The link works for me. Here's some of the article (bolding is mine):
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.—Among the threats to the GOP majority in the U.S. Senate this year, few Republicans worried about North Carolina, thanks in part to the state’s conservative-leaning military bases and rural communities filled with working-class voters.
Until now. In the past few months, a new set of political currents has coalesced to make two-term GOP Sen. Richard Burr vulnerable to an unexpectedly strong challenge from Democrat Deborah Ross, a lawyer and former state legislator who wasn’t even her party’s first choice.
“North Carolina is no longer a lock for Republicans,” wrote Jennifer Duffy, who follows Senate races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which on Friday changed its assessment of the race to a toss-up from one that had leaned Republican. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist poll
released earlier this month put Ms. Ross two points ahead of Mr. Burr after earlier being seven points behind.
The new competitiveness in a state once considered an easy win for Republicans is a measure of how the lack of enthusiasm for Donald Trump at the top of the ticket is hampering the party down-ballot. If a state like North Carolina elects a Democratic senator, it could be part of a wave that sweeps into other places that had leaned Republican.
North Carolina’s Republican Party has been so dominant that it controls the governor’s mansion, the Legislature, both U.S. Senate seats and all but three of 13 House seats. But there was political turmoil even before Mr. Trump became a factor. Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, who is up for re-election this fall, roiled Democrats when he signed a law to override a Charlotte ordinance that would have allowed transgender people to use the bathroom corresponding to the sex with which they identify.
Then came Mr. Trump’s ascent. In a state that prides itself on humility, many Republicans aren’t enamored of the brash New York businessman, raising the risk that they simply won’t turn out to vote, or that Democrats will be more motivated to get to the polls.
“I just wish that he’d handle himself more appropriately,” said Rich LaVecchia, a 56-year-old Charlotte resident, echoing a sentiment common around the state. Mr. LaVecchia is a longtime Republican who plans to vote a straight GOP ticket including for the GOP presidential nominee. Nonetheless, he said, “I think all the Republicans are being pulled down by Trump.”
Nowhere are the concerns greater than in vote-rich Mecklenburg County, which has absorbed
many of the more than half a million new arrivals to the state since Mr. Burr’s last election in 2010, as banks like
Wells Fargo have expanded their Charlotte hubs, and begun sponsoring events like an LGBT festival and parade this past weekend.
On Tuesday, the Mecklenburg County Democrats, joining with presidential nominee
Hillary Clinton’s campaign, will mount a voter-registration drive, hoping to energize Democrats, especially African-Americans who account for almost half of the party’s registered voters in North Carolina.
There aren’t signs of comparable efforts by the Trump campaign, which is relying heavily on the Republican National Committee’s operations in the state. But
Mr. Burr, a policy-oriented chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said he isn’t relying “on anyone’s coattails” in this election. He didn’t appear with Mr. Trump at a rally in Charlotte last week.
Ms. Ross has been working hard to connect with voters, participating in events like one in Wilmington, N.C., last Tuesday with roughly 50 people, mostly African-American women. She emphasized her support for compromise gun-control legislation Mr. Burr opposed and defended the Affordable Care Act. She drew the most enthusiastic response when noting Mr. Burr’s vote against confirming Loretta Lynch, the first black woman to serve as U.S. attorney general.
So far, Mr. Burr’s campaign shows few signs of the retail campaigning associated with competitive contests. It waited until Tuesday to begin TV ads. He brushed off the Journal/NBC News/Marist poll as an outlier, and said voters wouldn’t focus on the race until after Labor Day, when school starts and vacations end.
That worries some Republicans. “People tell you to save all your money for the end—I’ve always thought that was a mistake, ” said Carter Wrenn, a longtime North Carolina GOP operative who helped elect former Sen. Jesse Helms (R., N.C.). “Getting in a strong position is more important than saving money for the end.”
If Mr. Burr does win, it could be thanks to voters like Brock Shahan, a 29-year-old banking consultant who just moved to Charlotte from Tulsa, Okla., and has no idea who Mr. Burr is. “I’m a registered Republican but I hate Trump,” said Mr. Shahan. He said he would likely vote for
Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate, for president, and then “I’ll probably do a straight [Republican] ticket for the rest.”
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