North Carolina’s 46th house district has not been spared. On Saturday, two candidates for the seat in the state legislature were attending a town festival in Bladenboro, N.C., when they crossed paths and an argument broke out between them.
Moments later, police were called to the scene to break up a physical altercation. When officers arrived, the candidates weren’t fighting, but they yelled for police to take control of the situation, according to the Bladen Journal.
After the dust settled, both candidates stormed off, vowing to file criminal charges against each other.
That’s about all that’s agreed upon. Republican Brenden Jones says he was the victim of a surprise attack. Democrat Tim Benton says he was assaulted. Whatever the case, the confrontation brought the otherwise quiet district into the spotlight with just eight days to go until the election.
On Sunday, Jones made good on his promise to press charges against Benton and asked that the state Democratic Party remove him from the ticket. A criminal summons posted by Jones and the state GOP says Benton must appear in court on assault charges next month.
Jones said in a statement that Benton accosted him at the festival, “spewing profanity” and screaming at him in front of families and children. When Jones suggested they go across the street to settle the argument, Benton started nudging him with his shoulder, saying “I’m going to kick your ass by the end of the day,” according to Jones’ statement.
Then Benton exploded, Jones said.
“Benton proceeded to sucker punch his opponent, Brenden Jones, while Jones kept his hand in his pockets the whole time,” the statement read.
Jones added: “Mr. Benton was completely overwhelmed with misplaced anger because he was being compared to Hillary Clinton, the presidential candidate for his very own party. His inexperience in the political workings of a campaign caused him to assault Brenden and draw even more attention to his own problems.”
Why was Benton so angry? Jones and state GOP officials say it was over a piece of mail.