding in the Republican primary.[2]
Brannon was a 2016 Republican candidate who sought election to the U.S. Senate from North Carolina.[3] Brannon was defeated in the Republican primary by Richard Burr.
Brannon was also a 2014 Republican Party candidate who sought election to the U.S. Senate representing North Carolina. Brannon lost in the primary to Thom Tillis on May 6, 2014.
Brannon is a practicing OB/GYN.[4]
Biography
Greg was the first member in his family to go to college, earning a scholarship to the University of Southern California, where he received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Biological Science in 1982. He earned his Medical Degree from the Chicago Medical School in 1988 and performed his OB/GYN Residency at Los Angeles County/ USC Women’s Hospital in 1992. He was a Clinical Professor at UNC/Wake AHEC from 1993-1994 before opening his OB/GYN practice in Cary, NC in 1993.[4]
Issues
Money judgment
On March 11, 2014, a judgment ordered that Brannon pay two investors in his failed startup company more than $450,000.[5]
The judgment followed a February 18, 2014, verdict that Brannon had sole responsibility for giving misleading or false information in 2010 to investors regarding a mobile application being developed by Neogence Enterprises, a now-defunct tech company he helped start.[5] The total Brannon owes is more than $454,631.[5]
Elections
2016
House
Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent George Holding (R) from District 13 defeated incumbent Renee Ellmers and Greg Brannon in the District 2 Republican primary on June 7, 2016. This primary was rated by Ballotpedia as a 2016 U.S. House primary to watch. John McNeil defeated Elton Brewington, Jane Watson, Ron Sanyal, and Steven Hight in the Democratic primary and was defeated by Holding in the general election. The general election took place on November 8, 2016.[6]
Holding's decision to run in District 2 came after redistricting in North Carolina in February 2016 substantially changed the constituency of both districts.[3][7][8][1][9][6]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  George Holding Incumbent |
56.7% | 221,485 | |
| Democratic | John McNeil | 43.3% | 169,082 | |
| Total Votes | 390,567 | |||
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections | ||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
George Holding Incumbent |
53.4% | 17,084 | ||
| Renee Ellmers Incumbent | 23.6% | 7,552 | ||
| Greg Brannon | 23% | 7,359 | ||
| Total Votes | 31,995 | |||
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections |
||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
John McNeil |
46.1% | 7,613 | ||
| Jane Watson | 23.5% | 3,875 | ||
| Steven Hight | 11.3% | 1,870 | ||
| Ron Sanyal | 10.7% | 1,761 | ||
| Elton Brewington | 8.4% | 1,387 | ||
| Total Votes | 16,506 | |||
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections |
||||
Senate
The race for North Carolina's U.S. Senate seat was one of nine competitive battleground races in 2016 that helped Republicans maintain control of the upper chamber after the November 8 general election. Incumbent Sen. Richard Burr (R) won re-election, defeating former state Rep. Deborah Ross (D) and pizza delivery driver Sean Haugh (L) in the general election.
While most of his colleagues facing tough re-election campaigns were out on the trail, Burr, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was focused on his duties as chairman and did not officially begin campaigning until October 7, 2016. He told The Associated Press, “I become a candidate on Oct. 7, when the United States Senate is adjourned. I don't want there to be any question between the separation of Senate business, so I have very few conversations with campaigns and it really plays no role in my actions." Some Republican strategists were worried that Burr’s failure to attack Ross early in the race would hurt him on Election Day, while others said “Burr’s low-key style fits the ethos of the state well.”[10][11]
Republican President-elect Donald Trump, who did not establish a strong ground game in the state, and North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory (R), who was unpopular because of his stance on the state’s “bathroom bill,” complicated Burr’s path to re-election. Referring to Trump and McCrory, North Carolina GOP consultant Carter Wrenn said, “If it was a normal year, and it was just Richard and Deborah, you’d have to say Richard had a solid advantage.”[11]
With the uncertain political landscape in North Carolina—it was the only state that The Cook Political Report rated as a “toss-up” for president, Senate, and governor—outside Republican groups spent more money on attack ads in the state than they had initially planned for in an effort to maintain control of the Senate. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) ran ads attacking Ross for being "too liberal" for North Carolina by highlighting her career with the American Civil Liberties Union. The NRSC also created the site “Radical Ross” to showcase Ross’ stance on “countless radical, out-of-touch policies.”[12][13]
Ross’s campaign spokesman Cole Leiter, who attempted to portray Burr as a Washington insider, responded to the attacks saying, “It’s no surprise that, like a typical Washington politician, [Burr]’s turning to the same big money donors he’s put first all along. But North Carolina voters won’t be fooled — they know it’s time for a change, and no amount of special interest dark money can bail Richard Burr out.”[14]
