As we write this, we don't know the results of Super Tuesday's primaries. But we do know that, regardless of what's happening at the top of the ticket, the March 15 elections are vital for North Carolina's future: they'll help determine not only who claims the governor's office and the Council of State, but also whether the Democrats will chip away at the Republican supermajority in the state House. There are also local elections, including for the county commissions in Wake, Durham, Chatham, and Orange. And there's a major bond referendum.
Your participation is imperative.
A few things to note before we begin: we are not yet endorsing in the races for U.S. Congress, which have been postponed until June. Additionally, we did not dive into judicial races. And we are not endorsing in the Democratic primary for labor commissioner; one of the candidates, former Raleigh mayor Charles Meeker, is the brother of INDY co-owner Richard Meeker. You can, however, find both candidates' responses to our questionnaire on our website—and the same goes for many of the candidates discussed below.
You'll likely disagree with some—or most, or all—of our choices, and that's fine. That's democracy. Our goal is to help you make your own informed decisions. Remember, democracy only works if you vote.
Endorsements
Hillary Clinton Is Democrats’ Best Bet to Keep the White HouseShe’s imperfect but resilient Donald Trump Is Exactly the Candidate the GOP Deserves
God help us all
Democrat Deborah Ross for U.S. Senate
She's got the experience and the chops to do the job
Republican Richard Burr for U.S. Senate
The incumbent bests his far-right rival
Roy Cooper Deserves the Nod for Governor
The longtime attorney general will make a strong challenger
C. Robert Brawley Is Bad. Governor McCrory is Worse.
Even in the GOP primary, the gov’s gotta go
Democrat Holly Jones for Lieutenant Governor
The Buncombe County commissioner is the Democrats’ best bet against Dan Forest
Democrat Josh Stein for Attorney General
Cooper leaves big shoes to fill. Stein can fill them.
Republican Jim O’Neill for Attorney General
He’s got experience, and the other guy’s a hack
Republican Steve Troxler for Agriculture Commissioner
His opponents’ big issue is guns at the fair. No thanks
Republican Joe McLaughlin for Insurance Commissioner
At least he wasn’t arrested for insurance fraud
Republican A.J. Daoud for Secretary of State
He finished dead last in 2012, but he’s bolstered his GOP cred
Democrat June Atkinson Has Stood Strong for Education
The DPI superintendent deserves another term
Republican Mark Johnson for DPI Superintendent
Even at age 32, he’s better prepared than the other guys
Dan Blue III for Treasurer
Ron Elmer is a strong choice, but Blue is poised to excel
Democrat Rosa Gill for N.C. House District 33
The incumbent is a better choice than her opponents
Republican Nelson Dollar for N.C. House District 36
The budget hawk from Cary isn’t conservative enough to avoid a primary, but he’s good enough for us
Democrat Jennifer Marie Ferrell for N.C. House District 36
She doesn’t have a deep resume, but she does have good ideas
Democrat Jay Chaudhuri for N.C. Senate District 16
He’s best positioned to represent his district
Democrat Karen Howard for Chatham County Commission
In District 1, the incumbent is best equipped to handle the issues facing the county
Mike Dasher for the Chatham County Commission
In District 2, the challenger is the more reliable candidate
Carter, Fikes, Hill, Jacobs, and Reckhow for the Durham County Commission
We back two incumbents and three newcomers
Sharon Davis for Register of Deeds
The office is running just fine
Steven Unruhe for Durham County School Board
He has a deep understanding of the issues DPS is facing
Mark Marcoplos for Orange County Commission
In the at-large seat, we back the green builder and living-wage advocate
Mark Dorosin and Penny Rich for Orange County Commission
In District 1, Jamezetta Bedford gets an honorable mention, but the incumbents deserve re-election
Renee Price for Orange County Commission
In District 2, Price has earned re-election
Halkiotis, McKnight, and Roberts for Orange County Schools
The board—and students—will benefit from their presence
Michael H. Hood for Orange County Schools
A navy vet and retired computer professional, Hood is a better choice than his opponent
Democrat Vicki Scroggins-Johnson for Wake County Commission
When in office, Lindy Brown didn’t boast the strongest voting record
Republican John Adcock for Wake County Commission
Someone needs to keep Phil Matthews out of office
[page]
President, Democrat: Hillary Clinton
To give you a sense of how divided we are: of the five people who comprise our editorial board, two are supporting Hillary Clinton, two are enthusiastically supporting Bernie Sanders, and the last is "probably" voting for Sanders but thinks the INDY should endorse Clinton anyway.
