Republican 13th District Congressman Ted Budd has announced he is running for the open US Senate seat in 2022.

Budd made his announcement in a video released on Wednesday, April 28, which you can view here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0gnXHPArcQ

When Budd was first elected to Congress in 2016, the 13th District split Guilford County with the 6th Congressional District, which at the time was represented by Congressman Mark Walker who didn’t run for reelection in 2020 and announced he was running for the Senate on Dec. 1, 2020.

In 2020, the 13th Congressional District was redrawn and Budd, who lives in Davie County, no longer represents any of Guilford County, and by running for the Senate he will have to give up his seat in Congress at the end of this term in 2022.

Budd’s announcement video starts off with monster trucks, a guy with a bullhorn and a dog in goggles.  But mostly it is Budd talking about why he is running for the Senate, with a drive-in movie screen behind him depicting images that go along with the speech.

Budd leaves no doubt about where he stands on President Donald Trump and displays three separate clips of Trump at rallies in North Carolina talking about the good job Budd has done.

Budd says, “Today the US Senate is the last line of defense against the becoming a woke, socialist wasteland and I’m running to stop that period.”

Budd begins the video saying, “I’m a small businessman who was so fed up with the liberals attacks on our faith, our families and our way of life that I ran for Congress to stand and fight beside Donald Trump to drain the swamp and take our country back.”

Budd adds, “Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi are shredding our Constitution, creating an unprecedented crisis at the southern border, cutting American jobs and mortgaging our children’s future with massive debts. My core beliefs come from being raised in Davie County.  I’m 100 percent pro life and I even think that elections should be fair and secure.”

He also says, “I’ve shoveled a lot of manure on my family’s farm and it’s not the dirtiest job I’ve ever had now that I’ve been to Congress.”

Budd also notes that since he owns a gun shop, people know where he stands on the Second Amendment.

Along with Walker, former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory has announced his candidacy for the Senate seat.  Jen Banwart, who has said he doesn’t plan to raise any money, has also announced he is running in the Republican primary.