Candidate shuffle two days before Guilford GOP chair vote

With two days to go before the Guilford County Republican Party convention, Theresa Yon has withdrawn as candidate for chair, saying she has become a lightning rod for criticism and the party must overcome its inner turmoil to effectively compete with the Democrats.

Meanwhile, Al Boudin has announced on Facebook that he is running for the seat. Previously, Boudin had been a candidate for vice chair on a slate headed by Yon. With Yon's withdrawal and Boudin's switch, Jon Firebaugh is entering the race as candidate for vice chair. The remainder of the slate consists of Nancy Bishop for secretary and Hallie Jessup for treasurer.

The controversy that prompted Yon's exit was a weeks-long tempest involving chair candidate Jeff Hyde's unsubstantiated accusation that "establishment" members of the party threatened to release damaging information if he did not withdraw from the race. The information concerned a criminal conviction by one of Hyde's associates, Bret Riddleberger, dating back to the mid-1990s. Riddleberger's wife preemptively referenced the information on Facebook and it quickly went public. In the aftermath, current executive director Tony Wilkins raised questions about Hyde's character. The ensuing battle has featured mutual expressions of recrimination, suspicion and distrust between the tea party and so-called "establishment" factions of the local party.

Discussion of the backdrop of today's developments here and here.

YES! Weekly has obtained Yon's letter of withdrawal:

When I began this campaign to run for Party Chairman in January, my full intention was to unite the Party to the best of my ability against the Democrats.

However, the contest for chairman in recent weeks and indeed, days has become divisive to the point that my fear now becomes that the Party will not be able to reach that goal. I believe for the good of the party it is best for me to step down as a candidate for chairman. This race has never been about ego or about me being the sole leader of the party. It was always a team race, and I feel it is best for my team and more importantly best for the party for me to step down as a candidate. I have complete trust that Al Bouldin and Mike Picarelli can help the party heal after this divisive time and move us forward together, to victory, in 2012. I feel that they will always put the Party's interests first. My candidacy in recent weeks had become a lightning rod for criticism and we simply cannot beat the Democrats with inner turmoil in the party. I urge everyone to support the slate of Mike, Al, Nancy and Hallie in their quest to lead the GOP to victory in what will be [a] difficult and challenging election season. I sincerely appreciate the help and dedication of all of those volunteers who helped our slate, and I ask that you continue to support our slate -- they are our best chance for victory.

Theresa Yon

It's Hyde vs. Yon for chair of Guilford GOP

Jeff Hyde announces he is running for chair of the Guilford County Republican Party in hopes of filling the position opened by the retirement of Bill Wright. The election takes place on March 14 at the party convention. A source active with the Guilford GOP that I bumped into at Harris Teeter in Adams Farm tells me Theresa Yon is also running for chair.

Both Hyde and Yon were unsuccessful candidates for NC General Assembly last year. Hyde is a founder of Conservatives for Guilford County and often identified with the tea party movement. Yon is a friend of NC Rep. John Blust. Beyond that, I'm not really certain whether they represent different factions of the party or hold reputations for different leadership styles. Can anyone tell me?

Budgetary bloodletting on the campaign trail

The fiscal conservative mantra this year especially, when the state of North Carolina faces a budget shortfall of $3 billion to $4 billion, is that government needs to focus on essential services and cut wasteful spending. A state budget is like a household budget, Republican NC Senate candidate Jeff Hyde, told a group of students at GTCC in Jamestown today: When less money is coming in, you tighten the belt and figure out your priorities.

“We don’t want to cut programs that North Carolina wants to spend money on, which is generally schools, roads and some other things,” Hyde said. “I’m sure that in the great benevolent state that we live in that our elderly are going to be taken care of.”

In a state with 9.4 million people, one person’s essential service may be another person’s wasteful spending. A 50-year-old student who said she suffers from spinal arthritis told Hyde cuts to home healthcare for the elderly, disabled and sick are underway. She said her mother has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and currently relies on someone paid by the state to come in and dust her home regularly. She asked Hyde for his position on whether that service should be cut.

“There are plenty of things if we want to continue on the path where we’re going that if government could become more involved in each of our lives — when I said earlier that we have a choice — do we want government to continue to grow, be more intrusive in our lives or do we want to say, ‘No, it’s big enough, or it needs to get smaller and let’s put a stop to that’?” Hyde said. “In your specific case, I’m sure that the community that you live in — if the government were to cut whatever that program is, I’m sure that the community that you live in, there are benevolent hearts that would come in and help you — churches and civic organizations that would help you. We live in a great, benevolent society. America is the most charitable country history has ever known. The state of North Carolina is in the top ten in benevolence by private citizens. To think that we need government to solve the dusting of your house I think is wrong.”

Hyde then asked for a show of hands for people who would volunteer to come dust the woman’s house. About a third of the hands in the auditorium went up.

“Give me your phone number, and I’ll make sure your house is dusted, if I have to do it myself,” Hyde said.

Democrats stand ground at Greensboro candidate forum

Don Vaughan, the freshman Democratic state senator who represents District 27, made a preemptive strike against an expected Republican onslaught during remarks tonight at a candidate forum sponsored by WOMAN at Mahi’s Seafood Restaurant in Greensboro.

Brandishing a copy of the News & Record, Vaughan made the case that the state is on the right track under its current leadership.

“I’m not going to bring you any doom and gloom,” he said. “I’m going to bring you fairly decent news right now. Now things have been bad, but by golly, if you saw Saturday’s paper, you know they’re starting to get better. And the headline here says, ‘North Carolina helping to lead nation to recovery.’ Things are starting to happen because of some things we did in the North Carolina Senate are helping to make this recovery. If you read this article, if you read USA Today, if you read the Wall Street Journal today, you know that this state and its policies – these are independent sources – things are beginning to work and things are beginning to turn around thanks to what has been done in Raleigh.”

Tea Party favorite Jeff Hyde, Vaughan’s Republican opponent, responded directly.

“Senator Vaughan just held up a newspaper article; it said, ‘North Carolina leads the nation out of recovery,’” Hyde said. “You know, those same newspaper sources said that we’ve been out of our recession since June of 2009, but we’ve heard speaker after speaker tonight talk about the anxiety that they have about the future of our schools, about prosperity in North Carolina, about the 19 months of double-digit unemployment.”

Hyde argued that if North Carolina scales back the size of its government based on the principles of the federal and state constitutions, it will enjoy prosperity again.

