NC-10 is an R+9. A 16 point swing towards the Democrats would give us a victory and then some.

Yes, this was a special election which comes with unique circumstances. But, we saw this pattern a few weeks ago - maybe not as dramatic but still - indicating things are a’changin.

Don’t get too excited. Now, you are about to find out how brutally honest and blunt I can be.

While this is good news for Democrats and NC-10, we are NOT in the same position as this TN-7 race. Aftyn had volunteers from literally all over the country (including me). There were millions of dollars donated to her campaign and spent by the DNC on this race. They knocked over 70k doors and made 150k calls….in about 4.5 months. Resources were entirely devoted to this one race. This will not be the case in Nov 26 when there will be thousands of races going on across the country.

At this point we have nowhere near what we would need to move the needle even a few points. Do not let this special election fool you. I am the top Dem fundraiser thus far in this race and even at that, even with all NC-10 Dem candidates combined, our district has raised less than every other district in the state - by a LONG SHOT. By tens of thousands of dollars. This is not a secret - this is public information. You can look it up yourself on fec.gov. And, as much as I wish it weren’t true, money is still a big part of politics. If we can’t raise money, we can’t compete. We can’t buy yard signs, do any polling, get extra help to knock on doors, get software (Mobilize is like $3000 a month for candidates, y’all!), hold events.....and that’s where our hands have been tied since I was the very first candidate to file in March. That’s why I’m working four jobs to fund this campaign.

Ladies and gentlemen, I cannot continue working at that pace AND run for Congress. Many of you have seen me at events constantly having to leave the room because I’m still seeing patients at 8 or 9 PM at night while also attending these events. I have already made the decision to drop one of my jobs because being able to be present at more events without my attention being divided is important to me. NC-10 is important to me, and if it comes down to NC-10 or a job, I’m going to choose NC-10 every time.

I don’t mean this to sound like I am not grateful for the support I’ve received thus far. I am, very grateful. Nor am I trying to make anyone feel guilty or obligated. Certainly, we are going into the holidays, and since Trump has wrecked the economy and definitely NOT fixed inflation, everyone is struggling.

But if you want Propaganda Pat Harrigan gone - and I know you do, because I have heard from so many of you who tell me it is your mission to vote him out - I canNOT do this alone. This will require a superhuman effort from all of us in NC-10, and we’re starting with a tiny fraction of the resources that it took to move this Tennessee district tonight.

Think about what you felt like after election night 2024. Wouldn’t you like to feel a lot better after election night 2026?

I’m asking you to give NC-10 a shot.

I’m telling you I’m the strongest fighter in this game.

It’s time to pick your fighter and #dosomething.

We don’t have time to waste.

Sign up to volunteer and/or donate at: www.ashleybellforcongress.com

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But sometimes….sometimes….I just gotta stop and argue for a while.

Today, while engaging in yet another fruitless war of words with an individual who is convinced that ivermectin will save the world, I started to wonder…..

Have we been TOO tolerant?

I mean, I know Democrats in general have been too nice, too passive. I’m talking more along the lines of everyday citizens who have been brainwashed by MAGA, MAHA and the fascist regime. The conventional approach is to keep scrolling. But, that doesn’t seem to be helping.

It’s now cool to be an ignorant, uneducated, malicious bigot. Racist tendencies that had been suppressed by the fact that it was previously socially unacceptable to behave or speak that way…..are now prevalent and in some cases, celebrated.

Disinformation is more rampant than ever. Education is devalued. MAGA and MAHA have perfected the ability to spin their completely unfounded opinions into their versions of “fact,” and that has become insanely dangerous. Years of research and scientific advances have been thrown in the trash by this administration, and despite the brainwashed crowd’s best efforts, the consequences just aren’t hitting them fast enough. We were too good for too long.

It won’t last, of course. Eventually, it will catch up with them. But how long do the rest of us have to put up with this before that happens? And how much more damage will be done in the meantime? How many of us - who DO believe in truth - will be hurt because of their actions? We are already at the point that most of us doubt the damage done thus far can be corrected in our lifetimes.

