Today, HRC announces its endorsement of Dan McCready in his bid to represent North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District. A special election to fill the vacant seat will be held on Tuesday, September 10.

“Dan McCready will fight for everyday North Carolinians and work for an America that values fairness, justice and equality,” said Senior Vice President of Policy and Political Affairs JoDee Winterhof. “We proudly endorse his candidacy to represent North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District, and look forward to working with him in the United States Congress.”

“In my platoon in the Marine Corps, we came from all over this country. But we never cared about where you came from, who your parents were or the color of your skin. We never cared about who you loved. We didn’t even care about your political party,” said Dan McCready. “That’s the spirit that’s missing in Washington right now. I am proud to be endorsed by HRC and look forward to continuing the fight for every North Carolinian.”

A Marine Corps veteran and small business owner, Dan McCready has helped to build dozens of solar farms throughout North Carolina that employed 700 North Carolinians with good-paying jobs. McCready has played a key role in North Carolina ranking number two nationally for solar power and positioning the state to support over 30,000 clean energy jobs. He is a graduate of the Harvard Business School and a former employee at McKinsey & Company.

McCready’s opponent, Dan Bishop, was the lead sponsor for North Carolina’s discriminatory HB2 legislation, which barred people in the state from using bathrooms, locker rooms and other public facilities that align with their gender identity. The passage of HB2 resulted in an estimated $3.76 billion in lost business in North Carolina, including withdrawals from PayPal, Deutsche Bank and CoStar to expand their businesses to the state, the NCAA’s decision to move their championship events, as well as the NBA re-locating their All-Star Game away from the Charlotte.  

Bishop opposes expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, which could provide coverage for up to 600,000 low-income North Carolinians. Additionally, Bishop was an investor in Gab, a social media site that serves as a forum for white supremacists, neo-Nazis and far right extremists.