This morning Mark Meadows (R-NC) announced he will not be seeking re-election in 2020. Meadows has been a fierce ally of President Trump and hasn’t shied away from standing up for the President during the House Impeachment Inquiry. Meadows is representative of North Carolina’s 11th congressional district, southwestern North Carolina.
Shortly after Meadows announced he would not seek reelection. Vice-chair of Haywood County Republican Party Lynda Bennett announced she would be running for the seat. Bennett is from Maggie Vallie just west of Waynesville NC. Where she and her husband Pat are brokers for Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Heritage.
Asheville Tea PAC endorsed Bennett immediately following her announcement to run. The endorsement from Ashville Tea PAC states:
“It is with great honor and enthusiasm that Asheville Tea PAC endorses Lynda Bennett for North Carolina’s Congressional District 11. Now, more than any other time, conservatives need to stand side by side with Lynda who has openly and consistently spoken out to embrace the principles and values time tested and enshrined in our Founding documents. Congressman Mark Meadows has been a national leader who has tirelessly stood up to the corruption of the Deep State. We need a bulwark to follow that lead. Lynda Bennett is that choice.
Lynda’s passion for conservative politics led to several positions with the Republican Party including Delegate to state conventions and two national Republican conventions. Presently, Lynda serves as the Vice-Chair of the Haywood County Republican Party and on the District and State Executive Committees. Her activism was encouraged through training with Tea Party Patriots, as a Sentinel with Heritage Action for America, the activism arm of the Heritage Foundation, and Freedom Works.
For the past ten years, Lynda Bennett stood on the front lines with the conservative movement to speak out for our inalienable rights and free-market principles that continue to be under assault by the new Leftist party. Her life’s work has been to restore limited government, to secure individual and property rights, to safeguard our second amendment, and to protect the sanctity of life from conception to death.”
The endorsement makes no mention of President Trump or if she would be a supporter of his. In the press release to announce her campaign, it states that “Bennett strongly supports President Trump… [she] will seek inclusion in the House Freedom Caucus… As a conservative woman, her voice will be in stark contrast to the left’s socialist agenda.”
This election District 11 of North Carolina will be much different than the former district 11 as North Carolina was redistricted for the upcoming elections.
It seems that Mrs. Bennett may have had advance knowledge of Meadows’ announcement not to run again as her campaign Facebook page was created on December 18, 2019, a day before the rest of us became privy to that information. It seems that the Meadows may be familiar with Bennett from the pictures she posted to the page today.
In an audio clip that according to our source is from 2016, after the primaries but before the general election and provided to Media Right News Bennett lays it out, she is a Never Trumper. She is offended that the Republican unit would ask her, a Never Trumper who is not for Trump but against Trump to organize 100 people for the polls to help get Trump elected. Bennett also demands that Trump be removed from the palm cards.
Bennett: “I am a never trump person. I don’t want Trump.”
Male Voice: “You Know”
Bennett: “I am a Never Trump Not in.. [in audible exchange of Bennett and another individual]. I want him taken off that palm card or I’m not helping you guys that’s what I’m hearin’. So Never Trump is a big movement and you guys have been denying it. And your acting like well can I be like never this person and I can never that person, but you can’t be Never Trump and you can be Never Trump but I’m Never Trump so now what. So what are you gonna do, gonna ask me to get out there and help Trump get elected and you want me to help organize 100 people to come and work the polls to help get Trump elected? Well, I am not for him I am against him Never Trump Nev-”
LISTEN TO AUDIO BY CLICKING HERE
Bennett who by her own admission is a Never Trumper would like the general public to believe that she is ready to drain the swamp, with a picture of a cardboard cut out of President Trump wearing a Drain the Swamp Tshirt that the prices have been reduced on. This is located on her Facebook page currently. However, it seems that Bennett has been embroiled in some swampy behavior herself. In an article from Smokey Moutain News from 2017, it seems that the GOP had a scandal where the “Patriot faction” of the GOP was voted out. The establishment and the patriot faction of the party had going back and forth in a power struggle.
According to the article, party insiders organized for many new people to come to a meeting that was for precinct elections. There was a list of names that were handed out to the newcomers of who they were supposed to vote for in order to keep “this one guy from getting a seat” When Lynda Bennett, the newly elected party secretary of Haywood GOP at the time was interviewed for the story she equated it to someone giving out buttons or hats when they are campaigning.
“There was a lot of legwork and a lot of effort went into getting that number of people to come out. It had never been that well organized before,” Bennett said.
Bennett said there’s often competition for party offices, particularly at the district and state level, where conventions are rife with campaigning for leadership positions.
“Somebody gives you a button, somebody else gives you a hat, somebody gives you a pen — it is not uncommon. It’s common,”
Bennett does not seem to be an impulsive character based off of how well planned out the things she does are. I don’t think it would be too far off the mark to say she knew about Meadows electing to retire after his term is up.