Which is not unlike how this primary campaign is playing out writ large. (Also, the editor in chief, who is on Team Hillary, put some weight on the scale—not unlike a superdelegate.)
The case for Bernie is straightforward: he's a progressive and has always been so. No muddle (with the possible exception of guns). No triangulation. A steadfast commitment to single-payer health care and free college and wealth redistribution and social justice. Sure, he's often a one-trick pony—"millionaires and billionaires," etc.—but that trick is important. Economic inequality is a defining issue of our time.
The case for Hillary is more complicated. She's not unsullied. She and President Clinton compromised and capitulated, sometimes in ugly ways, on things like welfare reform and and the Defense of Marriage Act and the Iraq invasion, all of which are rightfully anathema to today's progressives.
But those critiques often gloss over the many achievements of the Clinton administration—notably, the longest period of economic growth since the Depression—or Hillary's role in pushing her husband's White House leftward in an era that was hostile to lefties. They ignore her longtime advocacy for women's rights and universal health care. They overlook her tenure in the Senate, where she worked across the aisle and mastered "even the most obscure details of New York's problems," as The New York Times opined in 2006. And they brush past her mostly impressive tenure as secretary of state, including her push for the sanctions that led to the Iran nuclear deal. (Libya, where Clinton pushed for an intervention that did not go especially well, is probably the biggest blemish.)
What's more, Clinton has an unrivaled grasp on the nitty-gritty of policy, especially foreign policy. Put simply, she's studied harder for this test than any candidate on either side of the aisle. Just as important: Clinton's resilient. She's endured endless personal criticisms and half-cocked investigations and contrived pseudoscandals—remember the time Republicans "investigated" whether she murdered Vincent Foster?—and lived to tell the tale.
She's admittedly an imperfect candidate. She's not particularly charismatic. Her use of a private email server at the state department was dumb. And she should really release her Goldman Sachs transcripts already.
But beyond those demerits, the thing that stands out about Hillary Clinton is that she's a grinder, a scrapper—a pragmatist who looks to nudge the ball forward and lock in progressive gains. And that's what this election is about: protecting the Affordable Care Act, protecting existing social programs, and filling vacancies on the Supreme Court.
In our view, Clinton is best positioned to both win the White House and, once there, move the needle ever-so-slightly in the right direction.
And, yeah, while we think the world of Bernie, it's about time we had a woman in charge.
[page]President, Republican: Donald J. Trump
Donald J. Trump is not the most qualified Republican candidate for president (that would be John Kasich). Nor is he the most electable (Marco Rubio), the most ideologically pure (Ted Cruz), or the sanest bet to have his finger on the nuclear trigger (Kasich). He's not even the most loathsome (Cruz again).
But he is the candidate the GOP deserves. And if the rest of us elect him in November, well, he'll be the president we deserve, too.
Over the last year, Trump—a racist, misogynistic, conspiracy-loving fabulist who spent years flogging the tinfoil-hat "where's the birth certificate?" nonsense—has fashioned himself into a manifestation of the aggrieved-white-conservative id. He's played overtly to bigotry and atavistic fear of The Other, whether that other is African-American, a Mexican immigrant, or a Muslim refugee. He is a clown leading a circus of belligerence and authoritarianism.
And that makes Trump a perfect match for the modern Republican Party.
For almost a decade now, the GOP has stoked this fire of anger and racially tinged resentment in an effort to win votes. Think Sarah Palin accusing Barack Obama of "pallin' around with terrorists" or a U.S. congressman shouting "you lie!" during a State of the Union address. Think Trump's birther movement or Obamacare "death panels" or the Benghazi conspiracy theories or the rise of the tea party, all abetted by Republican elites. Most of all, think about shameless obstructionism and the campaigns to delegitimize the president as Muslim or somehow not fully American.
Lee Atwater would have been proud.
This strategy worked. Republicans took back the House in 2010 and the Senate in 2014 and have claimed a large majority of governorships and state legislatures.
But it also paved the way for Trump, a Frankenstein's monster of Republicans' own creation. Even though party leaders fear (probably rightly) that he'll be eviscerated in November—and even though they know he shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the Oval Office—they can't seem to do anything to stop him.
In the words of Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, his party has gone "batshit crazy."
Put another way: they've sown the wind. Now it's time to reap the whirlwind.
[page]U.S. Senate, Democrat: Deborah Ross
Of the four candidates seeking to challenge Senator Richard Burr in November, one stands above the rest. For almost two decades, Deborah Ross has been a force in state politics, first as the director of the state ACLU, then as a legislator, and most recently as the in-house counsel for GoTriangle. Ross is smart and experienced. She wants to bolster the Affordable Care Act, in part by creating incentives for North Carolina and other recalcitrant states to expand Medicaid. She favors a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and wants to ensure that women receive equal pay.
