Democrat Cal Cunningham Makes Campaign About His Personal Life amid Affair Scandals

North Carolina Senate Democrat candidate Cal Cunningham’s campaign decided the final weeks of the heated Senate race need to focus on his personal life after reports confirmed Cunningham had an extra-marital affair.

Devan Barber, the campaign manager for Cunningham, wrote on Monday:

With the #ncsen race now in the final week, voters need to again hear about the contrast between Cal Cunningham and Thom Tillis on veterans. While Cal served and earned a Bronze Star, Tillis voted to take away veterans’ health care and against a pay raise for servicemembers.

Barber’s tweet contending they need to focus on his personal life arises as Cunningham aired an ad over the weekend, in which he said that Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) is trying to distract voters from his record by attacking Cunningham’s personal life.

The ad arises as Cunningham’s campaign continues to reel after reports confirmed the North Carolina Democrat had an affair with public relations strategist Arlene Guzman Todd.

“Thom Tillis is desperately attacking my personal life because he doesn’t want to talk about his own record,” Cunningham said in the ad.

Further, Politifact fact-checked the notion Tillis voted to take away veterans’ health care.

Politifact wrote VoteVets “cherry-picked two sections of a massive budget bill and it ignores Tillis’ other efforts to raise military pay.”

Further, while Tillis helped secure pay raises for service members in the latest National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in July, Cunningham had an “intimate encounter” with Guzman Todd as recently as July.

Andrew Romeo, a Tillis campaign spokesman, said in a statement on Monday, “Cal Cunningham’s campaign is acknowledging that the defining issue of this race is  Cunningham’s lack of character, lack of honor and lack of honesty.”

“North Carolinians know a fraud when they see one and no amount of Chuck Schumer’s dark money can change the fact that Cunningham disgraced the military with his misconduct and will lose on November 3rd,” he added.