How do we in North Carolina take our state back?
The good news is that progressives are motivated in 2014, we are running good candidates and everyone hates the Republicans in the legislature.
I think we start with the NC Senate. Democrats need to win 9 seats to take back control.
Follow me below to see which nine NC Senate seats we can win in November (and consider contributing to their effort).
Senate District 1 (Beaufort, Hyde, Dare, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Gates, Camden, and Currituck) This district is represented by republican Bill Cook, who won by just 21 votes in. It is a fairly evenly split district locally and we have a rematch. Stan White, who lost by those 21 votes, is running again to get his seat back.
"People’s natural affinity to be near water has helped bring tremendous economic growth and opportunity to our district. Our farming, fishing, tourism and marine industries will not be able to thrive without protecting the water quality of our rivers, ocean and sounds. By safeguarding our natural resources we will enhance our quality of life and continue making our region a place where people will want to live and visit and businesses will want to grow and invest."
"I will fight to reverse this reckless legislation and pledge to defend and safeguard our public education system. After all, protecting public education will help secure the economic future of our children by giving them the skills they need to compete in this global economy."
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Senate District 9 (New Hanover (part)) This district includes about 99% of New Hanover County without some Wilmington area precincts. It is represented by Thom Goolsby who is retiring following apparent involvement in an investment scandal.
The day after Thom Goolsby announced he wouldn’t run for re-election Democrat Elizabeth Redenbaugh declared her intention to seek that seat and represent New Hanover County in Raleigh.
Elizabeth Redenbaugh is a local Democratic activist, dedicated community volunteer, champion for public education, committed church-goer, wife, mother and true North Carolinian.
Elizabeth knows that a General Assembly that does not respect clean air, water and land does not value its citizens.
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Senate district 12 (Lee, Harnett, Johnston(part)) This is a fairly conservative district but the representative there has not distinguished themselves from an unpopular general assembly and as such it has become competitive.
The Democrat in the race is Joe Langley.
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Senate district 15 (Wake county (part)) This district contains the North-northwestern part of Wake County represented by Republican Neal Hunt. He is well known and easily won reelection in 2012. However, he has been damaged by the 2013 legislative session and is likely vulnerable.
Running against him is Tom Bradshaw, a famous North Carolinian.
Tom Bradshaw has been a leader and a builder for more than 50 years. He was Raleigh’s youngest Mayor, and Governor Jim Hunt’s first Secretary of Transportation. Governor Hunt credits Tom as the man responsible for getting I-40 built from Raleigh to Wilmington. The Tom Bradshaw Freeway is the southern part of the Raleigh Beltline.
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Senate district 17 (Wake county (part)) This district contains the Southwestern portion of wake county and is represented by Tamara Barringer, a new state senator who is not well known and underwater in the polls due to the unpopularity of the general assembly.
Running for the Democratic party is Bryan Fulghum.
"People should be free to act and think as they choose, provided they do not infringe on the freedom and safety of others. Legislation should have minimal say in how an individual choose to live their life, nor should legislation attempt to impede the rights and liberties of the people. Examples of these rights include, but are not limited to, freedom of religion, free expression, the right to bear arms, the right to privacy, the rights two individuals have to marry, and the freedom of association."
"Hydraulic fracturing is a process for extracting natural gas from shale deposits underground. The process involves forcing large quantities of pressurized water and chemicals into these shale deposits to open fissures that enable the trapped gas to be drawn. The risk of contamination to the water supply of millions with toxic, flammable or even radioactive chemicals is not worth any increase to our industry. I aim to block fracking from this state."
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Senate district 18 (Franklin county, Wake county (part)) This district contains the Eastern boundary of Wake county and is represented by Chad Barefoot. While Barefoot is unknown and unpopular, the GOP has shown a willingness in this race to put an extremely large amount of money in as they did in 2012 to defeat Doug Berger.
Running for the Democrats is Sarah Crawford.
"This year, North Carolina became one of the states to deny fully funded Medicaid expansion, which would provide many North Carolinians much needed healthcare. In her full time non-profit career at Tammy Lynn Center for Developmental Disabilities, Sarah sees firsthand the benefit that Medicaid provides to families who are caring for loved ones with disabilities. Denying fully funded Medicaid expansion leaves nearly 500,000 individuals and working families in North Carolina uninsured. In addition to leaving low-income individuals uninsured, denying Medicaid expansion will send our hard-earned tax dollars to other states and place additional burdens on hospitals and employers."
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Senate District 19 (Cumberland county (part)) This district contains most of Cumberland county minus parts of Fayetteville. Obama won here and incumbent Wesley Meredith is basically unknown. This is probably the best pickup opportunity
Billy Richardson, a Fayetteville lawyer and former two-term member of the N.C. House, will challenge two-term state Sen. Wesley Meredith.
"I don't believe we can continue to backslide in education," he said. "It's very evident that the leadership, and Sen. Meredith especially, don't want to invest in the future."
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Senate District 50 (Cherokee County, Graham County, Clay County, Macon County, Haywood County, Jackson County, Swain County). This is a conservative district but one where Republicans are deeply unpopular including the incumbent republican. It was formerly held by Democrat John Snow.
Jane Hipps a school psychologist, a teacher, a program developer, and a National Math and Science Consultant is running on education.
"While I look back at my time in the classroom with pride, the recent moves of our North Carolina Legislature leave nothing to be proud of."
State allotment for textbooks has been cut by better than 75%. Because our schools haven’t had funds to purchase textbooks in several years, in a number of classes there aren’t enough books to go around. And, where there are enough books, they are 10 years old and outdated for meeting the new Common Core of Study. To bridge this gap, teachers are having to photo-copy textbook pages or printing appropriate work off the internet. But, State budget reductions have cut funds for instructional supplies — like copy paper — by more than 50%.
North Carolina has dropped to 46th in teacher pay; and now, only the top 25% of teachers will receive a meager raise of $500. With such an increase being based on competition among the faculty, the environment of sharing ideas among pears is out especially if they have a chance to be in the top 25% and increase their income.
These losses to public education would be understandable if they were due to an economic downturn; but, this past year our General Assembly chose to subsidize private school vouchers with fifty (50) million dollars over the next two years. Four hundred thousand dollars of these were assigned to private school administrative costs.
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I would love to hear from fellow North Carolinians who live in these districts what there perspectives are, so please chime in.