Scandals, sickness shake Senate race

One candidate’s COVID-19 diagnosis and another’s extramarital affair have rocked one of this year’s most-watched—and most expensive—U.S. Senate races.

Incumbent GOP Sen. Thom Tillis faces Democratic challenger Lt. Col. Cal Cunningham in North Carolina. Their campaigns and outside influence groups have spent more than $145 million so far, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The Cook Political Report still counts the race as one of six toss-ups that could determine which political party controls the Senate.

Over the last week, reporters released romantic and sexual text messages between Cunningham and a political consultant, Arlene Guzman Todd, who said the two had an affair. Cunningham, who has been married for more than 20 years and has two children, acknowledged the relationship on Friday.

“I have hurt my family, disappointed my friends, and am deeply sorry,” he said. “The first step in repairing those relationships is taking complete responsibility, which I do.”

Cunningham withdrew from an online forum on Monday and has not tweeted from his official account since Friday. Before news of the scandal broke, he cultivated an image of a strong family man with a military background, which played well with North Carolina voters.

“It was a character-first campaign, and it was as much about who Cal Cunningham is than what Cal Cunningham stands for—and that’s a harder sell today than it was last week,” Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University, said Tuesday.

Guzman Todd, who is married to a retired Army sergeant, apologized for the affair and called it a “lapse in judgment.” Her husband called on Cunningham to drop out of the race and asked for the military to review his actions. The Army said Wednesday it was investigating Cunningham, who is retired, but would not provide further details. Extramarital affairs violate military code.

On Friday, Tillis revealed he had tested positive for COVID-19, leading to the suspension of all his in-person events and campaign activities. He said he did not have any symptoms of the illness and acknowledged he made a mistake not wearing a mask indoors at the White House a week before his positive test.

“I have to admit that I let my guard down because we’d all been tested about two hours before the event,” he said.

Tillis is staying home in self-isolation, but he attended a virtual town hall on Tuesday and made several appearances on news shows in which he began to put pressure on his opponent over the sexting.

“I think Cal owes the people of North Carolina an explanation,” he told Fox News.

The two candidates do not have any more scheduled debates before the election. The Charlotte Observer reported Tuesday that no candidate could withdraw at this point even if he wanted to, though neither has indicated he does. With fewer than 30 days to go before the election and more than 1 million ballots already sent to voters by mail, the October surprises may not cost Cunningham and Tillis any of their die-hard supporters.

“We’re disappointed, and we don’t condone [Cunningham’s] behavior,” said MaryBe McMillan, president of the North Carolina AFL-CIO, which endorsed Cunningham. “But working people have a lot more important things on their minds than these text messages.”