Dave's Picks
Dear Friends,
Knowing that I am very politically active, several people
have asked me who I recommend that they vote for in the
November 2, 2004 NC (and Wake County) General Election.
Note #1: I am both a "social conservative" and an "economic
conservative." If you're not, then my opinions are probably
useless to you. :-)
Note #2: I didn't bother to list some of the uncontested races.
Note #3: Recommendations that I feel very strongly about are
underlined. These are candidates who I know a lot about,
or who I know personally. For some of the other races, I relied
on the advice of other people whose judgment I trust.
Note #4: If you'd like to discuss any of these races with me,
please feel free to call me. My home phone is 919-481-0098.
I recommend...
STATEWIDE:
President / Vice President: George W. Bush & Richard Cheney REP
U.S. Senate: Richard Burr REP
Governor: Patrick Ballantine REP
Lt. Governor: Jim Snyder REP
Attorney General: Joe Knott REP
Auditor: Leslie Merritt REP
Agriculture Commissioner: Steve Troxler REP
Insurance Commissioner: Robert Brawley REP
Labor Commissioner: *** no endorsement ***
Secretary of State: Jay Rao REP
Superintendent of Public Instruction: Bill Fletcher REP
Treasurer: Ed Meyer REP
WAKE COUNTY:
2nd Congressional District: Billy Creech REP
4th Congressional District: Todd Batchelor REP
13th Congressional District: Virginia Johnson REP
NC Senate District 14: John Odoom REP
NC Senate District 15: Neal Hunt REP
NC Senate District 16: Mark Bradrick REP
NC Senate District 17: Richard Stevens REP
NC HOUSE District 34: Don Munford REP
NC HOUSE District 36: Nelson Dollar REP
NC HOUSE District 37: Paul Stam REP
NC HOUSE District 38: Phil Jeffreys REP
NC HOUSE District 39: J. Sam "Sam" Ellis REP
NC HOUSE District 41: Russell Capps REP
Commissioner - District 4: Kenn Gardner REP
Commissioner - District 5: Venita Peyton REP
Commissioner - District 6: Chris Malone REP
Register of Deeds: Laura Riddick REP
STATEWIDE:
Associate Justice, Supreme Court (Orr Seat): Paul Newby
Associate Justice, Supreme Court (Parker Seat): John Tyson
Judge, Court of Appeals: Bill Parker
Judge, Court of Appeals: Alice C. Stubbs
Judge, Court of Appeals: Barbara Jackson
WAKE COUNTY:
District Court Judge, 10th District: Kris Bailey
District Court Judge, 10th District: Marilyn Ennis Maynard
District Court Judge, 10th District: Donna Stroud
District Court Judge, 10th District: Jennifer Knox
Soil and Water Board: Thomas Wayne Allen
STATEWIDE / CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS:
I. "Constitutional amendment to promote local economic and
community development..." (Borrowing w/o voter approval -
more Global TransPark boondoggles.) AGAINST
II. "Constitutional amendment to provide that the General
Assembly may place the clear proceeds of civil penalties..."
(Inconsequential, because money is fungible.) AGAINST
III. "Constitutional amendment to provide for the first term
of office for magistrates of the General Court of Justice to
be two years and for subsequent terms to be four years."
(Lengthens terms of office for magistrates.) **No Recommendation**
WAKE COUNTY / BOND REFERENDUMS:
1. $26,000,000 of open space bonds... AGAINST
2. $40,000,000 of Wake Tech CC bonds...
My friend, Judy Keener, says, "I have inquired about the bonds.
The Community College one would be vote-worthy, if it weren't
so large." **No Recommendation**
I don't know enough about the Apex & Morrisville bonds to
make a recommendation.
More Resources
Two really excellent voter guides on Christian/moral issues are
the ones from Called2Action.org and the NC Family Policy Council.
Called2Action's voter guide has the advantage (for Wake County
voters) that it covers some of the local Wake County races:
http://www.called2action.org/
The NC Family Policy Council voter guide covers statewide and
legislative races, andit is very well-done and very informative:
http://www.ncfamily.org/voterguide2004/
Their main NCFPC web page is here:
http://www.ncfamily.org/
The Wake County Taxpayers' Association web site is here:
http://www.wcta.org/
Their endorsement list is here:
http://www.wcta.org/endorcements.html
Americans for Legal Immigration has a shocking story about the
rammifications of Mike Easley's lax standards for issuing NC
drivers licenses. This is a must-read:
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=51
For a comparison of Democratic & Republican [National Party]
Platforms, in their own words, on four Biblical/moral issues, see
http://www.wallbuilders.org/
and click on the link, "Compare the Democrat and Republican Platforms"
You can check your voter registration at the State Board of
Elections web site, here:
http://www.app.sboe.state.nc.us/votersearch/seimsvot.htm
Wake County residents can also check it on the Wake County
Board of Elections web site (which contains roughly the same
information):
http://web.co.wake.nc.us/bordelec/
For why you should vote against Amendment One, see:
http://www.mooregop.org/stam_on_A1.html
http://www.noamendmentone.org/
http://www.ncamendmentone.com/
These are links to a spreadsheet with all 206 state-wide judicial
candidates, who are ran in "non-partisan" elections this year.
