Roll Call has an interesting article on two Democratic primary races in North Carolina. They are being held in the Tarheel State’s 2nd District, based in Raleigh, and 6th District, based in Greensboro. Since the legislature was compelled by the courts to redraw their maps, the Democrats have benefited greatly, and it is expected that both of these seats will become safely blue pickups.

This means that the winners of the primary elections are virtually guaranteed to become members of the U.S. House of Representatives in the next Congress beginning in January 2021. Both contests feature white women as the frontrunners. In the 2nd District, Deborah Ross has plenty of experience as a former state rep who ran unsuccessfully for Senate against Richard Burr in 2016.  She has excellent left-wing credentials as the former state director of the ACLU. In the 6th District, Kathy Manning ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2018 in a different district, and she can boast topical experience as an immigration lawyer.

They’re both endorsed by the the state AFL-CIO and there’s just not a lot for progressives to complain about with either of them. But the districts would probably support black representation, and might actually prefer it.

In the new 6th District, nearly 50 percent of Democratic primary voters in 2016 were black. Nearly 30 percent were black in the new 2nd District, according to calculations from Daily Kos Elections.

And there are black women running in both the 2nd and 6th Districts.

In the 2nd, the candidate is Wake County School Board Member Monika Johnson-Hostler. She was just endorsed by the Congressional Black Caucus and she’s backing Medicare-for-All. In the 6th, the candidate is Rhonda Foxx who is already familiar with the territory in Washington, DC, as the former chief of staff to Rep. Alma Adams.  She’s been endorsed by some familiar names, like short-term presidential candidates Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Rep. Eric Swalwell of California. Ms. Foxx also supports Medicare-for-All.

The 6th District appears to be closer to a majority-minority seat than the 2nd District, but truthfully neither of them fit that description. There isn’t a particularly compelling argument that these districts should be represented by one race or another, but that doesn’t mean race isn’t being discussed as one of the major decision points for the voters.

The DCCC has not shown a preference but it supported Manning two years ago, just as the DSCC supported Ross in her 2016 bid against Senator Burr. Perhaps unsurprisingly considering this previous support and their higher name recognition, the white candidates have raised a lot more money than the black candidates. They also created some doubts about their progressive bona fides when running for more competitive seats.  As far as I know, neither of them has embraced Medicare-for-All in the current campaign.

I have no preference or recommendation in these primary contests, but I don’t like to see them bogged down in arguments based on the race of the candidates.  They all appear to be pretty solid progressives, and perhaps one way to choose between them is go with the ones whose health care preferences match your own.  I’m sure the constituents will make the right choice for them, and I’m just happy that the Democrats are going to pick up two seats and that two women will be added to Congress. I’m cool with more black representation, including school board members or experienced congressional staffers. I could also get excited about an ACLU lawyer and a lawyer that has specialized in immigration cases.

Let the best women win.