Watauga Republican

Convention: Party

faithful stay optimistic
By Scott Nicholson
nicholson@wataugademocrat.com

The Watauga County Republican Party held its convention Saturday in Boone, and though convention 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.