GOP once attacked her, but now wants a win for Trump-endorsed Sandy Smith. Who is she?

Not since 1883 has a Republican from North Carolina’s 1st district served in Congress.

The GOP is hoping to change that with the potential election of Sandy Smith on Nov. 8.

“Those that have been involved in the Republican Party have gone for years knowing that electing a Republican in the 1st Congressional District was nearly impossible,” said Mark Edwards, chairman of the Nash County Republican Party. “This year with the improved national mood, and with redistricting, a victory for Sandy Smith in the 1st District is certainly conceivable, and the burden is on us to help her get the votes out.”

Republicans need just five seats to reclaim the majority in the U.S. House. But it would likely take a GOP wave to win the 1st Congressional District, an area of northeast North Carolina made up of 19 counties that the Cook Political Report has ranked as competitive but likely Democrat.

Smith, 48, who lives in Rocky Mount, is running to replace retiring Democratic Rep. G.K. Butterfield. To take the seat, she needs to defeat state Sen. Don Davis, a Democrat from Greene County, U.S. Air Force veteran, educator and minister.

In fundraising appeals, Davis has played up a key endorsement for his opponent.

“With MAGA extremist Sandy Smith as our opponent, we need grassroots supporters like you to help us mobilize communities in every corner of eastern North Carolina,” one email told donors. “We must defeat the influx of far-right support from her recent Trump endorsement.”

An endorsement from Trump

Smith gained former President Donald Trump’s endorsement just weeks ago, but she has long supported him.

She spoke on stage at a rally in Wilmington on Sept. 23 where Trump stumped for Senate candidate Ted Budd. She wasn’t expecting the endorsement that night, but Trump approached her about it.

“When I met him, he asked me if it was OK, if I wanted his endorsement,” Smith told The News & Observer in an interview last week. “Of course, I said absolutely, yes.”

A week later, she said Trump called her to say he wanted to make a formal endorsement.

“He actually called me and he told me what he had proposed and when he was going to put it out there and just gave us some words of encouragement, and I thought that was really cool,” Smith said.

An endorsement from Trump in the primary was a make-or-break moment for many candidates. Trump’s involvement in Budd’s campaign took him from a struggling candidate to No. 1 seemingly overnight and won him the Republican nomination.

But for the general election there have been more questions about whether Trump’s involvement in a campaign might help or hurt a candidate. In North Carolina, independent voters make up the largest voting group. Smith said she isn’t worried about any of that.

“People are realizing things were a lot better under the Trump administration,” Smith said. “People don’t like the tweets, but I’ll tell you what, they like the $1.87 gas, our economy was booming, they could get supplies and products and stock their shelves.”

Smith said even Democrats on the campaign trail tell her they want “Daddy T” back, referring to Trump.

Sandy Smith on Jan. 6

But not every voter casting ballots this fall thinks of Trump with the affection that earns that type of nickname.

The attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as far-right supporters of Trump attempted to stop the election certification of President Joe Biden and hunted for Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, are seared into the minds of many.

Smith was outside the Capitol when the attack began.

Smith stood under the shadow of the Washington Monument to hear Trump speak. Videos of her at the rally on the Mall remain on her Facebook profile.

She told The N&O that after Trump’s rally she made her way to the Capitol where she sat outside with two “grandmas” waiting for a second set of speeches anticipated from members of Congress. That never happened.

“It wasn’t violent when we were there,” Smith said. “I’m sitting with some little old ladies from Oklahoma and they just wanted to be part of it, they wanted their voices heard.”

Smith said their goal in being at the Capitol was encouraging Congress to take a few extra days and look over the results of the votes.

“The thing is there was enough information on the 2020 election, I believe that they should have just paused, they could have paused for 10 days and came to the same conclusion and I think people would have felt a lot better about it,” Smith said.

Like Trump, who has denied he lost the 2020 election, Smith also claims her election defeat to Butterfield in 2020 was election fraud. Butterfield won with 54% of the vote. In a tweet, Smith called Butterfield’s election a “total sham.”

“Dominion was used in my district,” she added in the tweet, referring to voting machines that are not used anywhere in North Carolina.