Ross's three opponents—Spring Lake Mayor Chris Rey, Durham businessman Kevin Griffin, and perennial office seeker Ernest T. Reeves—agree with her more than they don't. (Though Griffin seems more open to the regressive FairTax or a flat tax than a professed admirer of Senator Elizabeth Warren should be.) Rey, in particular, could well have a bright future ahead of him. He's young and ambitious and is developing a record of success in Spring Lake.
But Ross strikes us as being much more prepared—both to face Burr in November and to make a difference in Washington. She's earned our enthusiastic endorsement.
[page]U.S. Senate, Republican: Richard Burr
In his two terms in office, Burr has been a boilerplate Senate Republican. He has a 90 percent lifetime rating with the American Conservative Union, thanks to, for example, votes to cut taxes and spending and in opposition to raising the minimum wage and extending unemployment benefits. He's pro-life, pro-gun, anti–same-sex marriage, anti-Obamacare, pro–Keystone Pipeline, and against the regulation of carbon emissions. And he doesn't think President Obama should appoint a replacement for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, no matter what the Constitution says.
But that's not right-wing enough for Greg Brannon, a Cary OB-GYN who is the most prominent of Burr's three challengers. He wants to defund the Department of Education and ban all abortions. Brannon entered the race accusing Burr of "repeatedly refusing to take on President Obama and the Democrats in Washington."
In other words, Brannon's saying we need more obstruction and rancor in Washington. Burr is the better choice.
[page]Governor, Democrat: Roy Cooper
For the last sixteen years, Roy Cooper has ably served as North Carolina's attorney general. For the past four years, he's also offered a stark contrast to the Republicans on Jones Street. He declined to defend the state's gay-marriage ban or join a lawsuit challenging Obamacare, and backed the EPA's plan to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions over the McCrory administration's objections. (His office is defending the state's noxious voter-ID law, though Cooper has spoken out against it.)
If elected governor, Cooper pledges to make North Carolina's economy work for everybody, not just those at the top. To do that, he says, he'll focus on improving public education and reversing tax policies that have shifted the burden to the middle class. He also promises to expand Medicaid, keep the legislature from interfering in local governments' decisions, and welcome well-vetted refugees to North Carolina—a change of tone from November, when he proposed a "pause" in refugee admissions.
His primary opponent, Durham attorney and former state representative Ken Spaulding, has some worthwhile ideas. But, in our view, Spaulding has failed to demonstrate why, given Cooper's extensive record, he would be the superior candidate.
[page]Governor, Republican: C. Robert Brawley
Governor Pat McCrory has done nothing to earn our support. His administration's obsequiousness to his former employer, Duke Energy, and his refusal to expand Medicaid are both galling. His team's refusal to turn over public records—which prompted an ongoing lawsuit from several media outfits, including us—has put the lie to any claim of transparency and accountability. And on the rare occasion when he stands up to the overreaches of the Republican legislature—vetoing the antigay Senate Bill 2, for example—he is promptly overridden, a demonstration of his fecklessness. And that's not even getting into his intervention into a prison contract at the behest of a political benefactor.
Moreover, he has little to show for his first term. After years of cutting taxes for the wealthy, the state's unemployment rate sits well above the national average, and teacher pay is still at the bottom of national rankings. North Carolina deserves new leadership.
Republicans have a marginally better option in C. Robert Brawley, who, over the course of his twenty years in the legislature—his most recent stint ended when he narrowly lost a primary challenge in 2014—made a name for himself as an independent voice. During his last term in then legislature, he grew openly critical of then-Speaker Thom Tillis and was ejected from party meetings.
That's not to say that Brawley is in any way a progressive. He opposes Medicaid expansion and regurgitates the myth of widespread voter fraud. He opposes same-sex marriage and gun regulations. He's also been roundly criticized for trying to roll back ethics reforms.
So Brawley's not ideal. But you can't do much worse than McCrory.
[page]Lieutenant Governor, Democrat: Holly Jones
There's a debate to be had over whether the state even needs a lieutenant governor, but we'll leave that for another day. Right now we have a contested primary to challenge the incumbent, Dan Forest, a social-conservative extremist.
Linda Coleman would like a rematch. Four years ago, she lost this race by fewer than seven thousand votes. She previously served four years on the Wake County commission and was elected thrice to the state House before she was appointed director of the Office of State Personnel in 2009. She says she wants to reverse recent cuts to education, expand Medicaid, and be a "liaison between education and economic development."