The appearance of the Democratic and Republican candidates for District 28 seat opened with the retirement of Sen. Katie Dorsett also presented a contrast for voters. Independent candidate Bruce Davis was not present.

Gladys Robinson, the Democratic nominee, acknowledged her lack of elective experience, and instead highlighted a range of civic activities.

“I am a community leader,” she said. “People say, ‘You’re not an elected official.’ Well, you get your best training in the community. I’m a PTA life member, and you really learn a lot in education. I was one of those persons on redistricting that advocated to merge three systems so we would have equity in pay for our teachers, so we could build buildings and schools across this entire county, so we would have good education for our children. I’ve been on the UNC Board of Governors for 10 years, and on that board we have built new facilities in our universities. We’ve instituted new programs.”

Republican Trudy Wade, a practicing veterinarian and a member of the Greensboro City Council who has also served on the Guilford County Commission, stressed her empathy with struggling business owners.

“I talk to clients all the time about how bad it really is,” she said. “But I sent out a fundraising letter like we all do. And if anybody knows about fundraising at this time, it’s terrible because the economy’s so bad. But I got one letter back from a veterinarian. And she sent 15 dollars. And she said, ‘It’s really all I have. And I wanted to send it because things are so bad that I knew you, being a veterinarian and a businesswoman, would understand that I can’t meet my loan payments. We may go out of business. I’ve had to let my employees go. But I’m sending you this 15 dollars in the hopes that people like you will get elected.’”

Wade added, “I can promise you that if I’m elected I’m going down there and I’m going to try to cut taxes, stimulate business, bring new businesses here and do what we need to do to bring North Carolina back to being competitive in this market and to bring new jobs here and get our people back to work and help the businesses that are here to continue to expand and supply jobs for all our people.”

Two candidates in the crowded race to replace state appellate judge Jim Wynn also made their pitch to voters.

Cressie Thigpen, who was appointed by Gov. Beverly Perdue to fill Wynn’s unexpired term, said, “I really didn’t know I could attract such a crowd. I kind of feel like Forrest Gump in the scene where Forrest is running and he’s got bullies after him, and his friend says to him, ‘Run, Forrest, run.’”

Stan Hammer, a Greensboro resident who practices law in High Point, said, “I’ve practiced law for nearly 25 years. I’m passionate about the law, and I’m passionate about public service. And I’m passionate about being able to work in a forum that will do justice and apply the rule of law for everyone.”

Hammer rapped the microphone to arrest a hum of feedback. Later, when another speaker was beset by the same problem, a murmur could be heard from the crowd: “Give ’em the Hammer.”

Thigpen and Hammer have 11 other opponents in the race.

Rep. Alma Adams, the Democratic incumbent in NC House District 58, played to an audience preference for her party by taking additional time at the end of the program to make the point that the Nov. 2 vote is “a critical election,” adding, “Whoever wins it depends on who turns out.”

Adams is defending her seat against Republican Darin H. Thomas.

Kay Cashion, who is running unopposed this year for her seat on the Guilford County Commission, came to the aid of her fellow Democrats by singing the praises of Adams and Maggie Jeffus, who represents NC House District 59.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank two representatives here tonight for the work that they did to salvage the funding for our two shelters at Family Services," Cashion said. "If you read the paper recently you will remember that funding was supposed to be cut in half – it would have just been devastating – for the High Point shelter and the Greensboro shelter. Rep. Jeffus and Rep. Adams and Sen. Katie Dorsett and Rep. Laura Wiley worked very hard to get this funding restored for this year, and I think we owe them a great round of applause.”

Democrats request investigation of Hyde campaign

The NC Democratic Party requests that the NC Board of Elections investigate the campaign of Jeff Hyde, Republican candidate for NC Senate District 27, related to a raffle held in June by the Hyde campaign in which the winner remains a mystery.

The Democrats want the board of elections to require the Hyde campaign to amend its campaign finance report "to disclose all contributions and expenditures" and "to return any impermissible contributions that have been received."

Alleged violations of campaign finance law, as outlined in the Democrats' complaint:

The winner's name is not disclosed in the second quarter report filed by the Jeff Hyde Committee. In order for the winner's name to be included in the drawing, he or she would have had to made a $100 contribution to Jeff Hyde for Senate. Under North Carolina election law (163-278.11), contributions that aggregate over $50 must be itemized to include the contributor's name, address, employer and occupation. Further, under North Carolina law (163-278.14), contributions in the name of another are prohibited. Therefore, the campaign is in violation of the law for either not disclosing the winner's contribution or the campaign is in violation for allowing another donor to purchase a ticket in the winner's name.

North Carolina law sets individual contribution limits at $4,000 per individual per election cycle. Contributions are defined as "any advance, conveyance, deposit, distribution, transfer of funds, loan, payment, gift, pledge or subscription of money or anything of value whatsoever, to a candidate to support or oppose the nomination or election of one or more clearly identified candidates to a political committee, to a political party, or to a referendum committee, whether or not made in an election year, and any contract, agreement, or other obligation to make a contribution. An expenditure forgiven by a person or entity to whom it is owed shall be reported as a contribution from that person or entity." [Emphasis added.] In opting not to accept the winnings, the winner in fact gifted or conveyed a $5,000 contribution to the Jeff Hyde Committee or forgave a $5,000 obligation owed by the committee, in either case a violation of North Carolina law, as the amount exceeded the $4,000 contribution limit.

Bonus point of interest: Information included in the complaint sourced to the Guarino blog.

Conservatives fight over raffle payout in candidate Hyde's fundraiser

Strife in Guilford conservativeland over the fact that Republican NC Senate District 27 candidate Jeff Hyde reported no expenditure reflecting a $5,000 prize payout in a raffle in his most recent campaign finance document. If the winner donated the prize money back to the campaign, was the candidate required to report it? That seems to be the question on which the controversy hinges.

If no winner was actually identified and announced, that raises another set of questions.

Guilford conservatives get campaign season underway with political picnic

Bill Randall (right) poses with fellow candidate Howard Coble and Conservatives for Guilford County activist Isabella Adkins.

Notwithstanding the efforts of Conservatives for Guilford County to establish a nonpartisan movement, the candidates that showed up for the group’s Take Back America Picnic at Bur-Mil Park yesterday evening were all Republicans, with the exception of one unaffiliated school board candidate.

