Former GOP congressman exits House race to join Trump campaign

Former US Rep. Mark Walker is ending his congressional comeback bid in North Carolina to join Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, warding off what could have been a competitive House primary runoff against an opponent backed by the former president.

Former US Rep. Mark Walker is ending his congressional comeback bid in North Carolina to join Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, warding off what could have been a competitive House primary runoff against an opponent backed by the former president. Former state health care lobbyist Addison McDowell, who had the support of Trump and several losing candidates in the Republican primary, will advance to the general election in North Carolina’s 6th Congressional District, which state GOP lawmakers redrew last year to heavily favor their party. Walker said Wednesday that he had chosen not to file for a runoff and would instead join Trump’s presidential campaign  as director of outreach for faith and minority communities. “After speaking with Addison directly over the last several days, I’m convinced Addison can do great things for the people of the 6th district which allowed me to not file for the upcoming runoff and work immediately and directly with President Trump, leading the effort into our faith based and minority communities,”  the former pastor said on social media. As no candidate secured more than 30% of the vote in the March 5 primary, state law allows for the top two vote-getters to advance to a runoff election if the second-place finisher – in this case, Walker – requests one. Over the past week, Walker had been talking as if a runoff would take place, even suggesting Tuesday that he and McDowell debate one another. However, he had yet to officially request a runoff and confirmed Wednesday that he would not.