But Coleman faces an unexpectedly strong challenge from Holly Jones, a Buncombe County commissioner who has advocated on behalf of affordable housing and domestic violence victims—and has thus far raised significantly more money than Coleman. Jones argues for raising teacher pay and per-pupil spending and reforms to keep the legislature from meddling in local government affairs.
The final two candidates are Ron Newton, a former police officer who now owns a financial-services company in Durham, and Robert Wilson, a Cary resident who worked for more than twenty years in the secretary of state's office.
In this race, we're siding with Jones. While we agree with Coleman on many issues, Jones is spot-on about the need to reassert local control, a problem recently made evident by the legislature's promise to intrude on Charlotte's antidiscrimination ordinance.
[page]Attorney General, Democrat: Josh Stein
Roy Cooper's bid for governor leaves open the post of attorney general. The office's duties include consumer protection, environmental enforcement, maintaining public safety, and prosecuting crooked government officials. Despite a hostile legislature in recent years, Cooper navigated these waters skillfully. It's imperative that his successor do the same.
Josh Stein worked as a deputy in the attorney general's office from 2001 to 2008. In the consumer protection division, he confronted cybercrime and predatory lending. He was part of the fight to banish payday lenders from the state. Since 2009, he has served as a state senator. Stein's record is strong there, too.
Stein's primary opponent, Marcus Williams, is not a wholly unserious candidate. An attorney from Lumberton, he has practiced law for thirty-seven years. He has also run a handful of quixotic political campaigns. But Stein is the better choice.
[page]Attorney General, Republican: Jim O'Neill
It's been over one hundred years since a Republican ran the state's attorney general's office. Jim O'Neill is the GOP's best bet to break that streak. He has real experience: the last six years as the district attorney of Forsyth County and twelve before that as an assistant DA. O'Neill has articulated specific ideas about how he would improve the AG's office (bridging communication gaps between staff members and lawmakers and raising salaries to retain crime-lab technicians). He appears to take seriously the position and understand its contours.
The same cannot be said of O'Neill's primary opponent. Buck Newton plays a particularly cheap style of conservative politics. As a state senator from Wilson, he has championed fracking, tried to sneak abortion restrictions into bills, and proposed legislation that would exempt magistrate judges from performing gay marriages. Newton's platform is likewise a word salad of Fox News talking points about Medicare fraud, the evils of Obamacare, and immigration. He's a hack, in other words. Vote O'Neill.
[page]Commissioner of Agriculture, Republican: Steve Troxler
Steve Troxler is seeking a fourth term as agriculture commissioner. You may recall Troxler's name from a minor controversy last year over his department's plan to require poultry owners to register their birds due to concerns over bird flu. Libertarian types viewed it as a governmental overreach. We, however, tend to think it was a prudent, if somewhat inelegant, attempt to mitigate a possible agricultural crisis.
And we're not convinced that Andy Stevens—Troxler's primary challenger—would have handled it any better, if at all. Stevens is running a bizarre one-note campaign that seeks to crucify Troxler for prohibiting concealed-carry guns at the N.C. State Fairgrounds. Stevens may have won the endorsement of Ammoland (true story), but he doesn't have our vote.
[page]Commissioner of Insurance, Republican: Joe McLaughlin
Following Heather Grant's December withdrawal, three Republicans remain to challenge Democratic incumbent Wayne Goodwin.
We're going with a hard pass on Ron Pierce, who was arrested two years ago for—can't make this stuff up—insurance fraud. Pierce told The News & Observer that he was the victim of a Goodwin witch-hunt. The charges against Pierce—inflating repair estimates and operating without a license—were eventually dismissed. Whether they had merit we cannot say. We do know that Pierce wrote to us that "the insurance companies are the biggest legal crooks in American everything needs to be triple checked to disallow the dishonestly that the insurance companies are doing to the citizens of NC" [sic]. He added: "I'm not a POLITICIAN, nor will I ever be." Actually, Pierce would be a politician if he won. But we don't think that is going to happen.
Speaking of not winning: Mike Causey, who works for the N.C. Department of Transportation, has lost the race for insurance commissioner four times already, in 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2012. If Causey had fresh ideas about state insurance policies, we would be more likely to endorse him, if only for his resilience. But he's still coughing up stale "free-market" phlegm from twenty years ago.
Joe McLaughlin, a financial planner from Jacksonville, gets the nod. Unlike Causey and Pierce, he has previously held public office, as an Onslow County commissioner. We think it unlikely that McLaughlin would improve upon Goodwin's record should he win in November. But of the three, he's the best.
