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With his record finally clear, Pantano, ever the warrior, was itching to return to active duty. “I was good to go, I was ready to get back in the fight,” he said. “But something had happened in the course of all of that. … I was the first time the American public, and more importantly the Iraqi media, had the name of an American soldier that was involved in killing terrorists. This was the first time it had happened, and so as a result there were some unique threats that materialized against my family and I.”
One such threat, Pantano said, came from a Pakistani website. He said another caused the FBI “to reach out to my local sheriff’s office to tell me they had found a cell in Ohio that had information on my mother and my wife and I.”
“Can you afford to go and strap it on for another eight months as a gunfighter when your family is in the crosshairs?” he asked. “The answer for me was ‘no.’”
Feeling unable to rejoin his fellow Marines overseas, Pantano did what he felt was the next best thing and became a deputy sheriff in North Carolina. “I decided that if I can’t protect the country, then I’m going to protect my community,” he said.
While working in law enforcement, Pantano wrote a memoir about his experiences in Iraq and contemplated running for office. He made the leap last year in a long-shot run against Rep. Mike McIntyre, a long-serving Democratic incumbent, and came within just a few points of winning.
This year, Pantano is challenging McIntyre once again in North Carolina’s recently redrawn 7th District. Republicans now have the upper hand in the district and, should Pantano win the GOP primary in May, there’s a strong chance he’ll be its congressman-elect next November.
Should he be elected to office, Pantano said he will focus on economic issues he believes are vital to national security. He said he embraced Rep. Paul Ryan’s “Roadmap for America’s Future” when he ran in 2010, despite the political complications he knew that support would cause him.
“Believe me, nobody was more relieved to see the Republicans adopt [Ryan’s] plan as the GOP budget for 2012” he said. “I feel that we’ve come a long way, baby.”
Before he can go to Washington and vote for Ryan’s budget, however, Pantano will have to defeat David Rouzer, a tough and well-funded primary opponent. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is staying out of the race, at least for now, and has praised both candidates for their “dedication and experience.” Strong support from the NRCC was a big help for Pantano last year, and without their fundraising muscle, his victory is not assured.
“We made a decision to launch again in February knowing full well there was going to be some different dynamics than 2010,” Pantano told TheDC. He added that the GOP’s takeover of the House has robbed some of the sense of urgency his race enjoyed last November, and that otherwise friendly donors are now concentrating on taking back the Senate and White House in 2012.
“We knew there was going to be some real challenges coming in on the fundraising side,” he said. Still, given his strong grassroots support and the national attention he received in the last election, Pantano remains optimistic.
“We have a machine,” he said. “And we’re working to continue cultivating that machine.”
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5, rated)
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