So, as political candidates and/or elected officials….should we be hitting back harder? Should we be engaging in these arguments online after all? Should we be shining a light on these people and inviting attention, and making it clear that despite recent events, it’s still not acceptable to behave that way? Are we so worried about losing votes or pissing people off that we just allow the disinformation and bigotry to go unchecked?

After 14 years in medicine and as the offspring of a MAGA father who (like most of them) can’t be reasoned with, I thought I had already experienced the height of feigned outrage and general irrationality on a number of topics.

And then I decided to start campaigning with a candidate running as an Independent in a neighboring district….while I continue to run as a Democrat in mine, NC-10.

Whilst promoting a recent campaign event online - an event for my campaign, which I invited David Clayton of NC-5 (@officialempathytour) to participate in, I became the target of vitriol from Democrats. The friendly fire from my own side wasn’t new (watch for another post on that), but the content was.

“Why is Ashley Bell promoting a candidate running as an independent instead of the Democratic candidate?”

“Does he even live here?”

“Is he even registered to vote?”

“Why do you have the same treasurer?” (we actually didn’t even know this until this was pointed out…..total coincidence)

“If I were him I’d stop wasting people’s money.”

“He’s gonna split Chuck’s vote.”

“You need to get in line and support the Democratic candidate.”

Instead of attending the event, having their questions answered, and doing what they claim to want to do - support a Democratic candidate (me) - they thought it was more productive to complain about whom I was doing the event alongside.

So, to those people…..I hate to burst y’all’s bubble….but you need someone to tell you the truth, rather than blowing overly optimistic smoke up your butts.

With just Meemaw Virginia Foxx and Chuck Hubbard in the race for the US House in NC-5, Meemaw is gonna run away with yet another win in 2026. It doesn’t matter how hard the Dems fight, or how much money is raised. The cheating Republicans have massively gerrymandered NC-5 in their favor (and NC-10 for that matter).

Barack frickin Obama could run in this district and he would still get spanked by Meemaw. Chuck lost to Meemaw by 19 points in 2024. It doesn’t mean I think Chuck Hubbard isn’t a good guy or isn’t a good candidate. He is both. It means that I know the reality of the situation we’re in, and that I recognize the system is heavily rigged against Dems in this area. And to be honest, while the national outlook is different, I don’t see much that’s different about the approach to his campaign this time.

In order to have a chance in NC-5, there needs to be an unusually aggressive, energetic, creative candidate. And in my estimation, that’s David Clayton, who just so happens to be running as an Independent who isn’t beholden to the Democratic party norms or expectations or failed messaging (and to be honest I am pretty jealous of all of that).

If you watched our town hall, you have heard both mine and David’s reasonings for running as we are, but I’ll give you the short version:

I’m running as a Dem because I believe in Dem values and I’ve seen firsthand, in 4 short months of my campaign, how much corruption there is on the Dem side - seriously, it rivals the corruption on the Republican side. In order to fix the Dem party, we need people to call out corruption. And that is my specialty and one of my greatest joys in life, so I’m staying put.

And, David (who, by the way, is a lifelong Democrat) is running as an Independent because he has done the analysis in NC-5 and he believes that a Dem cannot win in that district. And he’s right. Watch the town hall for further explanation on this.

Kind of interesting how AOC and Bernie are running around the country together, and people love it….but David and I try to do something similar and it’s a scandal.

It’s not about falling in line and blindly promoting a single party. It’s about promoting the person who’s the best for the job and has the best chance at winning. A traditional, vanilla, “nice” campaign has zero chance in NC-5 or NC-10. It just so happens that David and I agree on most issues. We are also both big on calling out bullshit - regardless of what party it comes from - and will put up a fight for what our constituents need, which is sorely needed, yet lacking from current leadership. When you have a candidate to campaign with that matches your energy and ideals, it makes the whole experience a lot more tolerable.

So, I’m sorry if some of you Dems don’t agree with my choice to support an Independent candidate, but I’m going with my gut - and I’m doing what most of you say you want: choosing to fight, rather than rolling over and settling for the status quo.

Visit our websites:

www.ashleybellforcongress.com / www.clayton4nc.com