IIRC, a commissioner from Onslow county held Jones to 60% after raising very little money back in 2008. Given the tea party sentiment out there today, I think it’s even more doable now.
Holding Walter Jones to 59% is one thing; holding him below 50% in a two-man race or under 40% in a multicandidate race is another. I hope the police commissioner can beat Jones, but it won’t be easy.
BTW, I just found out that Jones converted to Catholicism. With Patrick McHenry, Virginia Foxx and Renee Ellmers, that makes him one of 4 Catholics among NC’s 6 Republican U.S. Representatives. Not what you would expect from a Southern state that is around 10% Catholic. I believe that the only other multi-member GOP House delegations in which 2/3 of Republican members are Catholic are NY and NJ.