The same day, Dec. 1, 2020, she called in another tweet for “Arrests of the perpetrators of this fraud” and “Trails & executions of those found guilty of treason.”

Smith told The N&O she never went into the Capitol on Jan. 6. She said she was outside the front of the building. Protesters breached the Capitol beginning at the Peace Memorial, which is on the other side of the building near the Capitol reflecting pool.

Despite that, she said she did notice some instigators and chose to leave, saying she was on her way back to North Carolina by 2:30 p.m.

“We don’t want any violence at all,” Smith said. “But I’ll tell you we’ve got Jan. 6 prisoners that are being held like political prisoners that are not getting treated fairly, and that needs to be looked at.”

Domestic violence allegations

Smith’s personal life has been called into question throughout her campaign.

A memorable attack ad from the primary stated: “Sandy Smith would be a disaster for North Carolina. Smith battered her first husband with a frying pan and then tried to run him over with her car. And her second husband filed for a restraining order after she woke him up with an alarm clock … smashed into his head.”

The latter ex-husband, Eric Goranson, spoke to The N&O about the attack and said Smith hit him with a heavy Bose alarm clock. His daughter, Emily Goranson, who was in elementary school at the time, said she remembers her dad’s face being “messed up” from the attack.

Both alleged being witnesses to abuse that Smith’s biological daughter endured. They told The N&O they were upset to learn during the primary election that abuse had continued after the divorce, as a copy of a restraining order against Smith surfaced that her daughter had requested and then dropped. Other court documents released publicly showed allegations of spousal abuse and child abuse as well as a history of bankruptcy and multiple marriages.

“I’ll be honest, I was just completely shocked that someone with this long history would be arrogant enough to think that they could actually go out there and try to get elected without any of this stuff coming up,” Eric Goranson said. “It just blows my mind.”

But Smith told The N&O she’s the true victim of domestic abuse. Her campaign put out a video of a woman, who doesn’t give her name but identifies herself as Smith’s daughter, defending her mother and asking people to vote for Smith.

“I never intended to make this video but after seeing these disgusting attacks on my mom and these horrific lies I have to say something,” the woman says. “My mom is a protector and provider for our family and is the hardest working woman I know.”

Republican appeal

It was the sentiment of hard work that North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley emphasized in backing Smith.

“I think the fact that Sandy ran and worked very hard last cycle, she got out and she was in every county in her district,” Whatley said. “She worked really hard, and even though she didn’t win, I think that served very well for her.”

Smith has a laundry list of reasons why she wanted to run, including frustration with the current administration, inflation and, locally, issues with broadband, spotty cellphone reception and a lack of opportunities for young people to remain in the area when they become adults.

“I like a lot of Americans, especially here in Eastern North Carolina, just got tired of the same career politician that promises the world and delivers us nothing,” Smith said. “I was tired of all that garbage and I am a firm believer that if you want something to change, you need to be willing to step up and take action, and so here I am.”

Republicans have lined up in support of Smith in the general election, even after a super PAC linked to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy spent $500,000 campaigning against her in the primary election, bringing to light some of the allegations of domestic violence.

Now that same group, the National Republican Congressional Committee, has awarded its Young Gun Status to Smith.

“In order for you to get that status you’ve got to be seen by the leadership team as a viable candidate,” Whatley said. “They guard that status pretty hard. You’ve got to meet metrics in terms of polling and in terms of fundraising.”

Whatley said the title sends a message to donors nationwide that Smith is someone to watch and support.

Now the committee describes Smith as a successful business executive, entrepreneur and real estate investor from Nash County and as “America First, Pro-Border Security, Pro-Business, Pro-life, Pro-Gun, Pro-America, and Pro-Freedom.”

Whatley said he wouldn’t speak for McCarthy but he knows Smith has had conversations with both McCarthy and Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.

“Both those conversations went well, “ Whatley said, “so I’m not really surprised to see that the leadership is, kind of putting her in to that status, and of course, President Trump endorsed her at his rally down in Wilmington a few weeks ago, which sends a strong signal to the base, that this is a competitive seat and she is an America First candidate and that’s really a very popular place to be up here in the 1st District.”

Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi contributed to this article.