[page]Secretary of State, Republican: A.J. Daoud
A.J. Daoud finished in fourth place—dead last—in the 2012 GOP primary for secretary of state. We expect him to fare better this time, and not only because he's running against just one other guy. Since 2012, Daoud has beefed up his Republican bona fides with a stint as a lottery commissioner and as GOP chairman of the state's Sixth Congressional District. He's also amassed support from several elected officials.
The other Republican in the race to unseat incumbent Elaine Marshall is Michael LaPaglia. LaPaglia seems like an interesting guy. Though he has never held public office, he worked as a body man for Fred Thompson during his 1994 campaign for U.S. Senate in Tennessee. He also founded and owned an art studio in Durham and holds an MFA in theater from UNC.
Unfortunately, we don't know much else about him or what he believes. He didn't respond to our questionnaire, and his website is devoid of policy detail. We do know that the Asheville Tea Party recently endorsed him.
We endorse Daoud.
[page]Superintendent of Public Instruction, Democrat: June Atkinson
These are rough times for public education in North Carolina. Per-pupil spending on education is down 14 percent since 2008. Despite a nominal raise in 2015, teachers are among the lowest paid in the nation. A quarter of the state's teachers work second jobs.
In January, Department of Public Instruction Superintendent June Atkinson called for a long-overdue 10 percent raise for all teachers. The legislature's unlikely to take up her proposal, but we're glad Atkinson is fighting the good fight. Elected in 2004 after serving for twenty-eight years in various roles at the DPI, Atkinson has battled conservatives who seek to dismantle public education via privatization and charters. She's done this while presiding over a period in which high school graduation rates have risen nearly 20 percent.
A few words about her primary challenger, Henry Pankey. His tough-love approach to education has served him well as a principal. He turned around Southern High School in the late 1990s and appears to be thriving as an administrator in Winston-Salem. But we're sticking with Atkinson.
[page]Superintendent of Public Instruction, Republican: Mark Johnson
Three Republicans are vying to challenge Atkinson in November. None of them is especially qualified.
J. Wesley Sills is a social studies teacher in Harnett County. He's been a teacher for four years, but he lacks the experience required to oversee the state's public schools. Rosemary Stein is a pediatrician from Burlington. She doesn't like Common Core and wants to return "classical education" to North Carolina schools. Her goals beyond that are unclear.
Though he's only thirty-two, Mark Johnson at least has some relevant education experience. Before Johnson was an attorney—he's corporate counsel for a tech company—he taught for two years at West Charlotte High School through Teach for America. He also was elected in 2014 to the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education. Johnson wants to reform testing, increase access to technology in the classroom, and shift power away from Raleigh and toward local districts. Easier said than done. Still, he's the only serious candidate in this race.
[page]Treasurer, Democrat: Dan Blue III
North Carolina Democrats haven't had much success over the last six years, but Janet Cowell has been the exception. Cowell, who is not running for re-election, is well-liked and managed the state pension fund with a steady hand.
The two candidates vying to replace her are Duke-educated Dan Blue III, the son of Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue Jr. and a lawyer; and Ron Elmer, a certified public accountant and financial planner from Cary. Blue promises to follow Cowell's lead in managing the state pension; Elmer has his own plan, which he says would have resulted in higher returns had it been used during Cowell's tenure.
Both promise to bring more transparency to the role. Elmer is more experienced, but there's really no reason to fix what isn't broken. Blue, the former Wake County Democratic Party chairman, would also bring a more political touch to the position, which may prove necessary when dealing with the Council of State and a Republican legislature. And while Elmer has been endorsed by the state employees' union, Blue has been endorsed by the state AFL-CIO, the North Carolina Association of Educators, and Cowell herself.
We endorse him, too.
Connect N.C. Bond Referendum: Yes
Last year, McCrory promised a bond to finance much-needed transportation projects for a state that has long outgrown its infrastructure. The legislature had other ideas.
The $2 billion bond that made it to ballot does nothing to address transportation. Instead, "Connect NC" will mostly fund education and public works projects, including $980 million for the UNC system, $350 million for community colleges, and over $400 million for local parks and zoos.
These things are badly needed. But transportation funding was needed just as badly, if not more.
We nonetheless reluctantly endorse this bond. In the end, something is better than nothing. And, according to a new report from the N.C. Budget & Tax Center, this something could create five thousand jobs.
[page]N.C. House, District 33, Democrat: Rosa Gill
We endorse the incumbent, Representative Rosa Gill, a retired educator who is running for her fifth term. While not the most effective legislator, Gill has sponsored and supported key pieces of legislation and is an active advocate for public schools.
