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By Scott Nicholson
The Watauga County Republican Party held its convention Saturday
in Boone, and though convention
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Gubernatorial candidate Bob Orr
said Republicans needed candidates who could “best
take the fight to the Democrats.” Photo by Scott
Nicholson
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attendees noted a lack of county-level candidates, they expressed
optimism about their judicial and district candidates.
Party chairman Jim Goff initially glossed over the lack of Republican
county commission candidates on the ballot, saying in his introduction,
“Today is a day of celebration. You won’t hear me talk
about what we don’t have. You’ll hear me talk about
what we do have. I’m very proud of those people who have
committed themselves to service on our behalf.”
After candidates were introduced and Goff asked for closing remarks
from the floor, one attendee asked why the party had failed to
come up with local candidates and said she found it “appalling,”
also believing it would hamper efforts to motivate Republicans
to vote in the fall.
Goff said a committee formed a year ago had considered more than
100 potential candidates, and some considered running up until
the end of the filing period, but in the end none chose to run
due to various personal reasons.
Goff also included himself as one of those potential candidates
who didn’t step forward and said all registered Republicans
should be asking themselves why they didn’t run.
“I’m disappointed, because I think Watauga County would
benefit if we had people on the ballot and in office,” he
said, saying party members should acknowledge the failure and
not try to hide it.
Deborah Greene said she’d promised to run in the future and
encouraged her fellow party members not to give up, asking them
to go to commissioner meetings and speak during the public comment
periods. “Let them (commissioners) know you’re out there
and you care,” she said.
U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-5) noted the crowd contained a number
of college-age people, many of whom sported campaign material
for presidential candidate Ron Paul.
“It’s wonderful to see so many new people here, and
young people,” she said. “Our party needs to be reinvigorated
every two years.”
Foxx said, as part of her school visits, she encourages students
to register to vote at age 18, to be informed and to vote in every
election.
She said she was optimistic about the party’s chance to reclaim
a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, saying presidential
candidate Sen. John McCain would help candidates win the necessary
seats. Foxx said the House Democrats were in disarray and “They
are truly a ‘Do-Nothing Congress.’”
N.C. Sen. Robert Pittenger (R-39) said he was running for Lt.
Governor because the state’s tax burden had increased $6
billion during his six years in office and that the state’s
high corporate tax rate was causing businesses to move to surrounding
states.
He also supported education reform, saying teachers should be
paid by performance instead of longevity. “We have a hard
time recruiting math and science teachers because they make the
same pay as art teachers,” he said.
Pittenger said it was difficult to enact reform measures because
of the Democrats’ grip on state government and said the General
Assembly should stop raiding the highway trust fund. He said as
Lt. Governor he would have the Constitutional power to run Senate
meetings and said holding the gavel would “do a lot in the
Senate chamber where it’s rammed down our throats.”
Dan Soucek, candidate for District 93 N.C. House of Representatives,
said he was a 1991 West Point graduate and favored protection
of the sanctity of marriage, smart growth and tax reform, saying
the state needed tax policies that supported families and businesses.
Jerry Butler, candidate for the District 45 N.C. Senate seat,
said “We’re losing the American dream,” and he
said he wanted that dream for children and grandchildren. He said
Democrats wanted to tax people’s wells and threaten property
rights, and he said he was organizing a focus group to study the
school drop-out rate.
Former N.C. Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr said he was running
for governor because he had been elected four times to statewide
office and said he was the best candidate to challenge Democrats.
“It’s one-party domination and it’s been that way
for 100 years,” he said.
He criticized Democrats on ethical issues and mental-health reforms
and said Democratic leaders had grown complacent.
“The culture of ‘We can get away with anything’
will not be changed until we get a Republican governor and a Republican
legislature,” Orr said.
Unopposed District 24 judicial candidates Judge Greg Horn and
Judge Ted McEntire were introduced by District Attorney Jerry
Wilson. Representatives of gubernatorial candidates Fred Smith
and Bill Graham also spoke.
The party also recognized unopposed Clerk of Court candidate JoAnn
Townsend and school board members Lowell Younce, Deborah Miller
and Ron Henries — the school-board race is non-partisan.
Goff also read letters from U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole and N.C.
Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate Eric Smith.
Bob Edmunds, running for re-election to the state Supreme Court,
said Democrats had targeted the judicial seats because it was
the last place where Republicans held majorities.
He encouraged people not to overlook the non-partisan judicial
races at the bottom of the ballot.
“I’m the one person standing between you and one-party
government in North Carolina,” he said.
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