Marilyn (NOT Zan): A stark choice in NCGOP’s 2nd congressional district race
Marilyn Avila quietly racked up a respectable conservative voting record while representing Wake County in the General Assembly. She would occasionally drift off the reservation and sign her name to some kooky stuff. She would also stay way too quiet when a loud voice or two was needed.
Marilyn is a nice lady, but she didn’t really ignite much passion among conservatives. Seen as a potential threat to Speaker Timmy’s retention of power in the House, she got knocked out of the House in November’s vote.
Avila has thrown her hat in the ring once again — this time for 2nd district GOP chairman. Races like this — and the chairman and vice chairman races — will have a dramatic impact on the fate of the NCGOP. It’s no secret that there is fierce combat behind the scenes inside the party between the country-clubbers and the conservatives.
For those of you who may be ho-humming the idea of voting on congressional district leadership, or the thought of Avila herself, think about this: Your choice besides Avila is ZAN -freakin’-BUNN.
I first encountered Miz Bunn nearly 30 years ago (yes, she IS that old). I was cutting my teeth on big-time politics (Bush-Quayle ’88) and she was heading up — I believe — the NC College Republicans. She was annoying then. And she still IS nearly three decades later.
Zan has a cult of personality, a band of followers, that has evoked comparisons to — oh, say — The Stepford Wives, David Koresh’s Waco crew, or The Manson Family. She and her crew have teamed up with the likes of Ma Cotten to wreak havoc on conservatives trying to make a difference in the NCGOP.
Zan, Ma Cotten, and Dallas Woodhouse led the effort to sabotage and run off a duly-elected state chairman (who just happened to be black and have oodles of Tea Party support). The campaign of lies and slander heaped upon Hasan Harnett was despicable.
Zan broke her neck to wreak havoc for the Trump folks at the national Republican convention in Cleveland. For this *sweet, sweet gal*, conservatism is a distant fifth behind — oh, say — ME, ME, ME, and ME.
Electing her to another job within the party soothes her GIANT ego but does NOTHING to promote the prospects 
of the NCGOP or its message of limited government.
Marilyn Avila has walked the walk and talked the talk in fighting for conservative ideals. Check her conservative ratings from her time in the House. She was regularly right at the top. Marilyn Avila also has a reputation for being someone you can actually talk to and take at her word. A real rarity when it comes to party leadership these days.
A vote for Zan Bunn is a vote for two more years of the nastiness, pettiness and infighting that has plagued the NCGOP in recent years. New blood — people like Jim Womack in the chairman’s slot and Marilyn Avila in the 2nd congressional district chairmanship — is a great first step to stem the flow of registered Republicans over to the unaffiliated column and reignite the grassroots passions that have delivered so many great GOP victories in the state over the decades.
After Zan publicly humiliated NCGOP at the RNC convention, one would think that Robin Hayes would use his “^influence” to ensure support for Avila, and end this reign of terror. That would be one good thing Grandpa has done this year (and hopefully his last.)
Vote Womack, Vote Avila
One of her band of followers, 7th District Chair, is stepping down. Great news for NC07 & NCGOP.
Prayers that the smart people of NC02 send a clear message and #BanZan
You’ve pretty much nailed this story except for what happened in Cleveland which is a more complicated story. Yes, she did what you said she did there, but you have to remember that she was using the situation there specifically for enhancing her next run for Chairman. It should be remembered that her old district was in the heart of North Carolina’s Ted Cruz country and she is using her action in Cleveland to look like a hero back home and increase that cult following you mentioned.
And yeah, that following will be tough to beat. Marilyn is going to have to assemble an Army of supporters from Wake County to beat off the Zanbie apocalyse because they’ll be swarming out of Wilson and Nash counties for her. Franklin County will be split but their Chairman has been a blind Zan fanatic for years and he never steps outside his county to see what’s happening in the NCGOP except when she whistles for him to come support her. Harnett County likes their RINOs so they’ll likely be in her camp. That leaves Johnston County and I’ve no idea how they’ll swing but you can be sure that the Big Z will have been mounting a charm offensive on them this past year.
