A Pizza Delivery Guy Could Upend NC's Senate Race

Sean Haugh delivers pizza for a living, but he could tip the balance of the North Carolina Senate race, and with it, perhaps, the Senate itself. Haugh is running as the Libertarian candidate, mostly through YouTube videos in which he sips craft beer and offers plainspoken opinions, shot by former Ron Paul campaign manager Rachel Mills. Haugh has raised just $4,000—about 15% of it from his mom—yet four recent polls show him with a surprisingly strong 8% to 11% of the vote, the Washington Post reports. Democrat Kay Hagan and Republican Thom Tillis are separated by six points or less.

"If it ends up being a one- or two-point race, Democrats could keep the Senate because of Sean Haugh," Public Policy Polling's director says. Haugh has run for a variety of offices in the past and never made a splash. "One of the huge differences between when I ran [for Senate] in 2002 and this time is ‘Libertarian’ is a household word now," he says. "Everybody knows what it means." That's increasingly a worry for Republicans, as Libertarians are fielding candidates in 10 competitive Senate races, and have been blamed for throwing past contests, like Virginia's last gubernatorial race. (More Sean Haugh stories.)