RACE OF THE DAY: N.C.-07

A Tea Party storyline made waves in the race for North Carolina’s 7th congressional district Monday, but not in the way you might expect.   

It was the campaign of Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.) that appeared to get a Tea Party boost when a former vice chairwoman of the California-based Tea Party Express endorsed the Democrat’s reelection bid, bypassing Republican challenger Ilario Pantano and targeting his military record while doing it.

Pantano is an Iraq war veteran who was charged by the Marines in 2004 with two counts of premeditated murder for shooting two Iraqi civilians. But the charges were dropped a year later and the case never went to trial. 

In backing McIntyre Monday, activist Deborah Johns said Pantano “is not a war hero.”

“It is people like that that give all our military a bad name,” she told The Associated Press. 

Johns, a former vice chairwoman of the California-based Tea Party Express, said McIntyre is the first Democrat she’s endorsed.

Pantano’s campaign had no comment on the endorsement, but early Tuesday, the Tea Party Express repudiated Johns, calling her comments regarding Pantano’s military service “abhorrent and reprehensible” in a statement. 

“Ms. Johns was terminated last year by the Tea Party Express for cause,” the group said. “We do not agree with her views regarding Mr. Pantano one bit. We wish to make it clear that she has absolutely no involvement with the tea party activities of the Tea Party Express, nor will she ever in the future.”  

It sets up an odd dynamic in a race where McIntyre, a Blue Dog Democrat, is staring down a tough challenge in a district that could prove tough to hang onto for the Democrat in a wave year. 

The seven-term incumbent has been largely untouchable for the past decade, winning reelection with more than 60 percent of the vote since he was first elected 14 years ago, but polling shows the incumbent vulnerable this fall, and the national GOP has already poured independent-expenditure money into the race. 

The 7th district is tucked in the southeastern part of the state, stretching from Fayetteville through Wilmington. The terrain is relatively Republican, but the GOP doesn’t enjoy a large advantage in this district, making it a good test for how far the party can stretch its anticipated congressional gains this fall. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) just edged President Obama here in 2008. 

Like most vulnerable Dems in 2010, a large part of the Republican argument against McIntyre is tying him to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). On Monday, the North Carolina GOP rolled out a new website aimed at highlighting the incumbent’s voting record in Congress.   

McIntyre was also one of 39 Democrats to cast a vote against the healthcare bill, but that hasn’t stopped Republicans from hitting him on the issue. In August, an outside group ran a TV spot criticizing McIntyre for not putting his signature on a petition to repeal the healthcare law. 

Like most centrists this cycle, McIntyre is doing more than emphasizing his independence — the incumbent is actively running away from his party’s leadership in Washington, using his campaign ads to tout his votes against Democratic legislative priorities in Washington and hit the party leadership by name.

“I don’t work for Nancy Pelosi, or Harry Reid, or anyone else,” McIntyre says in his latest campaign ad.

A recent poll showed the race tight. A Survey USA poll had the race in a dead heat with 46 percent for Pantano and 45 percent for McIntyre. But those numbers came among registered voters, not likely voters. 

Pantano’s campaign has pointed to internals from Public Opinion Strategies that show him with a seven-point advantage among likely voters.