A representative of the John Locke Foundation handed out “Tea Bags” – plastic bags containing the foundation’s publications and membership information – and told spectators that they have been working with dozens of candidates across the state, including the Republican nominee for the NC Senate District 28 seat in Guilford County. Hyde and NC House District 57 candidate Jon Hardister are both avowed fans of the Locke Foundation’s body of research and policy recommendations.

Estimated at upwards of 200 people by organizers, the crowd was fired up and energized. Guilford County Republican Party Chairman Bill Wright said he feels the party is fielding good candidates this year.

The star appearance may have been Bill Randall, who only three days earlier had trounced primary opponent Bernie Reeves in a runoff for US House District 13. Randall strolled around the grounds at the event early in the evening with 13-term Republican incumbent congressman Howard Coble, who introduced the new nominee from Raleigh to voters in his native Guilford County. Coble represents US House District 6. The two were a picture of old hand and young upstart, the seasoned incumbent who fended off a handful of primary contenders and the GOP challenger seeking to take on liberal Democrat Brad Miller.

Eating a hamburger under the shelter before the program of candidate remarks began, Randall reflected on Reeves’ sore-loser remark to the News & Observer that “it's sort of like anarchy out there.” The new nominee said his former opponent made some “strategic errors,” including disrespecting the Tea Party movement.

“One of the problems he had with that is his disparaging remarks were a matter of record,” Randall said. “And when confronted with it, he didn’t come clean. All he had to say is that ‘I did make remarks to that effect, although they may have been misconstrued or come across as more harsh than I intended,’” adding that Reeves should have then stated that he recognized the validity of sentiments held by Tea Party adherents.

“He has a lot to offer the Republican Party,” Randall continued. “He would do well to try to unify the base rather than divide the base. He missed a great opportunity because he didn’t concede with grace. The problem is that Bernie Reeves could not discern that there are some traditional Republicans who embrace the ideology of the Tea Party. And when you disparage the Tea Party you disparage those people who are rock-solid Republicans.”

Bill Randall, candidate for US House District 13

“Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard the argument that we need to get rid of illegal immigrants because they’re taking up welfare benefits and lining up in the emergency rooms – how many of you have ever heard that argument? Stop it. Stay with me. That’s not the argument. I say again, that’s not the argument.

“There are illegals in this country who’ve not once gone to emergency rooms, that are hardworking and industrious. But that’s not the argument. Because, see, if you argue from the standpoint of what they’re taking away in benefits, you’re disarmed when someone can prove that they’re not using them. Follow me. We need to learn how to craft our argument based on the US Constitution: And what’s at stake is the rule of law. Amen?

“Let’s say that you all went on a trip. Bill Randall comes to your neighborhood. I know you’re out of town. I break into your home. Inside your home I find everything in disarray. Some of you say, ‘Well, you see my teenagers at home’ – no, that’s… I’ve got kids, too. I find everything in disarray. Dishes stacked to the ceiling in the kitchen. Clothes in the laundry room, dirty, piled up. Windows dirty. Yard not cut. Everything is a mess. I go in there, wash all your dishes, sparkling clean, put ’em up in your cabinet, wash all the clothes, fold ’em, put ’em away, even iron your shirts, even clean the toilet bowl. Go into your refrigerator and I take things out and I cook a sumptuous meal. And that sumptuous meal is waiting on you when you get back home. Folks, you come in. You like what you see. But you get on the phone and you call the police. And I get carted away to jail. Is that the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do? It’s the right thing because I broke the rule of law. I don’t care what my intentions are; the rule of law is what prevails in this country.”


Jeff Hyde, a member of Conservatives for Guilford County who is challenging one-term Democrat Don Vaughan for the NC Senate District 27 seat, was introduced by his friend Brett Riddleberger as a “hardcore conservative.”

Jeff Hyde, candidate for NC Senate District 27

“North Carolina is struggling with prosperity. A once great state – still is a great state – we have beautiful aesthetics all across our state. We’ve got a great talent base. We have natural resources, but we are on our way with our state government to becoming New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, New York or Michigan, and I don’t think North Carolinians want that. I know that I don’t want that. Unemployment in North Carolina has been for 15 straight months above 10 percent. Democrats have no idea how to change that. Our solution is to take North Carolina from being the worst business-climate state in the Southeast and make it competitive with our Southeastern neighbors by reducing the tax burden on individuals, the tax burden on corporations, reducing our state gasoline tax – all these things add up to make North Carolina the 10th least likely state for businesses to succeed. The states around us – there’s no surprise – the nine states with the most economic activity are the nine states that don’t have a personal income tax. There’s no surprise in that. If we want North Carolina to be prosperous again, if we want to reduce our unemployment, we’ll put our money back into the private sector where we can incubate jobs around the kitchen table and entice new businesses to form in North Carolina and put private citizens back to work.”


Trudy Wade, a two-term member of the Greensboro City Council, is running for the open seat vacated by Democrat Katie Dorsett against two opponents: Democrat Gladys Robinson and independent Bruce Davis.

Trudy Wade, candidate for NC Senate District 28

“I now have two opponents. If you haven’t heard the news, I now have an unaffiliated running against me. One thing I want to make very clear about the two candidates running against me in Senate District 28: Both will vote for a tax increase, I can assure you of that. One has a proven record of voting for tax increases, and the other has openly stated that she’d be in favor in tax increases. You don’t have to worry about that with me. You can look at my record on the Greensboro City Council, and I haven’t voted for any tax increases.

“The other thing I want to bring to your attention is I’m worried about jobs because there’s not a lot of jobs out there for us and we definitely need to do something about that. What do we need to do? I’m a small business owner. We need to give small businesses a break and let us put people back to work because it is the only way we’re going to get this economy going again. Give me a break, let me pay somebody a salary, let them go out and buy from you and everyone else that runs a small business. Let us all get back to work.

“The other thing is I want to take care of some of that corruption in Raleigh. We need to get out; we need to vote. I can’t change it without you. If you don’t go out and vote this time we won’t get a change in Raleigh. But I can assure you, if you go out and vote and I’m elected, you will have a change in Raleigh.”


John Blust, who faces a nominal challenge from Libertarian Jeffery Simon, has become something of a role model for GOP candidates seeking legislative office in Raleigh, especially with the retirement of fellow Republican Laura Wiley in NC House District 61. Although he faces no Democratic opponent in his race, he’s weathered adversity by virtue of the fact that his entire career in the General Assembly has been spent as part of the minority party. He recruited Theresa Yon to run in Democratic-leaning District 59, and his limited government philosophy is emulated by another Republican challenger, District 57 candidate Jon Hardister.

