You'll read about it tomorrow in the News & Record, as they say in the blogging biz....
David Crawford, a political gadfly with some erratic tendencies who has run unsuccessfully for city council in Greensboro and Winston-Salem and for Guilford County School Board, says that the man elected to Guilford County Soil and Water Conservation District supervisor has moved out of the county, and will not be allowed to serve.
Kirk Perkins, the supervisor-elect, shares a name with a well-known Guilford County Commission. The latter Perkins chaired the county commission at the time of the election, thus making him the highest-ranking elected official in county government. Perkins, the candidate for soil and water super, was well aware of that, says Crawford, who added that several people told him they voted for the candidate for soil and water super thinking they were casting a ballot for the county commissioner.
Crawford, who told me he managed the lesser-known Kirk Perkins' campaign, says he encouraged him to run.
"He needed some structure and responsibility in his life, and I thought it might help him advance in his life," Crawford told me.
Not only did Crawford manage Perkins' campaign, but he also says he gave him a place to live. That is, until Crawford evicted Perkins. After that, Crawford said he was advised to cut off all contact with his former protege.
Name recognition is the only way that Kirk Perkins could have won the soil and water super race, considering that incumbent Herb Hendrickson has been universally well regarded for his work on the post.
Perkins won the five-way soil and water race in November with 34,907 votes, followed by Andrew Courts, who garnered 33,847. Hendrickson received only 28,097 votes.
Crawford is no stranger to the tactic of exploiting other better-known candidates' name recognition for political advantage. His name is similar to that of David R. Crawford, chairman of the NC 5th Congressional District Democrats and the Democratic candidate for the District 5 seat in 2002.
The lesser-known David Crawford said he learned that Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor-elect Kirk Perkins had moved out of Guilford County through a phone call from an acquaintance.