Bottom line is that Franklin, Wake, Nash, Wilson, and Johnston Counties all went for Ted Cruz and you better believe she’ll milk her Cruz martyr image in Cleveland for every delegate she can get.
There is another candidate for 2nd District Chairman that blows Avila out of the water: Glen Bradley. Website: http://glenbradley.com
Glen Bradley should be running in the primary against Jeff Collins for the NC House. Collins support of illegal aliens and of men in womens shower rooms makes him vulmerable.
Only those out of the loop or with a short memory don’t know that the reason Jeff Collins now represents Franklin County is because Bradley cost us our seat in the Legislature which he once held. He has not been active in the county party since leaving the Legislature and appears only when he is running for office. That is not a sign of positive leadership. He has much to offer, but not this office and not at this time. Vote Marilyn Avila for 2d District Chair!
Thom Tillis cost Franklin County its seat in the legislature, as he and David Lewis did to an eastern county at the same time. Tillis and Lewis did a last minute factional hatchet job on two conservative incumbents in redistricting. If those counties had had Tillis lackeys representing them instead of solid conservatives, the counties would not have been dismembered in redistricting.
#NeverTillis
It would be great if Bradley stood up for Franklin County by primarying liberal Jeff Collins. Collins has been veering left on too many important issues like HB2. Conservatives need to seize the moment and take Collins out.
For the sake of positive change in leadership the 2nd district must not give the chairmanship to Zan Bunn. She is one who loves herself and power above everything else and will do anything to retain power. How she achieves this goal is a slash and destroy affair.
Zan days of influence and imagined importance are tiring and damaging to the NCGOP.
Elect Marilyn for the future of the 2nd district. Give the members a voice not a chairman whose ego fills a entire room. Zan Bunn is a vote for a demigod who believes the NCGOP belongs to her and her alone.
Send Zan packing once and forever!
What about Glen Bradley for 2nd District Chairman
Jacque, I did not know your son was even running until AFTER this story posted and people started commenting this morning. WHY on earth would he not make sure the loudest conservative voice in the state knew about his candidacy? (In all honesty, that doesn’t speak well for the current state of his campaign.)
You can see in the comments here that Mike Speciale is throwing his weight behind Avila. Neither Mike nor I are slouches when it comes to conservatism. Neither of us come close to being “establishment pawns.”
You know, from reading this site over the years, that I’ve been mostly supportive of Glen’s political endeavors.
Glen has some work to do: (1) elevate his campaign to a serious level, and (2) avoid becoming a spoiler that extends Zan’s reign of terror by two years.
Marilyn Avila is the one to vote for if you want a strong conservative not afraid to do the right thing! If I lived in the 2nd District, she would have my support and my vote! I hope she has yours.
Glen Bradley is the one to vote for.
If Zan Bunn is the best that we can do, we’re screwed.
Marilyn Avila is the best one to vote for strong conservative.
ZAN and Company have been a plague on NC for years. They worked their tails off to get Hassan Elected and once they learned they couldn’t control him the long knives came out. The list is long who took Hasan down….
1.)Zan
2.)Ma Cotton
3.)Little Cotton
4.)NIX
5.)most of the Cruz NC team
a BIG HELL NO to what you just said in NO WAY can you say CRUZ people had ANYTHING To do with putting HAYES back in CHARGE
Seriously explain why any Cruz person would have been again the 2015 Convention Elected Chairman
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article91077717.html
Furthermore if you want to talk scheming that is what some NCGA GOP legislators were doing on the convention floor before the election occurred trying to figure out how to move their caucus out of the control of the rules of the state GOP because of the threat that a Chairman was going to be elected that they did not have control of had not approved
Seriously I am 110% happy that Hillary lost and Trump won but lets be honest what has Trump done so far that Cruz would not have done except Cruz would not have tossed the freedom caucus under the bus when it can to the healthcare legislation
Michelle Nix was not conspiring against Hasan Harnett. Some people thought she could have fought harder, but the establishment had her boxed in, and if she had fought hard, they would have taken her down, too. The Central Committee behaves incredibly like the mafia these days, which is why we need major changes there.
