ONE MORE WEEK: Runoff election day is July 17th (Time for endorsements.)
Runoffs for a wide range of offices are on the ballot for the July 17th runoff.
Have you voted? Will you be around on July 17th? Early voting began on June 28th. If you plan to be out of town on July 17th, take time NOW to go over to the board of elections office and VOTE. You can also pick up an absentee ballot from the board of elections office.
The media has done a lousy job informing people about the candidates and the importance of the races being decided on July 17th. (We’ve tried hard to pick up the slack.)
Our nation and our state are mired in serious economic crises. Blowing off the chance to choose leadership for both entities for the next four years basically amounts to surrendering. If you don’t vote, you have NO RIGHT to complain.
We here at The Haymaker have done some investigating — some rooting around — and have cobbled together a list of people we’d like to see win on July 17th. Pay close attention, and take notes:
- Lieutenant Governor: The Democrat race has been decided. Linda Coleman is waiting for the Republicans to pick a nominee to face her in November. Republicans Tony Gurley and Dan Forest both seem to be decent people with solid conservative credentials. But we are recommending a vote FOR Dan Forest on July 17th. Forest has done a better job of reaching out to the Tea Party and other grassroots organizations. He has visited locations well off the beaten path and talked with people who rarely get a visit from a major political figure. Forest appears to have a higher level of voter enthusiasm behind him. He appears to have done a great job of uniting social and fiscal conservatives behind his candidacy. We’re concerned about the large number of establishment, me-too Republicans who appear to be coalescing behind Gurley. That certainly raises questions about how committed he is to fighting for a conservative, free market agenda in Raleigh.
- Secretary of State: Former Wake County commissioner Kenn Gardner and Chowan County commissioner Ed Goodwin are facing off for the GOP nomination. Both seem to be very decent people with conservative credentials. But Gardner lost points with many this week by trashing Goodwin as a “government bureaucrat.” Goodwin is a retired NCIS agent. (You know NCIS from the hit TV show.) Goodwin traveled around the country and the world working on important tasks like counterterrorism and presidential security. That’s nothing to sneeze at nor ridicule nor dismiss. Goodwin’s federal law enforcement experience could be an asset in beefing up the investigative role of the secretary of state’s office. We’re recommending a vote FOR Ed Goodwin on July 17th.
- Commissioner of Insurance: Former construction and insurance executive Mike Causey of Greensboro is facing off against former legislator Richard Morgan for the GOP nomination. Morgan cut a deal with former Speaker Jim Black to screw over legislative Republicans. Morgan was kicked out of the Republican Party for six years. The information in THIS RESOLUTION should give you plenty of reason to NOT vote for Richard. Mike Causey is a class act who has worked hard on behalf of the NCGOP for years. This is an easy choice. We recommend a vote FOR Mike Causey on July 17th.
- Superintendent of Public Instruction: Wake County school board member John Tedesco and educator Richard Alexander are facing off for the GOP nomination. We don’t know much about Alexander. On the face of it, he seems like a nice man with conservative credentials and a solid record as an educator. Tedesco has had the advantage of having his work on the Wake board covered statewide by WRAL. Tedesco has been a leader in taking on the edu-crats to streamline the system and cut costs. He’s been a leader in pushing more money out of the central office and into the classrooms. Looking at how upset the leftists are at his very presence on the ballot makes us even more impressed with Tedesco. We recommend a vote FOR John Tedesco on July 17th.
- NC House District 6: For voters near the Outer Banks, there is a clear choice in the GOP runoff for this legislative seat. Tea Party leader Mattie Lawson is running against former Democrat legislator Arthur Williams . Establishment leaders like Speaker Thom Tillis, former Speaker Harold Brubaker, and congressman Walter Jones have rallied behind Williams and helped fund him. If you think Raleigh needs to be shaken up, your choice is clear: Mattie Lawson. We recommend a vote FOR Mattie Lawson on July 17th.
- US House District 8: John Boehner, Eric Cantor and the rest of the DC establishment are lining up behind Richard Hudson in the GOP runoff. The Tea Party, RedState.com, and The Club For Growth are lining up behind Scott Keadle. We like Keadle’s friends a lot better. If you think DC needs a reality check, send Scott Keadle up there then stand back and watch him work. We recommend a vote FOR Scott Keadle on July 17th.
- US House District 9: Former Mecklenburg sheriff and current county commissioner Jim Pendergraph is facing off against former state senator Robert Pittinger in the GOP runoff for the seat incumbent Sue Myrick is leaving this year. (Myrick is endorsing Pendergraph.) A messy controversy around a real estate deal — which we’ve detailed elsewhere on this site — is raising real questions about Pittinger and his ethics. Therefore, we are encouraging Ninth District voters to trust Sue Myrick’s judgement and vote FOR Jim Pendergraph on July 17th.