John Blust, candidate for NC House District 62

“If you want to know why this is so important, turn around and look at those children back there. The latest figures I have seen say that the federal government has an unfunded liability, if you know what that means in accounting. It’s bad enough that we have a national debt right now that just went over $13 trillion; it’s approaching the level of the gross national product. The unfunded liability, what are the promises made by the politicians all these years is numbered now at $130 trillion, and somehow those children back there are going to have to come up with this money. Now, the opposition likes to think that they are pro-child; they claim to be pro-education, pro-child. And one of the tasks we have to do is we have to take them off their moral high ground and capture it ourself, because you are not for the children in any way if you are willing to saddle them with $130 trillion in debt. Don’t tell me you’re for the children.

“Don’t tell me you’re for education when the only education model we’ve seen is the one we’ve seen. They won’t allow us to go to charter schools. They won’t allow us to go to money-follows-the-student. We have some of the worst public schools K-12, but we have some of the best universities. Now, what’s the difference there? The universities you choose where to go. The students, the parents choose where to go. The K-12 is a monopoly. We debated a bill not long ago on how to handle low-performing, non-performing schools. This is 2010. I couldn’t help but be struck that this is 2010, and two education governors ago we had an education governor named Jim Hunt that said that if you spent the money they wanted to spend and you enacted the very agenda they wanted and they got their way on everything, every initiative, every cent they wanted for education is what happened, Jim Hunt said you’d be number-one by 2010. And here 2010 came and we were having to debate ways to handle non-performing, low-performing schools. And that was with Jim Hunt, “the education governor” from 1992 to 2010, then Mike Easley, soon to be indicted, an “education governor” from 2000 to 2008. Now, what happened? Maybe their fundamental model was wrong. Maybe it’s not just the money. Maybe, instead of approaching every program as if it’s a matter of government programs, government money, we have now come to the cliff.”


Republican Theresa Yon is challenging veteran Democratic lawmaker Maggie Jeffus in NC House District 59.

Theresa Yon, candidate for NC House District 59

“Just last week, House Bill 1973, film tax credit… this is a bill that had a lot of different tax credits and spending that individually probably would not have been passed. They put it all under one bill, and you get the film tax credit. This gives up to $20 million in tax credits for people that come to North Carolina to film movies on our coast. That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t help Guilford County. Here’s the idea: There’s no way that our tax dollars should be paid to Hollywood actors and producers to come here and film movies. And our representative, John Blust, put out an amendment in which he said, ‘We need to cap that; we shouldn’t be paying actors or people that are paid, you know, millions of dollars to make movies.’ That amendment was voted down by the Democrats and my opponent. So if someone comes and films a movie for $80 million, you the taxpayers write them a check for $20 million regardless of how much they pay in taxes. If an actor gets paid $12 million, the taxpayers write a $3 million check to him – 25 percent of their production cost is going to be funded now by the taxpayers with House Bill 1973. I think that’s a bad decision.

“Yesterday – here’s a good example for government interfering in your lives a little bit too much. Just yesterday the House voted on a bill and it has to do with childcare. A lot of you work, and maybe in the summertime your children are in daycare. Well, they’ve decided on a couple things that they know better what your children need than you do. No child over 1 year old is allowed to have four to six ounces of juice per day in daycare. No children over 2 years old are allowed to drink any whole milk, reduced fat only. And you are not allowed to bring sugar-sweetened sodas to daycare anymore, or they’ll be confiscated. So if you give your child a Coke once in awhile to take to daycare, it will be taken away…. So, that’s a bit of a disappointment, government interfering in our lives.”


Jon Hardister’s reluctance to take a firm position on a piece of legislation proposed by his Democratic opponent, Pricey Harrison, that would eliminate the cap on liabilities for offshore oil spills off the coast of North Carolina has been the object of a fair amount of discussion. He said after this speech that he has now come to the conclusion that eliminating the cap is the right thing to do.

His stump speech was more of less boilerplate Republican agenda, with little attention to specifics.

Jon Hardister, candidate for NC House District 57

“A lot of people don’t realize how high our taxes are in North Carolina. We have the ninth highest income tax, and that’s both corporate and individual. I believe you create jobs through the private sector. The government can’t create jobs. If you look at Virginia, for example, their taxes are lower, [and] their unemployment rate is a lot lower than ours. We have an unemployment rate that’s just over 11 percent. In Virginia, it’s just over 6 percent. It’s much lower. I believe it all comes down to a simple question: Do you think that government is the solution to our problems or the cause of our problems? (Cause.) Exactly. And, uh, I gotta tell you: We have an opportunity, this year, to take back our government. Okay, I’m a Republican. I’m proud to be a Republican. But that’s not what it’s all about. It’s about principle. It’s about what you stand for. And we have a lot of work to do. Republicans have a great opportunity now to take the state House and take the state Senate, and get some work done. We need to eliminate wasteful spending and we need to go to zero-based budgeting. We need some spending-cap legislation and we need to eliminate the cap on charter schools. I’ll tell you what. Here’s how I look at it: When the economy started to get bad I had to tighten my belt, and I had to be careful about my expenditures. Government should do the same thing. It’s our money they’re spending. Politicians have a responsibility to be careful with spending policies.”


Lisa Ingle Clapp, an unaffiliated challenger, faces two-term Democrat Nancy Routh in the nonpartisan contest for one of the at-large seats on the Guilford County School Board.

Lisa Ingle Clapp, candidate for Guilford County School Board at large

“I think it’s very important to vote for a candidate who has children coming in and out of their doors every day, not just my own boys but their friends and their friends’ parents. And you know how we parents network and talk about what’s going on at the school level. A couple of things I wanted to make a point about. One thing is in Guilford County I think we lack in the school system, accountability, on a couple of different levels. The first level is I think we need to hold the Guilford County School Board accountable for how their spending our hard-earned tax dollars. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m a hard-working – my husband is a hard-working person and we pay lots of taxes, as all of you do as well. When you study up on what’s going on with the school board, you never know where your money’s going. And I think the truth and transparency approach to that would be very applicable at this point, especially since our superintendant, Mo Green, speaks of that in his strategic plan of transparency. So I’m running on transparency. If you want truth and transparency, I’m your girl.

