Part one:
Assembly hopefuls

debate for Kiwanis
By Scott Nicholson

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Candidates for the N.C. District 93 House of Representatives seat squared off at the Broyhill Inn & Conference Center in Boone at a Tuesday debate hosted by the Boone Kiwanis Club.

Incumbent Democrat Cullie Tarleton, Republican challenger Dan Soucek and Libertarian challenger Jeff Cannon squared off at the debate.

Tarleton said before he retired from 40 years in broadcasting, he’d been active in public service and had plenty of time to devote to his job and was active in several legislative committees and study commissions. He said, “Having been in business, I know it’s business and not government that keeps the economic wheels turning.”

He said the biggest challenges facing the district were in the economy and jobs, high gas prices, access to health care and education.

Tarleton supported over half the state budget’s going to public schools, community colleges and universities. “Nothing is more important than providing a quality education for our young people,” he said, noting the state was working to address the school drop-out rate.

Jeff Cannon, Libertarian candidate, said he wasn’t a professional politician but wanted to bring a fundamental change to the state government and wanted to further the principles of freedom and individual responsibility.

“The government of this state is wasteful, intrusive and arrogant,” he said, noting prisons were overcrowded, courts were clogged and people were overtaxed while “government experiments” had failed.

“I will defend your rights and protect your property whether it comes in the form of a burglar with a crowbar or a bureaucrat with a piece of paper,” he said, wanting to hold offenders responsible for their crimes.

He said the government should loosen its grip on economic growth and allow people’s creativity to blossom.

“It’s time to make a change,” Cannon said, saying he had been a long-time Republican, but special interests and “big money” needed to be set aside. “Freedom must be our guide, the stars by which we steer.”

Soucek said as a West Point graduate, he’d learned the skills to be an effective leader. He said leadership was not about managing, but about getting things done. He’d also worked with youth and said he was able to build relationships with people of all walks of life.

Soucek said his family support was important to his candidacy and he was excited about the campaign. He said he’d maintain close contact and fight “for the right things in the right way.”

See the Monday edition of the Watauga Democrat for part two of this article.