Ultimately, Burr was not hurt by his late arrival to the campaign trail or by having Trump or McCrory on the ballot. Burr outperformed Trump by earning more votes than the president-elect. After winning re-election, Burr tweeted: “Thank you North Carolina! Honored to continue serving as your senator.”[15]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Richard Burr Incumbent |
51.1% | 2,395,376 | |
| Democratic | Deborah Ross | 45.4% | 2,128,165 | |
| Libertarian | Sean Haugh | 3.6% | 167,592 | |
| Total Votes | 4,691,133 | |||
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections | ||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Richard Burr Incumbent |
61.4% | 627,354 | ||
| Greg Brannon | 25.2% | 257,331 | ||
| Paul Wright | 8.5% | 86,940 | ||
| Larry Holmquist | 4.9% | 50,507 | ||
| Total Votes | 1,022,132 | |||
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections |
||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Deborah Ross |
62.4% | 607,802 | ||
| Chris Rey | 16.5% | 160,663 | ||
| Kevin Griffin | 11.7% | 114,180 | ||
| Ernest Reeves | 9.4% | 91,694 | ||
| Total Votes | 974,339 | |||
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections |
||||
2014
Brannon sought election to the U.S. Senate in North Carolina in November 2014, but he lost in the Republican primary to Thom Tillis on May 6, 2014.[4]
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Thom Tillis |
45.7% | 223,174 | ||
| Greg Brannon | 27.1% | 132,630 | ||
| Mark Harris | 17.5% | 85,727 | ||
| Heather Grant | 4.7% | 22,971 | ||
| Jim Snyder | 1.9% | 9,414 | ||
| Ted Alexander | 1.9% | 9,258 | ||
| Alex Bradshaw | 0.7% | 3,528 | ||
| Edward Kryn | 0.4% | 1,853 | ||
| Total Votes | 488,555 | |||
| Source: Results via the North Carolina State Board of Elections |
||||
Endorsements
Brannon was endorsed by the following:
- Senator Rand Paul[16]
- Paul said, "I urge conservatives in the state of North Carolina and across the nation to rally around Greg Brannon by contributing generously to his campaign and joining the grassroots volunteer effort to ensure that there is a strong Constitutional conservative Senator from North Carolina."
- Senator Mike Lee[17]
- FreedomWorks[18]
- Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund[19]
Campaign themes
2016
The following issues were listed on Brannon's campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.
| “ |
|
” |
| —Greg Brannon's campaign website, http://gregbrannon.nationbuilder.com/issues | ||
Campaign finance summary
Ballotpedia currently provides campaign finance data for all federal- and state-level candidates from 2020 and later. We are continuously working to expand our data to include prior elections. That information will be published here as we acquire it. If you would like to help us provide this data, please consider donating to Ballotpedia.
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Brannon is married with seven children.[4]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for "Greg + Brannon + North Carolina + Congress"
- All stories may not be relevant to this legislator due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
- United States House of Representatives
- North Carolina's 2nd Congressional District election, 2016
- North Carolina's 2nd Congressional District
- United States Senate
- United States Senate elections in North Carolina, 2014
- United States Senate election in North Carolina, 2016
External links
- Social media:
- Summary, biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 North Carolina State Board of Elections, "June Primary Candidates," accessed March 27, 2016 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "cong16" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ The New York Times, "North Carolina Primary Results," June 7, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Candidate_Listing_20160315," December 21, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Gregbrannon.com, "Meet Greg," accessed June 28, 2013
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 News Observer, "Greg Brannon owes nearly half-million to settle civil claims," accessed March 17, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 North Carolina State Board of Elections, "June Primary Candidates," accessed March 27, 2016
- ↑ Twitter, "Colin Campbell," accessed February 22, 2016
- ↑ News Observer, "NC Sen. Andrew Brock to run for Congress under new map," February 22, 2016
- ↑ Rhino Times, "Greensboro State Rep. Blust announces run for Congress," March 2, 2016
- ↑ The Associated Press, "Burr sticks to low-key style in N. Carolina re-election bid," accessed October 13, 2016
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 National Review, "Is Richard Burr Sailing into the Perfect Storm?" accessed October 11, 2016
- ↑ McClatchy DC, "Republican ad hits NC Senate hopeful Ross for ACLU argument in rape case," accessed October 11, 2016
- ↑ The News & Observer, "Deborah Ross’ ACLU leadership looms large in US Senate race," accessed October 12, 2016
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Nervous Republicans ramp up spending in North Carolina as Senate race tightens," accessed October 11, 2016
- ↑ Gaston Gazette, "Sen. Richard Burr wins re-election over Democrat Deborah Ross," accessed November 14, 2016
- ↑ Roll Call, "Rand Paul Endorses in North Carolina Primary," October 16, 2013
- ↑ News Observer, "Utah Sen. Mike Lee endorses Greg Brannon in contested Senate primary," accessed May 1, 2014
- ↑ Politico, "FreedomWorks backs Brannon in N.C.," accessed May 1, 2014
- ↑ Greg Brannon for U.S. Senate, "Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund Endorses Brannon for U.S. Senate," accessed May 1, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