“The other thing I wanted to bring forward was parent accountability. We need to hold our parents accountable to stay involved enough with their children that they know what’s going on inside of their school doors everyday. A lot of things take place in our schools that we don’t ever know about as the general public. That’s one of my biggest, biggest pet peeves with the school board, and one of the main reasons I decided to run. And I’ll tell you briefly about that and then I’ll close. When we have convicted felons who are bringing loaded handguns into high schools and middle schools, folks we got a problem. We got a problem with a school board who wants to do away with our SRO officers in the middle of our middle and high schools, because we need ’em. We need ’em desperately. And we need a voice on that school board who is going to keep those SRO officers in their positions. I’m sick and tired of taking my own two children to school and having to worry about their safety when they’re not on my watch. In order for us to make a difference in that, you’ve got to have truth and transparency. I have numerous e-mails and phone calls every single week since I’ve decided to run for school board at large from parents, and from staff and from teachers who tell me over and over the things that go on behind closed doors that nobody knows about because their acts of violence and they’re pushed under the rug, so to speak. Because we don’t need to know about it, as parents and taxpayers. I’m here to tell you: It’s time for us to face the music. We got to know what’s going on so that we can restore safety, discipline and respect back into our schools. If that’s what you want in a candidate – a voice for the people, for the students, for the staff and for the teachers and the parents, then on Nov. 2, vote Lisa Clapp for school board.”


Becki Gray, John Locke Foundation

“The forefathers also gave us a gift. That gift was freedom. But that gift has been abused, it’s been misused, it is in danger and it is in peril. Our country is in trouble. We have a healthcare bill that no one wanted, that was shoved through Congress and shoved down our throats. Spending is out of control. National security is at risk. We finally have a state that has stepped up and done something about illegal immigration, and what’s our president doing? He’s going to sue that state. We have a government that wants to do everything for everybody with no concern for what it costs. And all of these things are taking away our freedom, chipping away at that.

“So are we safe here in North Carolina? Are our state leaders protecting our freedoms? They’re not. We have corrupt politicians that we can’t trust who are lining their pockets with our tax money. Just read the latest edition of Carolina Journal to find out who’s been indicted today. And the list keeps getting longer and longer. Unemployment is in double digits and has been for the last 15 months. North Carolina has one of the highest tax rates in the Southeast. Government is everywhere in our lives, telling us how, when and where we can live to the point of being ridiculous. Do you know that there are counties in North Carolina, there are places in North Carolina where plastic bags have been outlawed? There’s a smoking ban in effect in North Carolina where the government is telling us where we can smoke in businesses we own. Now I’m not a big smoker – I’m not a smoker at all, I don’t like to be around cigarette smoke – what I really don’t like is the government telling me what I can do and can’t do in establishments that I own. They want to tell us where we can water our lawns, even in the mountains what color to paint our house, what kind of light bulbs to use, and all the while they’re continuing to increase the entitlement programs that people get more dependent, more government and more government control. And the cost of all this government in North Carolina: Do you know that since 1980, North Carolina’s budget has increased 190 percent? And during that period population has only grown 62 percent. So keep that in mind.”

Candidate profile: Jeff Hyde

“You hear this at Tea Party events,” Jeff Hyde is saying. “We the people want our representatives to represent us. The reason people are going to get voted out this fall is the majority of people don’t think our representatives really represent us.”

We’re sitting in the front room at Aesthetic Images Photography, the studio and gallery Hyde co-owns and co-manages with his wife on State Street. The Republican candidate for NC Senate District 27, Hyde says it’s the first interview of his campaign. He has a digital camera mounted on a tripod to capture some of the conversation for possible use on his website.

Removing the Democratic incumbent from the seat is likely to be a tough proposition. Registered Democrats outnumber their Republican counterparts two one in the district, which covers much of Greensboro. The seat’s current occupant, Don Vaughan, enjoys strong name recognition, having served on city council for 14 years. Incumbency, name recognition, networking skills and a pro-business governing philosophy translate into a $77,009 war chest for Vaughan, while Hyde has so far reported raising no money.

And yet Hyde sees reasons for optimism. Republicans and conservatives — entities that overlap most but not all of the time — are energized, angry and motivated this year, and many Democrats are feeling demoralized. The entry of the Tea Party movement onto the electoral scene has prompted some internecine warfare within the Republican Party, but Hyde predicts its message of limited government, strict constitutionalism and fiscal conservatism will resonate with voters in November.

Hyde has an organizational base within the movement thanks to his role as a founding member of Conservatives for Guilford County, which hosted the Tax Day Tea Party at Governmental Plaza in Greensboro on April 15. As Hyde explained from the stage that day, the group was born out of an informal weekly fellowship gathering at Lawndale Baptist Church. Described by Hyde as “a loose affiliation of like-minded people,” the organization assesses no dues and has no elected officers. But with responsibilities delegated to a handful of action teams, including people engaged in recruiting precinct organizers, researchers and events organizers, the group is mobilizing to connect conservative voters with simpatico candidates this fall.

“We had a meeting recently with about 60 people in the room,” Hyde says. “I said, ‘Raise your hand if you’re a Republican.’ All but one person raised their hand. I said, ‘Raise your hand if you’ve ever been to a Republican event.’ Five people raised their hands. These are people like me who have voted all along, but we’ve never been politicians and we’ve never been active. Two things are going to bring them to the polls in November: Anxiety for the future, and they’re more interested in the process. They’re aroused by the threat of socialism.”

Armed with volumes of reports and articles from the conservative John W. Pope Civitas Institute, Hyde reels off a series of statistics to support the notion that North Carolina has an economic climate that is unfavorable to business, assails the state political culture of the long-dominant Democratic Party and dismisses the conventional view of Vaughan as a moderate and friend of business.

“Once a very sound state and a leader in the Southeast, we’re now on the cusp of falling over the brink,” Hyde says. “Democrats have had control of the state Senate for 112 years and the House for all but a session in ’94. What has happened is that the progressive-liberal leadership of the Democratic Party here in North Carolina has run the show. Sen. Vaughan presents himself as a moderate — and he’s a very likable fellow in Guilford County — but he continues to vote along with that very progressive, very liberal Democratic leadership in the Senate.”

Local and state governments in general and Democrats in particular are in the habit of using a deceptive tactic, Hyde contends, to maintain current spending levels and avoid cutting taxes: Around budget time, they warn of the necessity of cutting popular programs such as education and roads with no intention of doing so but knowing it will whip up alarm. Meanwhile, the areas of truly wasteful spending go untouched. Asked to provide an example of wasteful state government spending, Hyde instead cites a Civitas study that found that if the lowest amount in each line item of the House and Senate budgets were incorporated into the final budget the state could save $300 million. Instead, he says, the final budget often includes the highest of the two numbers.

