Marcum vs. Moore Republican Women: Is The Fix IN on NC Senate race?
Pinehurst’s John Marcum is taking the Moore County Republican establishment to task. Marcum, a GOP candidate in the May primary for the NC Senate district 29 seat, says the county party leadership is ignoring him and another candidate from Moore to support incumbent Senator Jerry Tillman (R-Asheboro). To make his case, Marcum cites his treatment by the Moore Republican Women for their upcoming meeting. We obtained an email from MRW rep Kay Wildt briefing Marcum on the upcoming meeting:
Dear John,
I enjoyed speaking with you and hope that our April 2nd meeting will fit into your schedule.
The Moore Republican Women’s club is the largest in North Carolina and meets for a luncheon with a guest speaker on the first Monday of each month. We gather at the Pinehurst Members Club starting at 11:30 a.m. with lunch ($16 to Pinehurst LLC) served at noon. There is a short business meeting at about 12:45, followed by a speaker with about a 20 to 30 minute presentation and time for questions. Many guests leave at 1:30, so we try to adjourn by that time.
Senator Jerry Tillman is our featured speaker, and we will allot a few minutes to Tommy Davis, a candidate for the Republican senatorial seat, and to Ed Goodwin, a candidate for Secretary of State. We would be honored if you can make time in your schedule to attend our luncheon, so we may introduce you to our members and for you to briefly introduce yourself.
Because there are three of you in addition to our invited speaker, we must limit your time to about 5 minutes. For that reason, I suggest that you arrive at 11:30 and use that time before the lunch and afterwards to speak personally with our members.
If you have literature, plan on our attendance to be about 100 guests. May I have your bio to place information from it in our newsletter to announce your participation to our members?
In addition to our MRW newsletter to our own members, we publicize our speakers with the Republican Men’s Club and in the local newspapers. Please advise me of your interest and of your availability, so we may place your name on our schedule. Thank you.
Kindest regards,
Kay Wildt
First Vice President, Programs
Marcum says the party establishment is treating Tillman differently than the other two candidates in the race. He notes that district 29 is brand new — thanks to the recent redistricting — and that no one in Moore County has ever cast a vote for Tillman. Marcum says the party should treat all three candidates in the race like they are newcomers running in a new district. He wrote back to Wildt:
Hi Mary Kay,I look forward to participating in the luncheon and having the honor of addressing your group. A short biosketch is attached for program purposes.I want to alert you to a potential problem. Jerry Tillman has been a Senator for six or seven terms in a former district to the north which included Randolph County while we have been represented by Harris Blake from Pinehurst. As required by the recent Census, a redistricting was done this winter. Since Moore County had grown so much, it could no longer be paired with Harnett County, and we were paired with about half of Randolph County, which happened to include Tillman’s residence. As a result he has lost his senate seat. Rather than retire, he has decided to run for election (not re=election) in the new 29th District, He obviously hopes to get enough Moore Co votes to make up for the loss of much of his previous support in Randolph and Montgomery.. If he succeeds, Moore County would lose its sitting senator for the first time in many years. With the requirements for dealing with our explosive growth, school, road and budget needs as well as the two upcoming US Opens, we can ill afford to lose our seat and be represented out of county by someone with little knowlege of our needs. In addition, we need new leadership with real skills and energy in the Senate so it might finally get something done.That is why I am running for this seat. It is clearly in the interest of our party and county to replace Harris Blake with a Moore County resident, rather than having the Randolph tail wag the Moore dog, whose needs would soon be forgotten. Since we are all running for the same seat, in the inerest of fairness, I would appreciate your giving each senate candidate equal billing and equal time, maybe ten minutes each in your program.Thanks, John
Sounds like someone is whining.
What a pitiful way to gain attention. I’d vote for Mickey Mouse before I’d vote for this loser.
Unfortunately my husband is having complications from his surgery this past Tuesday, and understandably, I am busy taking care of him. Still, I am working to make changes to the April 2nd luncheon speaking arrangement. I explained this in my e-mail on March 14th and believed from your response that you understood. I am very disappointed to read your untrue, unwarranted, and ungentlemanly allegations about the Moore Republican Women. Mr. Marcum, here are the facts:
On January 23, 2012, we invited Senator Jerry Tillman to address our April 2nd luncheon, long before we had information about the primary.
Once we realized that there were two others running for the NC29th district seat, we offered you and Mr. Tommy Davis the opportunity also to attend the April 2nd luncheon to speak, to personally meet our members, and to distribute campaign literature.
Your treatment by the MRW has been more than fair. We reached out to you and offered you a forum in which to meet potential primary voters.
Ed Goodwin, a candidate for NC Secretary of State, had requested to speak also at that 4/2 luncheon, as mentioned in my e-mail. However, Mr. Goodwin has graciously agreed to move his visit to our May 7th meeting to enable us to give all of our April speakers more time.
Another statewide candidate wants time on 4/2 to meet our members, and we will accommodate, albeit with very brief time.
I resent that I have to take time from caring for my husband to counter your obvious attempt for publicity.
Kay Wildt
This is our additional e-mail exchange.
The bold-font e-mail cited previously from Mr. Marcum was sent to me at 12:43 p.m. on Wednesday, 3/14. I responded the same day at 11:11 p.m.:
From: Mary Kay Wildt
To: jmarcum@nc.rr.com
Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2012 11:11 PM
Subject: April 2nd Luncheon MRW
Hi John,
We are delighted that you accepted our invitation to speak at our luncheon on 4/2. My husband had surgery yesterday at Duke and is home now, but he requires a lot of care, so I am behind in my correspondence. I am trying to shift some participants but do not yet have all finished. I will be back in touch.
Regards,
Kay Wildt
From: john marcum jmarcum@nc.rr.com
To: Mary Kay Wildt
Date: Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 2:21 PM
Hi Mary Kay,
Hope your husband is recovering well from the surgery. I know how stressful that can be. So please take your time on the agenda for the meeting.
Thanks again for your help, John
From: Mary Kay Wildt mkgw824@gmail.com
To: john marcum
Date: Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 3:26 PM
Thanks, John, we just have to move past the intense pain.
Kay