Name as it appears on the ballot: James Powers
Age: 73
Party affiliation: Republican
Campaign website: JamesPowers4NC.com
Occupation & employer: Self Employed, Business Owner, Landscape Contractor, Consultant. Retired from Exxon Refinery and Chemical company.
Years lived in North Carolina: 36 years
1. What in your background qualifies you to represent the people of your North Carolina district effectively? What would you cite as your three biggest career accomplishments?
As an employee at Exxon my job included handling problem situations and solving problems. As I moved up my career ended as 2nd in charge of the chemical plant of 3600 employees. I took an early retirement and started my own business and have had a successful career as a Landscape Contractor for 44 years. Landscaping the king’s palace in Saudi Arabia. Developing one of the most used Bio retention ponds used in the Landscape industry. Operating a successful business of 60 employees, meeting payroll and securing enough business to sustain such an operation. And raising 6 successful children.
2. What do you believe to be the three most pressing issues facing the next General Assembly? What steps do you believe the state should take to address them?
- Wasteful spending
- Protecting our constitutional freedoms.
- Serving all the people of North Carolina. And Education of our children.
A Our wasteful spending has to be addressed as well as our education system we have slipped to a all time low in the education of our children, teachers need to be evaluated for there ability to teach our educational curriculum and not addressing there own personal opinions, our children have parents to deal with these things being asserted by some teachers.
Our state Medicare system needs to be updated and overhaul to meet the needs of all the NC residents that need it.
3. To what extent do you support municipalities exerting local control over issues such as regulating greenhouse gas emissions, criminal justice reforms and police oversight, and passing development-regulating ordinances?
Our judicial system is a joke, crime is out of control, due to defunding our police systems.
Our planet is in need of people being responsible for protecting not the government’s problem, a people problem.
4. Do you support raising North Carolina’s minimum wage, and if so by how much? If not, what other initiatives would you take to support low-income families in North Carolina?
Our economy is in shambles due to the current administration as soon as we can change that and we get back on our feet we can look at minimum wages.
5. With rent, property taxes, and home sale prices all rising, what, if anything, should the state legislature do to address this growing affordability crisis?
This current situation has been caused by the current administration, miss management by our county commissioner and mismanagement of our taxes to to support the current agenda. The state has no business subsidizing the housing market, it’s based on supply and demand.
6. Do you believe that the state government has an obligation to prevent the impacts of climate change? If so, please state three specific policies you support to address climate change.
The people have the responsibility to protect what we have it’s the people that need to step up not the government.
7. Would you support an independent process for drawing new legislative and congressional districts?
Yes
8. Does the General Assembly have a constitutional obligation to comply with the state Supreme Court order in the Leandro case to fully fund public schools and give every child in North Carolina a sound basic education?
I think this case is still being litigated it’s a difficult case with lots of moving parts. General Assembly has an obligation to insure a well rounded education for our children.
9. When it comes to teacher pay, North Carolina is one of the lowest-paying states in the nation. Schools across the state are facing shortages of educators, support staff, and other key personnel. Do you support raising teacher pay to at least the national average? What else can the General Assembly do to improve working conditions for teachers and make the teaching profession more attractive to potential future educators?
Get rid of critical race theory, and the teachers that support it. Evaluation of teachers ability to teach the state set curriculum then we should look at teachers pay, this lack of teachers has been caused by Covid and the Critical Race Theory being pushed down their throats.
10. The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling this spring that overturned Roe v. Wade. The legal cutoff for abortion in North Carolina is now 20 weeks. Do you believe the 20-week cutoff is too restrictive, not restrictive enough, or just right? As a state lawmaker, would you support legislation that further limits or prohibits abortion in North Carolina, or punishes/criminalizes abortion providers or patients?
20 weeks is adequate.
I am not for abortion as a means of birth control, there are cases where abortion is necessary based on the Doctor and the patient coming to a decision based on medical evidence that could cause death to the woman or that the fetus could not live a normal life or has no chance of surviving on its own later in life again the woman and doctor making the decision not any law. And of course incest or rape if the woman chooses not to carry the fetus.
11. Should North Carolina expand Medicaid? Where do you stand on increasing the number of slots for the Innovations Waiver for special needs individuals?
Yes it should be expanded but we need a better system of checks and balances for recipients.
12. Do you support reforming North Carolina’s marijuana laws? Do you support full legalization? Please explain your position.
I would support medical marijuana exceptions for our military ptsd and proven medical needs by a team of Doctors not issued by just one doctor to make that decision. There’s too much corruption in this of medicine.
13. Do you support strengthening gun safety regulations such as expanding background checks, banning bump stocks, and raising the age to buy or otherwise regulating the sales of assault-style weapons? Please explain.
Our second amendment has set the standard of American people. I would be in favor of mandatory gun safety and compulsory classes for someone wanting to purchase a firearm.
14. Are there any issues this questionnaire has not addressed that you would like to address?
Protection for our seniors citizens, bring back the death penalty. Holding judges and DA’s responsible and charging them for criminals that have been released and committing crimes again by not being incarcerated.
Building up our police force not destroying it.
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