McCrory: Tillis has best shot versus Hagan

Gov. Pat McCrory told The Washington Post that of the eight-person Republican field, House Speaker Thom Tillis has the best shot at beating U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, a Democrat, in the general election.

Posted 5:26 p.m. Apr 3, 2014 — Updated 7:38 p.m. Apr 3, 2014

Mark Binker

RALEIGH, N.C. — Gov. Pat McCrory has been on a road trip to Washington, D.C., this week and apparently stopped for an interview with The Washington Post.

While McCrory, a Republican, has not made an endorsement in the eight-way GOP U.S. Senate primary, he did tell the paper which candidate he thought had the best chance of beating Democratic incumbent Kay Hagan.

McCrory gave House Speaker Thom Tillis the nod over Rev. Mark Harris of Charlotte, Dr. Greg Brannon of Cary and the rest of the field.

"I think Tillis has the best chance to win a general election," McCrory told the paper. "From a political perspective, there's no doubt in my mind that Tillis has the best chance to win in the general election. I think you can see that in the attacks from D.C. going after Tillis."

Tillis has led the Republican field in most recent polls but has yet to show signs he will rack up the 40 percent of the vote needed to avoid a runoff. The primary is May 6, but the voter registration deadline is April 11.

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