DCCC - Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

08/09/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/09/2022 13:57

NEW: Christian Castelli (NC-06) Deletes Anti-Abortion Views from Campaign Website

New reporting today from FOX 8 revealed that Christian Castelli is trying to hide his anti-abortion views from North Carolinians.

After winning his primary in May, Castelli deleted his "Protect the Unborn" position from his issues page on his campaign website because he knows his agenda to ban abortion will doom him in November. Castelli sees the writing on the wall: North Carolinians support abortion access, and his extreme views are way out of step with the district.

  • "Four Republicans seeking congressional seats from North Carolina say nothing about abortion on their campaign websites even though some have been staunchly anti-abortion in the past - and as abortion has become a pivotal national issue."

  • "And at least one of them, Christian Castelli, a political newcomer challenging Democratic incumbent Kathy Manning in the 6th District, has changed his page since he was nominated during a crowded primary in May and no longer includes a pro-life position."

  • "Pat Harrigan in the 14th [doesn't] list right-to-life or anti-abortion positions on [his] issues pages either."

  • "Castelli's website for that race professed strong and consistently GOP-focused positions on several key issues, but since May 17, his website migrated from castelliforcongress2022.com to www.castellifornc.com and dropped the words that showed he clearly was invested in fighting against abortion."

  • "'As a devout Christian, I will protect the unborn from conception to birth,' his issues page said before the primary. 'I believe life begins at conception and we must do everything in our power to protect the defenseless at every stage of life. I will fight to stop tax dollars from being used to fund Planned Parenthood and abortion. Taxpayer dollars should never be used to fund immoral practices.'"

  • "Monica Robinson, the Sunbelt press secretary for the national Democratic Party, said that 'Christian Castelli is trying to hide his agenda to ban abortion from North Carolinians because he knows his extreme positions will doom him in November. Unfortunately for him, the internet never forgets.'"

  • "Since the U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned Roe v. Wade and its constitutional endorsement of a woman's right to choose, the issue has become a fulcrum for November's midterm elections. That position was fueled dramatically last week when voters in Kansas overwhelmingly rejected the removal of right-to-choice from the state's constitution."

  • "But polls consistently have shown Americans prefer some access to abortion, and that has appeared to have heightened since the court's ruling. Before then North Carolinians also wanted to maintain abortion options."

  • "Like Castelli's original words, Republican candidates almost uniformly have maintained their position that abortions should be illegal, many of them without caveats for circumstances such as rape or incest."

  • "Sandy Smith, the GOP nominee in the 1st District, another more competitive district that G.K. Butterfield (D-Wilson) has served for decades, has abortion as the No. 1 item on her issues page. "I believe life begins at conception," she says."

  • "Manning, on her website, discusses her positions under the heading of women and families. She discusses how she supports an effort to "codify abortion rights." Her votes in the House have supported that uniformly."

  • "And abortion and women's rights clearly will be a defining issue in this district. Manning has positioned her campaign and her congressional record squarely behind supporting the right of a woman to choose about abortion. She also recently authored the legislation passed in the House to guarantee access to birth control."