Hyde faults the federal stimulus program embraced by Democrats as an ineffective means of job creation, and says state Democrats don’t have a plan to put people to work. The solution, he contends, is to cut taxes and regulations. Reducing North Carolina’s personal income tax rate by 2 percent would return $1,000 to the average household in Guilford County, Hyde says. Considering Guilford’s population, Hyde says that would pump about $400 million into the county’s economy.

“What would people do with an extra thousand dollars?” Hyde asks. “They might redo the bathroom. They might eat out more. They’d probably pay off some bills. There would be an increase in pizza deliveries. What do they do? They have to hire people.”

Citing North Carolina’s unemployment rate — 10.8 percent in April — Hyde says, “That threatens the prosperity of everybody. The Democratic leadership, their strategy for tackling unemployment and jobs in North Carolina seems to be wait it out. What we know is that North Carolina has a business climate that is the worst in the Southeast…. You probably read an article in the Business Journal about North Carolina [ranking] the fifteenth worst in pro-business atmosphere of all the states in the United States; we’re the worst in the Southeast. That climate is because we have the highest personal income tax rate. We have the highest corporate income tax rate.”

Hyde suggests that high taxation rates are correlated with high unemployment rates, and posits that North Carolina is at a structural disadvantage compared to its neighbors in other parts of the Southeast.

“The number-one problem in North Carolina is unemployment and job creation,” he says. “Half a million people are unemployed in North Carolina. That number should be frightening. In Virginia, the unemployment rate is significantly lower; it’s about 7 percent. Virginia happens to house a lot of federal government employees.”

High levels of taxation and regulation are discouraging businesses from relocating to North Carolina and discouraging residents from starting new businesses, Hyde says.

“If you’re starting a new business, where would you locate?” he asks. “You would locate where you have the opportunity to make the most money. North Carolina is driving business away. All of our best and brightest, we may as well put them on a bus and drop them off in Tennessee because we’re telling them we don’t want them to set up shop in North Carolina.”

The difference between unemployment rates in North Carolina and Tennessee, which imposes no income tax, is actually less than 1 percentile, according to the most recent comparative data published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Likewise, unemployment in Florida, which also does not have an income tax, exceeds North Carolina’s rate. Three other Southern states — Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina — suffer higher unemployment rates than does North Carolina.

In addition to Virginia, seven other Southern states — ranging from Louisiana with a low rate of 6.7 percent to Kentucky with a high rate of 10.6 percent — fare better than North Carolina.

Hyde savages the strategy of using economic incentives to create jobs — a model embraced by many Democrats and some Republicans.

“Our current business strategy seems to be that we should bribe a glamorous company to come here so that we get that great press coverage and we look like rock stars,” he says. “To me, that’s unfair to the other companies that end up footing the bill. And generally it doesn’t work out because they leave once the bribe is paid out.”

On education, Hyde favors removing the cap on charter schools, offering tax credits to parents who home-school their children and making tuition to private schools a non-taxed benefit if companies are willing to pay it for their employees. Like Vaughan’s family, the Hydes send their children to a private school. Hyde faults the Democratic leadership in Raleigh for refusing to allow bills introducing educational competition to be considered.

“Republicans have filed a bill to raise the cap to 106,” Hyde says. “It never got out of committee. I imagine the motives are the [teachers union] wanting to control learning. And they want to control the dollars that are attached to each student. The dollars that leave the system for every student that is home-schooled or goes to a private school are dollars that they no longer control.”

Having volunteered with Lutheran Family Services to help a refugee family from Bosnia, Hyde says, “I’m a friend and a fan of the immigrant. And I understand their plight.”

Hyde notes that a recent Civitas poll indicates that a solid majority of North Carolinians favor recent legislation passed in Arizona allowing local law enforcement to arrest people for being in the state illegally. As long as unemployment remains high here, Hyde says he favors maintaining restrictions on the number of people who can legally emigrate to the United States. He stops short of expressing unqualified support for the Arizona law, but suggests it deserves consideration.

“I believe in a state being able to set its own destiny,” he says. “The great thing about federalism is every state can do its own thing. If the law in Arizona is effective in a positive way for Arizona, then certainly it’s something that North Carolina should look at.”

Hyde considers himself an everyman — “just like you,” as his campaign website describes him.

“The people who represent us live in a closed world where they only hear people who are around them and what they read in the newspaper,” he says. “People in Washington inside the beltway or who hang around the legislature in Raleigh think that’s the real world; it’s not. The real world is out at a community center or in the aisle of Food Lion.”

NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect a corrected estimate of the economic impact of a hypothetical tax decrease on Guilford County.

Early voting numbers favor Republicans in Guilford

Registered Democrats in Forsyth County who participated in early voting outnumbered their Republican counterparts about two to one, Election Director Rob Coffman says. That's in a county where registered Democrats make up 45.9 percent of the electorate, and Republicans 33.0 percent.

In Guilford County, the trend is running in the opposite direction, with Republicans showing stronger turnout. Of the approximately 5,110 people who participated in early voting, 39.3 percent were Republican. Republicans make up 29.1 percent of the electorate. The percentage of Democrats that participated in early voting is lower than the Democrats' overall share of the electorate.

High levels of interest among Republicans in Guilford County would seem to bode well for Republican candidates in state legislative races in the fall.

Likely Republican nominee Trudy Wade would ordinarily face an uphill battle in NC Senate District 28, whose electorate is 58.6 percent Democratic, but she might have a shot this year going up against either of the Democratic contenders, who lack the kind of widespread name recognition that comes with experience in elected office. If Democrat Bruce Davis garners enough signatures to get on the ballot as an independent, that will peel off a significant number of Democratic votes and potentially spoil it for the Democratic nominee. High turnout among Republicans only helps Wade more.

High turnout among Republicans could also help Republican Tea Party activist Jeff Hyde, who is running in NC Senate District 27, where Democratic registration runs at 52.6 percent. Hyde's challenge is that he is virtually unknown, while one-term incumbent Democrat Don Vaughan has built up a large reservoir of goodwill and name recognition through his decades of service on the Greensboro City Council and his law practice.