100% Correct 100% Correct
It is well past time that we have leaders in the Party who are adults. It would be a nice change. Vote for Marilyn and not the odd duo of Zan and Glenn.
I would hardly put Bradley and Bunn in the same category. Bradley, like Avila, was a good legislator. We need more like them. Bradley showed his commitment to principle to the point that leftwing hack Speaker Thom Tillis had him redistricted out, along with another conservative incumbent.
For Congressional district chairman, however, Bradley is splitting the grassroots conservative vote with Avila who jumped in first and has run a more active campaign. Bradley’s forte is campaigning with voters in an election, not campaigning with delegates at a convention. He is really good at grassroots work with voters, which is why he could do the most for the conservative movement by primarying establishment liberal incumbent Jeff Collins, whose district he lives in. The issues are there, starting with HB2, for a conservative challenger to eviscerate Collins. Collins just kept digging his hole by sponsoring a bill to coddle illegal aliens.
You may not want to put them in the same category but, they should be in the same category. Although I will admit that Zan is an evil witch and Glen is just…well, not evil.
Vote for Marilyn!
Raleighgirl
I expect that the writing on the wall will start to be seen after the District Conventions this weekend, five by my count. An interesting time to be a Republican activist in North Carolina, I sense some changes are coming!
Zan is an important member of the ruling group on the Central Committee and we need to keep her.
Zan was a key player in bringing our wonderful Dallas Woodhouse on board as Executive Director, and in voting to keep Dallas in real control of the party. Zan knew that bringing in someone like Dallas who had worked closely with Karl Rove, running Rove’s pro-Tillis front group in NC, would help bolster establishment power over the NCGOP. She also appreciates the important to Tillis’ bid for governor of keeping a Tillis front man like Dallas running the party operation in Raleigh. If you like Dallas Woodhouse, you should love Zan Bunn, who is his proven strong supporter.
Zan is also an important supporter of the gag rule on the Central Committee, so we can keep members from talking to executive committee members and county leaders about what the Central Committee is doing. Why should we tell those lousy peasants anything?
Zan was a key player in dumping Hasan Harnett who unfortunately turned out to be his own man and would not do as he was told, helping fabricate the reasons to try to justify it. She helped select Robin Hayes as the replacement, and Robin does do as he is told. She the one who made the motion as the executive committee meeting to railroad the process of selecting a replacement by not giving time for anyone else to come forward or to campaign for chairman. Why give the grassroots peasants a shot at winning back the chairmanship after we stole it fair and square?
Zan was also a key player in rigging the election of the National Committeewoman at last year’s convention, making motions to help run out the clock, so we could use a voting procedure to fudge the count so the establishment candidate would win.
Zan was also a key voice in keeping the old district chairs in place even though many of them did not live in their new Congressional districts, defying previous party precedent. This power play was essential so that Dallas’ allies could have his back and make sure he kept the real power in the party.
In short, Zan is a key power player in keeping the grassroots peasants in their place and allowing the important people to keep control of the party. That is why she needs to be elected.
I LOVE Joyce the Cottonmouth’s humorous way of making good points!
I’m in the 3rd Congressional District and will vote for Carl Mischka and Jim Womack.
If I were in the 2nd District, MARILYN AVILA would have my vote. I admired her work toward getting rid of the requirement for Certificates of Need when she was in the NC House. She seemed quietly calm and competent.
I’d take this opinion piece more seriously if you didn’t equate Trump’s nomination last July with conservatism. And what on earth does Zan’s age (yes, I’m even older) have to do with it? Hayes et al was totally Team Trump last July to the point of telling a Cruz delegate he’d have to find his own way home. That said if I lived in the 2nd I’d vote for Glen.