Last week, we published our endorsements for more than sixty races across the Triangle. Not everyone was pleased.
Molly Renda is unhappy with our endorsement of U.S. Representative David Price: “Reading your endorsement of Price as having no viable ‘fresh blood’ contender makes this reader’s blood boil. At best a backhanded compliment, the INDY overlooks his indefatigable years of service, including during these current chaotic times. This also could have been an opportunity to inform the many newcomers to North Carolina not only about Price’s contributions, but also—especially for non-Southerners—what “progressive” means in the context of North Carolina politics. He deserves more respect than your two column inches offered. Price has my vote, and he can retire whenever he pleases.”
John Curtis Smith, meanwhile, has a different but no less pointed take on our Price endorsement—and our endorsements for Democrats generally: “So we should vote for David Price, who voted to repeal the Glass-Steagall Act, which caused the recession that led to ten thousand suicides and ruined millions of lives across the globe, mainly targeting the same poor people Democrats pretend to care about?
“We should vote for people like GK Butterfield, who voted for HR 1625, which increased the budget for ICE so Trump can continue to keep kids in cages? Or the same GK Butterfield who voted against getting U.S. forces out of Libya in 2011 and supported the U.S. policy of destabilizing a country that now has slavery because of people like him?
“We should vote for people who agree with Trump that Iran and Syria are bigger threats to poor people in Raleigh than gentrification and urbanization? We should vote for a Democrat Party that takes cash from Bank of America, which is the fifth-largest investor in Lockheed Martin, a firm selling weapons to Saudi Arabia so they can kill kids in Yemen? We should vote for people who take support from Duke Energy, which put coal ash in our rivers and faced no criminal action for it? We should really vote for these people? Whose side are they on?”
Shannon Joseph says we erred in not backing Wake County Clerk of Superior Court Jennifer Knox—who, as our endorsement noted, is Jesse Helms’s granddaughter.
“Political party affiliation has nothing to do with the qualifications for an effective Wake County Clerk of Court, and should play no role in your endorsement for that office,” Joseph writes. “Contrary to the impression conveyed by your article, the clerk’s office has thrived under Knox’s leadership. She worked to add staff to the estates division and instituted an appointment system, so now people who are involved in the thousands of estates opened in Wake County each year do not wait for hours just to speak with a deputy clerk. She personally interviews everyone hired to join the clerk’s very large staff and has worked to ensure that there are bilingual employees in every division of the clerk’s office. She expanded the office’s internship program to include N.C. State and Wake Tech, and that program has led to post-graduation employment for participating interns.
“Despite the outdated technology provided to her office, Knox has elevated the performance and level of service by the clerk’s office. For example, under her leadership, Wake County piloted programs to make it easier for citizens to pay court fines and fees online, and became only the second county in the state to allow victims of domestic violence to file for protective orders against their abusers electronically.
“I am a practicing attorney in Wake County. I have regularly worked in the Wake County Courthouse, not only as a lawyer but also during my service as a special superior court judge after appointment to that position by a Democratic governor. I am very familiar with the important role that the clerk’s office plays in ensuring that our justice system serves the needs of the people. I respectfully request that you withdraw the Indy’s endorsement for this office.”
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