WADESBORO, N.C. The ingredients were all there for a lazy Labor Day. A midday sun beating down, burning the skin and driving temperatures into the low 90s. A plentiful spread chicken, hamburgers, corn dogs, baked beans, macaroni salad plus lemonade and even a cotton candy machine. And not one but two bounce castles provided distraction and entertainment for any rambunctious children.

But Dan McCready, a Marine veteran and businessman who is the Democratic candidate in a special election for the 9th Congressional District here, didnt need lazy. He needed energy. And Dannie Montgomery, a public school teacher who serves as the chair of the Anson County Democratic Party , was determined to provide it.

Dont you hear the music? she yelled to the crowd of about 50 who had gathered to experience the food and entertainment provided by McCreadys campaign as The Staple Singers 1972 hit Ill Take You There blared from speakers. If you have not voted, we will take you there!

McCready is now in his 27th month of running for Congress his youngest daughter, not yet born when he began running, recently celebrated her second birthday and whether he ultimately makes it to Washington may depend on whether the favorable political environment and liberal energy that powered Democrats across the country to victories in red districts like this one is still a conductive force 10 months later.

In November, it appeared McCready had lost to his GOP opponent, a pastor named Mark Harris, by just under 1,000 votes a bitterly close loss in this complicated, conservative and gerrymandered district, which starts in Charlottes southeastern corner and then sprawls eastward, picking up rural areas, small cities with significant African-American populations and the largest Native American reservation east of the Mississippi River.

Within days, it became clear something was amiss in Bladen County, where a GOP operative named McCrae Dowless was quickly accused of large-scale absentee ballot fraud. A subsequent investigation showed Harris knew about Dowless activities, and the House of Representatives refused to seat the Republican. Harris eventually called for a new election, prompting a special election scheduled for Sept. 10.