RALEIGH: Yesterday, National Journal Hotline published their updated Senate power rankings with North Carolina’s U.S. Senate race now being ranked second most likely to flip from red to blue in a “neck-and-neck battle” between candidate for U.S. Senate Cheri Beasley and Congressman Ted Budd in the race where “anything can happen.”

National Journal noted that Cheri has “run a disciplined campaign” with a commitment to being “an independent voice for the state.” Meanwhile, the outlet noted that Congressman Budd has been running “an incredibly low-key campaign, trailing Beasley in fundraising and letting outside groups do most of the dirty work for him” and emphasized his extreme record including that he “voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election and cosponsored a federal abortion ban in the House.”

Read the highlights here:

National Journal Hotline: North Carolina Senate Race Now Ranked Second Most Likely to Flip Red to Blue

5. North Carolina—Open (R)

Republican Rep. Ted Budd and former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley have been locked in a neck-and-neck battle for months in a race that’s largely gone under the radar. After securing Trump’s endorsement, Budd has run an incredibly low-key campaign, trailing Beasley in fundraising and letting outside groups do most of the dirty work for him.

Beasley has run a disciplined campaign, leaning into her service as the state’s chief justice and her time as a public defender, arguing that she would be an independent voice for the state.

The state’s last two GOP senators—the retiring Sen. Richard Burr and Sen. Thom Tillis—are considerably more moderate than Budd, who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election and cosponsored a federal abortion ban in the House. It’s an open seat, so anything can happen.