Most of your endorsements are spot on.
I am a bit conflicted on the Lt. Governor’s race. Forest’s mother is RINO Sue Myrick. When Forest first started his race, there was one email after another with RINO’s endorsing his candidacy. Now I get an email list of endorsements from his campaign and it is all Tea Partiers and conservatives. Does Forest have two different email lists or did he get an ideology transplant midway through the dampaign? I am still uncertain about this race, but those early endorsements make me a bit cautious about Forest.
The other is the 9th district Congress. The guy you endorse was a longtime DEMOCRAT sheriff who toyed with running for Congress as a Democrat to help Pelosi. I don’t see any candidate to get exited about in that race since Killian lost the first round. This is really a lesser of the evils race, and Myrick is the big name RINO in Charlotte, so I would probably hold my nose and vote for Pittenger.
I won’t comment on the congressional races because they aren’t near my part of the state and anything I said would be out of ignorance. I think your other picks are spot on. I once opposed Forest because of his maternal connection (nothing against her, just don’t like political dynasties) and like a lot of Piedmonters and easterners, I don’t trust anything out of Charlotte. But the fact that he hasn’t gone out of his way to shun Tea Party ideals speaks well of him. Then I met his wife at the convention, talked extensively with her, and found her to be extremely down-to-earth and refreshingly non-egotistical…have to believe she would be married to someone more-or-less the same.
In the LG race the choice should be Tony Gurley. He was is a strong supporter of tea party values; lets look at his actions in Wake County. We know where all the money goes, because it is online; Gurley instituted that. He kept us at no tax increase for 4 years. Vocal supporter of tea party when he ran and won 2 years ago in Wake County where we have a lot of NY dems and old time Raleigh Dems, not to mention the institutions of higher education. The media establishment in Wake Co. is as tough as it gets in NC and he can handle it. We don’t know how Forest would handle a general election. if Alice Forest were running I would seriously consider supporting her, but she is not. Her husband does not look at people in the eye when speaking with them, he is looking at to see what other votes he can get. Very Romney ish. As far as the political dynasty. Having seen many, the offspring usually are involved at some level of the politics long before they want to be crowned. Forest has not. His political involvement came when he decided to Run for LG. Just because he spent $10k on professional speech coaching does not mean he can take the heat in a one on one debate with the darling of the Dems.
The Sec. of state race has taken a turn for the worse, Mr. Goodwin said that his opponent only moved to NC because of some woman. The inferences there will give Marshall plenty of room to play with. Also apparently Mr. G does not like people who move to NC from other parts of the country. I am one of those people and quite frankly I thought that attitude was reserved for Democrats. Either guy would do a fine job if elected, but Mr. Goodwin lost lots of points over what I stated above. Kenn called Mr. Goodwin a govt. bureaucrat which was wrong on his part, but Mr. Goodwin could have left it at what he actually did.
Insurance Commissioner Race well if Richard Morgan gets the nomination, looks like that seat will be filled by a Democrat no matter who wins. Mike Causey also seems to have the right temperment for the job. He ran when no one else would back in the dark ages. Lets reward him.
The Supt. of Public Instruction has taken a nasty facebook based turn by supporters. People are claiming that John Tedesco is a Progressive. If he was the head of the NAACP would be endorsing him, not trying to have him knocked off. Mr. Alexander also wants the position to be appointed, which may have some merit, I am not entirely opposed to that, but he is running for the seat and wants my vote. Why is he not asking me to contact my legislator’s to push for the Constitutional amendment to do so????
I don’t live where any of the other runoffs are, but Killian and Steen would have been good choices. In 8 I think the dentist would be a better choice. 9 Both have lots of baggage.
To the folks in District 6. I am going to take a liberal way at this. We need a woman.
A new endorsement says it all as to why Gurley should be the conservative choice. I ask you to reverse your endorsement in that race.
Mike Huckabee, ”The Huckster”, who has been aptly described as a ”Christian socialist” or ”pro-life statist” has endoresed Dan Forest. The Huckster is conservative on social issues but is a tax and spender on economic issues, and generally bad on many issues outside of the social issues.
Even worse, Huckabee has been the anti-Tea Party in the 2012 primaries. This blog has pointed out that he seems to consistently take the opposite position of the Tea Party and economic conservative groups in primary after primary. Richard Lapdog Hudson in the 8th district runoff is one. Richard Lugar and David Dewhurst are others.
I hope that you will not continue to endorse a Huckabee-endorsed candidate.
. . . and now ”Renegade Renee” Ellmers has also endorsed Forest. Are your sure you do not want to reverse your endorsement?