A Republican surge also makes races in NC House districts 57 and 59 worth watching. If Jon Hardister wins the Republican primary, he can be expected to run an energetic campaign with ample grassroots support in District 57, whose registration is 51.1 percent Democratic. Democratic incumbent Pricey Harrison is a formidable fundraiser and is at the top of her game policy wise, so she will be tough to beat.

The most vulnerable Democrat this year might turn out to be Maggie Jeffus, who faces a fiscal conservative ideologue in Republican opponent Theresa Yon. The Republican candidate is agitating against the federal healthcare bill. As a Republican Party fundraiser, she's in a position to call in a lot of favors. Also, she was recruited to run by Republican NC Rep. John Blust.

Across the state, Democrats and Republicans participated in early voting at rates that closely reflected their respective shares of the electorate, with neither interest in unseating Republican US Sen. Richard Burr on the left or Tea Party excitement on the right doing much to change the balance.

Scenes from the Guilford County Republican Party Convention

Jeff Phillips, a candidate for US House District 6, leaves a knot of supporters outside of the Guilford County Republican Party's temporary headquarters in Jamestown last Thursday.

Candidates for office, party officials and true believers who gathered at what was once a drug store in Jamestown last Thursday for the Guilford County Republican Party Convention bristled with righteous indignation and against President Obama’s plan to pass national healthcare reform.

More than a dozen Republican candidates from senatorial hopeful Larry Linney down to county commission contenders Samuel Spagnola and Myrene Stanley stood before the assembly making the case for limited government and reduced spending. The convention passed a resolution opposing the passage of the Democratic healthcare bill in Washington, and at the instigation of NC Rep. John Blust, the convention’s parliamentarian, added an amendment expressing that “we deplore the idea that the [US] House of Representatives can pass a healthcare bill without ever having of formal vote on it.”

Party Chairman Bill Wright chided some of first-time candidates for lacking a history of involvement in the party in the past.

“We’ve got quite a few people who have never run for office before,” he said. “I’m gonna get on you a little bit. There are a handful of people who volunteer a lot of time in the party, but a lot of you we’ve never seen before. Whether you win or not, we want to see you after the election.”

Dr. James Taylor, an anesthesiologist from Southern Pines running for the 6th Congressional District seat, captured the spirit of grassroots conservatism pervading the assembly with a reference to the pending healthcare bill.

“If these cowards in Washington, DC pass this legislation with reconciliation or deem it so, they don’t know the hornets nest they’re going to stir up,” he said. He later added, “You guys are at the front lines of the war we are about to fight. I believe that we are at the beginning of the second American revolution.”

Jeff Phillips of Greensboro, another candidate challenging incumbent Howard Coble for the 6th district seat, also spoke.

Wright read a letter from Coble, which reflected the eight-term congressman’s characteristic gentility: “As you know, five others have filed for the Republican primary, and I welcome them to the political arena. I reiterate that this seat does not belong to me, and I am pleased to place my record before the voters and have them decide if they wish to send me back for another two years.”

Many candidates, including Jeff Phillips of Greensboro, one of Coble’s challengers made it a point to mention how many years they have been married to their wives. (Coble is a bachelor.)

John Faircloth, one of four candidates in a crowded Republican primary vying to replace retiring NC Rep. Laura Wiley in NC House District 61, prompted laughter when he introduced himself by saying, “I win one contest tonight: I’ve been married 52 years.”

Three congressional districts converge in Guilford County, making the county GOP either a crossroads or a far-flung outpost in North Carolina’s conservative political arena. The other two congressional districts, 12 and 13, are held by Democrats based respectively in Charlotte and Raleigh. Between the two, the 13th Congressional District stretching from Raleigh to Greensboro and currently represented by Brad Miller, is considered the one where a Republican candidate holds the best prospects.

Two of the four candidates in the 13th district Republican primary, all of whom are based in the Triangle area around Raleigh, addressed the Guilford County Republicans.

Dan Huffman, a 47-year-old communications consultant from Wake Forest, sounded a theme developed by Sarah Palin last summer.

“We can’t have an Obamacare, which we’re talking about today, which has death panels to decide whether my 91-year-old grandfather, who lives in Hickory, will get some sort of procedure or not.”

Frank Hurley, a 69-year-old former Reagan appointee to NASA from Chapel Hill, accused the Democratic incumbent of drawing the district for himself, and said the Republicans will need a galvanizing wedge issue to claim it.

“We’re going to have to find at least one issue, which is a real grabber, which will rouse the Jessecrats to rise up and for once to vote for a Republican and retire this guy from public life and get a real job for the first time in his life. I think that issue is the amnesty that the Democrats are getting read to grant for about 12 million illegal immigrants. That would be an enormous mistake with a tremendous cost in jobs, a tremendous cost in medical services, a tremendous cost in law enforcement resources and a tremendous cost for our national culture.”

Hurley referred to the conservative Democrats who crossed party lines to vote for Sen. Jesse Helms from 1972 through 1996.

“And I think what we have to do is insist that our children not only don’t have to press one for English, but don’t get in a situation where they have to press two for English,” Hurley said. “So this is the issue I really think we ought to pound home against brad Miller. I’m willing to do that. I’m going to take punishment for that. It’s going to be controversial. I’ve got to be confrontational if I get the nomination. I’m the Republican conservative with the attitude in this primary.”

Only one of US Sen. Richard Burr’s three primary challengers showed up (Burr sent a surrogate). The sole senatorial candidate, a black former NC House representative from Buncombe County named Larry Linney won applause lines when he said, “I come to you and I come a little late, but I come here as an American, not a hyphenated American.”

The Asheville Citizen-Times reports that Linney served a prison sentence in the 1990s for felony embezzlement and has been trying to get his conviction overturned. Linney now lives in Charlotte.

During his remark the has-been and would-be office holder tapped into a theme that is mobilizing the Republican Party this year.

“Most importantly, I come to you as an outraged citizen of this country,” he said. “We need to put a stop to Obamacare, and this whole socialist agenda.”

Some challengers charged that Republican incumbents have gotten to comfortable in office and have betrayed conservative principles. Samuel Spagnola, a blogger with an unflinching sense of conviction, is one of two candidates challenging incumbent Linda Shaw for the District 3 seat in on the Guilford County Commission. Shaw was unable to attend the convention because a county commission meeting was scheduled for the same night. The district covers Summerfield, Oak Ridge, Stokesdale and northwest Greensboro.