And we don't have much reason to believe that Gill's opponents—Shirley Hicks, who owns a disability service, and Bernard Allen, an insurance agent—will fare much better. They've largely failed to distinguish themselves. Allen, a perpetual challenger for this seat (his father once held it), did not return the INDY's questionnaire. Hicks's questionnaire indicates that she agrees with Gill on most issues; it's not clear why she's running. Gill deserves your vote.
[page]N.C. House, District 36, Republican: Nelson Dollar
Incumbent Nelson Dollar, who has served in the legislature since 2004, has often been a rubber stamp for Republican ambitions. He also authored last year's very conservative budget.
But that wasn't enough to avoid a primary challenge. Perhaps that's because he took a principled stand last year against a Medicare reform bill and spoke out on the House floor against privatizing Medicaid. That's apparently enough for challenger Mark Villee and his political benefactor, Civitas Institute chairman Bob Luddy, to argue that Nelson isn't conservative enough.
It's clear that a Villee win would move the House Republican caucus even further to the right. We're endorsing Dollar.
[page]N.C. House, District 36, Democrat: Jennifer Marie Ferrell
Jennifer Marie Ferrell doesn't have a terribly deep political résumé. She ran unsuccessfully for the Apex Town Council in 2013. After that, she worked as an organizer for the Wake County Democratic Party and a community outreach manager at Public Schools First NC. Still, she's been endorsed by the state AFL-CIO, and she's running as a tough, education reform-minded candidate.
Her opponent, Woodie Cleary, is similarly concerned about education. A recently retired employee of the N.C. Department of Revenue, Cleary wants to repeal the state's regressive tax system and restore education funding. He's also in favor of independent redistricting.
Both are solid progressives. We endorse Ferrell for her willingness to fight for public schools and hold state lawmakers accountable.
[page]N.C. Senate, District 16, Democrat: Jay Jyoti Chaudhuri
Both Democrats running for this seat are smart and qualified. But we endorse Jay Chaudhuri, an attorney who served as general counsel to Attorney General Roy Cooper and Treasurer Janet Cowell, over Ellis Hankins, an adjunct professor at Duke and N.C. State, for several reasons.
First, this heavily Democratic district has seen its Asian-American population swell in recent years, and Chaudhuri would be the first Indian-American in the state legislature. Score one for diversity—but our endorsement is about more than that. He has a detailed plan for raising teacher pay and is unabashedly pro-choice. He's earned the endorsements of NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina, the state AFL-CIO, the Triangle Labor Council, various Raleigh police and fire associations, and Raleigh mayor Nancy McFarlane.
Hankins is strong on education and advocates for independent redistricting. He would be a fine choice. But the district's constituents deserve someone who is uniquely positioned to understand their concerns; in this race, that person is Chaudhuri.
[page]Chatham County Commission, District 1, Democrat: Karen Howard
Zoning, fracking, and Duke Energy's coal-ash storage are the most important issues facing Chatham County. Of the two Democrats running for this seat, the incumbent, Karen Howard, is best equipped to manage them.
Howard is a trained attorney who has worked on the legal angles of storing coal ash and delaying fracking. She's also supported the commission's work to zone more than half of the county's currently unzoned land.
Danny Jenkins does not have experience working on environmental issues. He has said the board's vote in favor of zoning the county—crucial to preventing sprawl—was premature. He's wrong.
[page]Chatham County Commission, District 2, Democrat: Mike Dasher
Two Democrats are running for this seat as well. The incumbent, Mike Cross, has in the past voted with Republicans on crucial issues like zoning. We endorse Mike Dasher, a green builder who has served on the county's Affordable Housing Advisory Board and its Green Building and Sustainable Energy Advisory Board.
Dasher has vocally supported implementing a land-use plan to guide growth and protect the environment from threats like coal ash and fracking. He says environmentally sound development is his top priority. Dasher says he will also focus on education and much-needed infrastructure funding.
In 2011, Cross voted with Republicans to approve a county budget that moved environmental staffers to the Department of Waste Management, causing the natural resources director to quit. That vote also blocked the county's Environmental Review Board, composed of citizens with environmental expertise, from participating in land-use decisions.
We believe that Dasher is the more reliable candidate.
[page]Durham County Commission, Democrat: Heidi Carter, Tara Fikes, James Hill, Wendy Jacobs, Ellen Reckhow
All five incumbents are running for re-election, but the INDY is only endorsing two.
The first is Ellen Reckhow, who has served on the board for twenty-eight years. Her questionnaire shows that she still has a lot of good ideas about economic development, affordable housing, job training, childhood education, and just about every issue on the minds of voters.