(Some were eliminated in primaries.) The NC General Assembly
doesn't want you to know who the Republicans and Democrats are,
so the candidates' party affiliations won't be on the ballots
this year, but we tracked 'em down. This spreadsheet shows all
206 candidates' actual party affiliations:
http://www.mooregop.org/judicial_with_party_2004.xls (Excel)
http://www.mooregop.org/judicial_with_party_2004.csv (Other)
http://www.mooregop.org/judicial_with_party_2004a.htm (web page)
(My thanks to the good folks at State GOP HQ for filling in the
ten that I couldn't find.)
The State Republican Party web site is here:
http://www.ncgop.org/
Their candidate list is here:
http://www.ncgop.org/election_2004/index.html (This is great!)
The State Democratic Party web site is here:
http://www.ncdp.org/
The N&O's candidate list is here:
http://www.newsobserver.com/content/politics/elections/candidates.html
They also have some useful information here:
http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/elections/ncraces/
(See the top-center links, such as, "Browse local candidate bios from
the N&O," and "Enter your address to see which state and federal
candidates are on your ballot.")
The Wake Co. Board of Elections web site is here:
http://www.wakegov.com/general/elections/default.htm
Their "composite sample ballot for Republicans" is here:
http://msweb03.co.wake.nc.us/bordelec/downloads/2004_nov_composite_bal.htm
The Wake Co. Republican Party web site is here:
http://www.wakegop.org/
The Wake Co. Democratic Party web site is here:
http://wakedems.org/
The Americans for Prosperity Foundation web site is here:
http://www.americansforprosperity.org/
NBC-17 broadcast a series of little two-minute speeches by competing
candidates in many of this year's races, and even for and against
Amendment One. You can listen to most of them on-line by following
the links here:
http://www.nbc17.com/politics/3709396/detail.html
(One problem is that there is no fact checking, nothing to keep the
candidates from exaggerating or even lying. For example, a candidate
for State Supreme Court said, "I have over 15 years of experience,
serving appellate judges and practicing before the State appellate
courts." But, actually, she doesn't have any courtroom experience
at all. She's never even argued a case in court. It is true that
she worked as a deputy law clerk for an appellate court judge, but
she didn't acquire any experience with North Carolina State law on
that job, because the State where she worked was Pennsylvania, not
North Carolina. Nevertheless, the speeches are interesting.)
Here are some other informative links:
http://www.thefed.com/
http://www.cc.org/votemain.cfm
http://www.called2action.org/
http://www.ncrtl.org/
http://www.mooregop.org/
http://members.aol.com/wakecc/
http://www.ncrepublicans.com/
http://www.grassrootsseeds.com/
http://www.TeamGOP.com/
http://www.protectpatientsnow.org/
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/t-nc/browse (Free Republic's NC Topic area)
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/mikeadams/archive.shtml
Here are some candidate links & phone/fax numbers...
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 4:
Here's a brief bio for Todd Bachelor:
Todd Batchelor: http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/elections/ushouse/bio/story/1378238p-7374911c.html
And a his site:
http://www.batchelorforcongress.com/
A.G.:
Joe Knott http://www.joeknott.org/ 919-821-4777 fax=919-829-9471
U.S. House 2nd District
Billy Creech www.creechforcongress.com 919-553-3930
U.S. House 4th District:
Todd Batchelor www.batchelorforcongress.com/ 919-557-6631 fax=919-866-1139
NC Senate district 14:
John K. Odoom john@odoom4senate.com / http://www.nurevelation.com/Company.asp?SectionID=5&EmpID=4 919-264-9567
NC House distrct 34
Don Munford www.donmunford.com 919-821-6689
NC House district 36:
Nelson Dollar www.nelsondollar.com 919-233-8399
NC House district 37:
Paul "Skip" Stam www.paulstam.info 919-362-8873
NC House district 38:
Phil Jeffreys 919-772-6949
NC House district 39:
Sam Ellis http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/members/viewMember.pl?sChamber=House&nUserID=38 919-772-6434
NC House district 41:
J. Russell Capps http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/members/viewMember.pl?sChamber=House&nUserID=13 919-846-9199
District Court Judge (Distrct 10, Bailey seat):
Kris Bailey www.judgekrisbailey.com 919-271-1333
District Court Judge (District 10, Lawton Seat):
Donna Stroud www.StroudforJudge.com 919-269-2234 Fax=919-269-2052
I hope this is helpful to someone!
-Dave
Home: 1-919-481-0098 Cell: 1-919-244-3316
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