“I wish I could take my finger and say, ‘It’s the Democrats’ fault.’ But it’s not. We elect people — so-called conservatives in our own party — who’ve taken part in running up that debt just like everyone else, and now it’s time to pay the piper. I will not be that person. A lot of you might know me. I’m very active in the blogosphere. I have comments all over the place. And some people have said, ‘That’s a bad thing; you should never do that.’ I’ve never written anything I will not defend in front of anybody. And the fact of the matter is I will tangle with these people, I will scrap with these people until I’m the last person standing if that’s what it takes. But it’s time to bring responsibility back to local government as well and bring us back to the kind of Reaganism and conservatism that made me join this party when I was 18. Votespag — two four letters put together — votespag.com, if you want to help me in my effort.”


Larry Linney, candidate for US Senate

Jeff Phillips, candidate for US House District 6

“Many people have asked me: ‘Jeff, why’re you running for Congress?’ I can sum up the answer as to why with four simple words: The time is now. We cannot wait another two years, four years, six years or more to come to the same conclusion that we’re in exactly the same place as we were in 2010, if not worse off than before. Like most of you, I’m deeply concerned and disappointed, feeling uncertain about our future, even angry about the current state of affairs in Washington. If you’ll give me the opportunity on May the 4th, I want to be the bold new voice in Washington on your behalf. I will shout your concerns from the rooftops."


James Taylor (right), a candidate for US House District 6, visits with Guilford County Republican activist Don Wendelken.


Scott Cumbie, US House District 12 candidate

"I also had some people who have been in the Republican Party for some time, that have been involved in politics that approached me and said, ‘You can’t win that district.’ And the reason they said that is because the district is 67 percent Democrat. It’s also 45 percent African American. And my concern with that statement is, if we as a Republican Party have a message, we have a message for all the people, not just the Republican Party. And as a candidate of the 12th district I want to reach out to all the people of the district, not just the Republicans and not just the independents. My goal over the next nine months is to not only meet with the standard Republicans and independents and even Tea Party people who we’re all in agreement with, but to really reach into the African-American community. And let me tell you a little fact that you might not know about. March 27th is a very important date for North Carolina. Does anyone know what that date is? March 27th of 1867 is when the Republican Party was founded here in North Carolina. That’s a week from Saturday. In that founding there were 147 people that met together in the state House to form the Republican Party. Forty-six of that 147 people were African Americans. And we need to invite them back into this party. Because this is the party of freedom, this is the party of family, this is the party of prosperity.”


Dan Huffman, US House District 13 candidate


Jeff Hyde, NC Senate District 27 candidate

“So why is our prosperity affected so much in North Carolina? Why is our rate so high when our neighbor in Virginia is less than half our employment rate? Well, it’s because our climate for creating jobs is not competitive with the Southern states that surround us. Of those southeastern states, North Carolina has the highest individual income tax rate, the highest corporate tax rate. And, other than Tennessee, it has the highest state sales tax. And, by the way, Tennessee doesn’t have a tax on income. North Carolina has the highest gasoline tax. And our energy cost is the highest in the southeast. These conditions exist in North Carolina now, and as long as they exist we will continue to see double-digit unemployment in North Carolina."


Jeffrey Brommer, NC Senate District 28 candidate


“The reason I’m running is someone needs to look out for the small business man. I’ve been in business since 1993, and someone needs to step up and look out for the little guy out there. I think I’m the guy to do it. The state has a lot of problems with taxes, with spending. You’ve heard the talking points tonight, and we need to do something about it.”


Trudy Wade, NC Senate District 28 candidate

"I want to create jobs, jobs and more jobs. So you say, ‘How do we create jobs?’ Well I’ve been a small business owner a long time. I’m gonna tell you this: I’ve never had to pay 48 percent in taxes in my entire life. It keeps going up. Where is the incentive for me to work harder? It’s not there. I just pay more in taxes. So what do I think we need to do? I think, one, we better decrease the taxes on small business so we can put everybody back to work. I don’t think most of the people in Raleigh know anything about running a business. But believe me, I do. You know, when you run a business and people say, ‘Oh great, she’s making a lot of money,’ who’s the last person to get paid in your small business? You are. So, who is it killing? You. I want to cut those taxes on businesses. Put people back to work so they can spend money and we can all flourish and do better."


Darin Thomas, NC House District 58 candidate

"Darin Thomas is a very honest and fair person. People have asked me a lot about why I’m running. I’m here tonight and I’m announcing my campaign mainly because I’m worried. I’m worried about our communities. I’m worried about our families. I’m worried about our county, our state and our country. And many candidates who are here tonight are worried about those very things. I’m here tonight because of our friends and our neighbors. They seem to have given up. They’re not paying any more attention. It’s almost as though they’re getting ready to throw in the towel. I’m here for my community. I’m here for my family. I’m here for your families. I’m also here for our small businesses. I’m here for our employed and I’m here for our unemployed. I’m here for our teachers, and I’m here for our public servants. You know, the actions of the Democratic majorities in Raleigh and Washington have proven to me that something is seriously broken. That is exactly why I’m running for the North Carolina House."


John Blust, NC House District 62 candidate

“You know, people mention service. The very first day I could, the morning after I turned 18, my friend dropped me off at the old Post Office where the Army recruiting was, and I took an oath, and I joined the United States Army. And I served for two years immediately post Vietnam — Vietnam was still going on — when it wasn’t popular to be in the military. You talk about a desire to serve, that’s where you can really show it. And I went to UNC for undegrad and accounting. I went to law school — and people knock lawyers, but I’m one person who believes in justice. And I’m very passionate about it. And I know many lawyers do things that aren’t popular and aren’t very conducive to justice, but there are some that are in it for the right reason. I then went back into the Army as an officer because I had taken ROTC at NC State, believe it or not. And I served in the demilitarized zone in Korea. Jack Nicholson told who in A Few Good Men — Tom Cruise — “If you believe that, why don’t you man a post?” Well, I’ve manned the post. It was cold, and it was lonely.”


Myrene Stanley, Guilford County Commission District 2 candidate

“My name is Myrene Stanley, and I’m your conservative choice for Guilford County commissioner in District 2. I’m a wife, a mother, Christian and a veteran of the United States military, so I know how to serve. I support fiscal responsibility, your property rights and keeping taxes low for residents and businesses alike. Help make Guilford County a more affordable and desirable place to live and create jobs.”


Samuel Spagnola, Guilford County Commission District 3 candidate

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