Another incumbent, Wendy Jacobs, has earned widespread respect since being elected in 2012. Jacobs, a former schoolteacher, has already racked up endorsements from the Durham People's Alliance, the Sierra Club, and the Durham Association of Educators. We'll happily jump on that bandwagon. She's a strong advocate for school, environmental protections, smart growth, and senior citizens.
Of the newcomers, we're very impressed with James Hill. We believe that Hill will fight for public schools and work to expand pre-K education. He's a strong proponent for providing more affordable housing, and he argues persuasively for it.
Until she retired in 2013, Tara Fikes worked for thirty years as director of the Orange County Department of Housing, Human Rights, and Community Development. But she's very much a Durhamite, born and raised. And the work she did for Orange County looks really good on the résumé. Besides administering block grants for housing, she coordinated with the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness and housing groups to provide emergency assistance to displaced people. Fikes brings smart insights into housing issues. Her thoughtful responses to our questions on education, jobs, and jail administration suggest she can bring even more.
Heidi Carter, a twelve-year member of the Durham Public Schools Board of Education, deserves your vote, too. She'll seal a majority that will work hard for students, teachers, and staff at Durham's schools. Her detailed answers to our questionnaire demonstrate a deep understanding of all issues facing Durham County.
Those are our five. We're going to give longtime board member Michael Page an honorable mention. But his closeness to the 751 South developers still leaves a bad taste. And a recent report in Bull City Rising that identified Page as an owner of rental housing near NCCU that fails to meet code is troubling.
Another incumbent we aren't endorsing is Brenda Howerton. Like Page, she supported 751 South. And it doesn't help that she has a reputation for being dismissive toward constituents.
Fellow incumbent Fred Foster didn't return our questionnaire, which figures. Attendees of commission meetings have noted that the former president of the Durham NAACP has seemed distracted and disinterested lately. It's time for Foster to pursue new interests.
[page]Durham County Register of Deeds, Democrat: Sharon Davis
Willie Covington, who was elected register of deeds in 1996 and has held the office ever since, oversaw the records-keeping office as it transitioned into the digital era. He steps down this year.
Two candidates seek to fill Covington's shoes. Wayland Burton, chairman of the Durham County ABC board, argues that the office is in need of fresh eyes—his, specifically. He became interested in the office while searching the archives for family history records. Among other things, he says he's frustrated by the lack of archival data available online.
Sharon Davis is the office's chief assistant. She's been there since 1988. She also serves on several boards and committees that directly relate to her position. It's our view that the register of deeds office is currently being run just fine; we're endorsing Davis.
[page]Durham Public Schools Board of Education, at large: Steven Unruhe
Steven Unruhe and Frederick Ravin are both running for the at-large seat being vacated by Leigh Bordley, who is not seeking re-election.
Unruhe, who retired from teaching in 2015 after twenty-nine years, has a solid background in Durham public education. He's won lifetime achievement awards for his work teaching math and journalism. He's on top of important school issues facing the community and is concerned about racial disparities in school discipline. He wants to expand bilingual services and foster an environment for "children of all sexual orientations to learn to live together."
Ravin is a computer systems coordinator for the city of Durham. He grew up in the DPS system and went on to earn degrees in marketing, finance, business administration, and strategic information management. His professional experience includes working for Citigroup and American Express. He's helped mentor kids at R.N. Harris Elementary School. All of that is great, but Unruhe has a more coherent grasp on the issues the DPS is dealing with.
[page]Orange County Commission, at large, Democrat: Mark Marcoplos
There are three Democrats running for the at-large seat; with no Republican contenders, the winner of the primary will win the race.
We endorse Mark Marcoplos, a green builder and environmental activist from Chapel Hill. He was instrumental in the Orange County Living Wage Project, and his six and a half years on the board of the Orange Water and Sewer Authority were spent well. He also has an ironclad commitment to affordable housing.
Another candidate, Matt Hughes, has been Orange County's Democratic Party chairman since 2013. He's strong on education and sits on the advisory council of KidsCope, an early intervention and family support organization. He's worked with Action for Children NC (now NC Child) and the Department of Public Instruction. He has a solid résumé.
Andy Cagle of Efland ran unsuccessfully for sheriff in 2014. He owns Cagle's Corner Grading, Hauling, and Septic Systems. He grew up on a farm in the Midwest and describes himself as a "moderate environmentalist" who believes in balancing growth and conservation.
All would be acceptable, but we're throwing in with Marcoplos, who we believe will be an outstanding public servant.
[page]Orange County Board of Commissioners, District 1, Democrat: Mark Dorosin, Penny Rich
There are four candidates running for two District 1 seats. Three of them are exceptional.
Civil rights attorney Mark Dorosin is running for his second term. Over the past four years, he's fought for expanding the county's living wage ordinance. He made sure that money for affordable housing was included in the upcoming county bond referendum. His leadership in the Family Success Alliance, which provides resources to poor families, is a model of community service. He gets our wholehearted endorsement.
Penny Rich is also seeking a second term. She has good ideas about economic development and providing more affordable housing. We endorse her, too.
Also worthy of consideration is former Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education chairwoman Jamezetta Bedford. Trained as an accountant, Bedford has a stunning knowledge of county issues and fiscal realities. It's unfortunate that she's running against two accomplished incumbents, because Bedford would be an excellent commissioner.
The fourth candidate, Gary Kahn, has already run for commissioner and lost badly, just as he did when he ran for town council and mayor. He'll keep trying until even WCHL refuses to put him on the air.
[page]Orange County Board of Commissioners, District 2, Democrat: Renee Price
Two candidates are running for the District 2 seat. Both are Democrats. We endorse the incumbent, Renee Price, who was first elected in 2012. She has a background in agriculture and conservation, community organizing, forestry, and environmental justice. As a member of the county commission, she was a force for extending long-overdue sewer access to the Rogers Road community. Price's extensive knowledge, experience, and outreach skills are highly valued.
Her challenger, Bonnie Hauser, is a former PricewaterhouseCoopers partner and an engaged community activist. A regular presence at commission meetings, Hauser has a commitment to her community that is without question. But we believe Price has earned re-election.
[page]Orange County Board of Education: Stephen H. Halkiotis, Tony McKnight, Matthew Roberts
The race for three full-term school board seats consists of two incumbents and one newcomer; for better or worse, they're all going to win.
Stephen H. Halkiotis is a retired educator and a past county commissioner. He spent seventeen years as a junior high or high school principal. He says his highest priority as a school board member is "raising achievement and closing the gap."
Tony McKnight is an army vet and consultant for the state's labor department. He was first elected to the board in 2008. McKnight says he wants to focus on Title 1 schools, improve the retention rate, and close the achievement gap.
Matthew Roberts, a former operational manager for Burlington Industries, runs a horse boarding and show farm in Efland. He told the Durham Herald-Sun that he's worried that some Title 1 schools are performing below other Orange County schools and that districting by income is unfair to students.
[page]Orange County Board of Education, two-year unexpired term: Michael H. Hood
Two candidates are vying to take the seat left vacant by the resignation of Debbie Piscitelli this past November.
We recommend Michael H. Hood, a retired computer professional and navy veteran. He has some educational experience, having co-chaired the science committee at Hillsborough Elementary. And he's been a regular at school board meetings for the last five years, even providing helpful material when the board was preparing to implement the One-to-One Laptop Program. Hood argues convincingly about providing meals for low-income students. Heads up, though: if you support Common Core, know that he doesn't.
His opponent, John D. Hamilton, a professor emeritus of medicine at Duke, hasn't answered anyone's questionnaire that we know of.
[page]Wake County Commission, District B, Democrat: Vicki SCroggins-Johnson
Two Democrats are vying for District B, a superdistrict constructed as part of the legislature's attempt to gerrymander Wake County in a more Republican-friendly manner.
Lindy Brown is a longtime Wake resident and county social worker and former commissioner. Vicki Scroggins-Johnson is a project manager at GlaxoSmithKline and a Morrisville Town Council member.
We endorse Scroggins-Johnson.
Though Brown is eager to serve, she didn't have the strongest voting record as a county commissioner from 2006–10. During her tenure, Brown often sided with Republicans on important issues like school funding, transit votes, and budget decisions. That's one reason she lost in 2010.
Scroggins-Johnson, a moderate, supports county investments in public schools. As a town council member since 2013, Scroggins-Johnson has advocated for expanding Morrisville's greenways and funding road construction projects. She also voted to enact a stormwater program and increase the town's recycling capacity. She says she will focus on schools, transit, and sustainability.
[page]Wake County Commission, District B, Republican: John Adcock
In the Republican race for District B, we endorse John Adcock, a Fuquay-Varina attorney, over former commissioner and tea party stalwart Phil Matthews. Adcock considers himself "a fresh and positive conservative voice for the citizens of Wake County," which is a lot better than the offensive memes depicting President Obama that Matthews posts to his Facebook page.
Though Adcock says he does not support the county's proposed transit plan, he wants to make revisions rather than scrap it altogether. And he supports bringing teacher pay up to the national average, as well as improving school facilities countywide.
Those pragmatic positions bode better for Wake County than Matthews's right-wing views.
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