Who are you voting for?

The primary is coming up on Tuesday, May 2nd. You can still vote early tomorrow, and the polls will be open from 6:30 AM-7:30 PM on election day.

There are races for County Commissioner, Congress, Superior Court, and State Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. See the OP Election Guide for a full list, with links to local candidates and other information.

Who are you endorsing and why? Please write only about who you are endorsing- any negative comments will be deleted.

Happy voting!

Issues: 

Comments

I wish I had seen Ashley's invitation sooner! Or, actually been invited in advance... :-(

The slowness has nothing to do with the new voting machines, I had a similar experience early voting in Carrboro in 2004. I think the old look-up-each-voter-on-paper method that they use at precincts must not be feasible for early voting since the entire county can vote at any of the sites. It's just another reminder of the fact that our county government is in the stone age.

I am positively voting for Kent Kanoy because he is the only candidate that is unequivocally opposed to the Iraq War and Occupation, has the integrity to espouse impeachment for Bush's obvious illegalities, and values our Constitutional rights.

County Commissioner is a tough one with the postive situation in which at least four of the top candidates would all make excellent commissioners.

I know for certain than I am voting for Alice Gordon. She has been a steady advocate for a variety of authentic progressive policies, a Board leader on environmental issues, and a person who has served for many years with forthrightness and resisted the urge to play politics with the power afforded her.

I'm thinking positive thoughts, especially about all the judges who sent me many beautiful gloossy brochures with pictures of them and thier lovely families. I was positively moved to find out that they really care about our community, want the future to be better, and are committed to being fair. Now if I only knew which ones were Tarheel fans.

Yay, the annual endorsement thread! Each year I write up a letter of my own endorsements and send it to my friends and the paper. (These are my personal choices and do not represent OP.) You can read the whole list here: http://lotusmedia.org/election-time-orange-county

Short version... I am enthusiastically voting for:
Mike Nelson
Fed Battle
Barry Jacobs
Adam Stein

I am also voting for some other people, but am not excited enough about them to shout about it.

I voted for a whole slate of candidates, but am most concerned about the rest of the world voting for:

Fred Battle
Mike Nelson
Adam Stein

I will be voting for
Barry Jacobs
Fred Battle
Kent Kanoy

#185 at Morehead 9am this morning

These are who I personally endorse:

Alice Gordon
Fred Battle
Adam Stein

And like Ruby, I am also voting for some other people, but am not excited enough about them to shout about it. Thanks for the great discussion on the judges.

By the way I TRIED to vote today at Carrboro Town Hall, but their computer takes about 5 minutes to process each voter and there were two people in line in front of me (and one more who I chatted with for half of her 5 minutes).

On my lunch break I did not have 15 minutes to lounge around waiting for a ballot, so I left. I hope it works better at my precinct on Tuesday.

Ruby
Did you ask about the delay or report it to the board of elections?
This is not cool
jacquie

Robin Cutson

Carl Fox

That's all, folks! Expect a lot more of that from up my way.

Mike Nelson
Adam Stein

I too had a slow time early voting in Carrboro... I'm doing GOTV at the Farmer's Market tomorrow and I hope they clear it up...

ken

Nelson
Battle
Fox
Stein

The Town Hall computer slowed things down yesterday also. One waits for a print-out to sign.

David Price for Congress

Barry Jacobs for Commissioner

Robin Hudson for Supreme Court (Orange Co. Democratic Party has endorsed her, by the way)

I voted for a whole slate of folks, but enthusiastically support...

Alice Gordon and Mike Nelson for County Commissioner; and

Chuck Anderson for Superior Court.

Just to clarify... this thread has special rules (we do one of these on OP for each election). You must not speak negatively of any candidate or your comments will be removed. If this happens to you, just post again with only your endorsements and you'll be fine.

Thanks to everyone for contributing, and for voting!

[Pseudonymous comment deleted. -Ed.]

Alice Gordon is a definite and Mike Nelson is a probably.

May 2nd, the good folk of Chapel Hill have an opportunity to keep Allen Baddour on the Superior Court bench.

Allen will not only continue his sterling service to Orange,Chatham and the wider regional community (Superior Court judges move around), but will also bring the energy, empathy and experience to forge a new vision of how a Superior Court judge can proactively address our community's problems before they end up in his court.

I know Allen not as a judge, but as a parent. He and his wife Holly, active members of our school's community, have both demonstrated their commitments to our developing youth; Allen notably by being chair of both the Chatham County Parks and Recreation Board and the YMCA Steering Committee.

Allen is “kid-friendly”. Allen took the kids from our school on a tour of the courthouse (before he was appointed by Gov. Easley) to acquaint them with our judicial system, dispel some of the mystery and start a discussion on “wise” decision-making.

His relative youth, which some have criticised, is a strong asset as far as interacting with kids (and is probably a bit less intimidating to younger folk).

This desire to positively intervene before folks reach a personal crisis, ending up appearing before him in superior court, is reflected in his proposal to form a drug court for non-violent, first time offenders. Profering treatment, rehabilitation and accountability , folks will be given a supervised path up-and-out of their troubles. Beyond the humanity of this therapeutic approach, this program offers greater comprehensive case management and overall supervision with the practical appeal of cost efficiencies.

I live in Orange county, but Chatham is close to my heart. The rapid growth of Chatham, the escalating needs of their law enforcement and plain old equity demand that Chatham residents have the same access as Orange county folk to their superior court judges. Allen will work to get a Pittsboro office, built using green design principles (day-lighting, for instance) to extend access to the all the constituents of our Superior Court.

In 2005, one of the planks of my campaign involved improving the productivity of our town's staff, expand delivery of services and cut costs by utilizing technology much more progressively.

I welcome Allen's technological initiatives that will streamline court operations while treating defendants more compassionately. One of his suggestions, using email to coordinate court appearances, saves folks, like a hourly wage earner, from missing a day of work (and wages) or the single-parent from getting an unneeded, expensive babysitter.

From reviewing the other candidates platforms, it seems that Allen is A candidate offering substantive, practical and forward-thinking proposals on running and improving the superior court system.Finally, there's Allen's overall experience: Allen has been a prosecutor, defense attorney, civil litigator and judge.He's a “doer” with a proven strong commitment to the wider community.

The judicial demands of the superior court are tough. The workload is increasing. The need to be proactive, efficient, future-oriented is now. Our Superior Court judges need the flexibility, tenacity, vision and vitality to meet 8 years of judicial challenges.

Allen is the candidate best positioned to meet these challenges.

Chuck Stone thinks so. Freddy Kiger thinks so. And this regular citizen think so.

More information about Judge Baddour (or Allen, as I know him)

I'm a Chatham County voter, so most of my votes are of no interest to you all.

But in the Superior Court race, I voted (early voting, yeah!) for Allen Baddour and Michael Patrick. We could only be so lucky.

I also voted for Robin Hudson for the N.C. Supreme Court.

Duncan
Your votes as a Chatham County voter ARE very much of interest to those of us in Orange County.I think that this year's race for Chatham County Commisoners could have more of a long term impact on our lives in Orange County then our own elections.
Good luck!
JAcquie

I had the same trouble at Carrboro Town Hall...the printer was VERY slow. I hope this can be fixed for the general election's early voting period.

I voted enthusiastically for:
Kent Kanoy
Fred Battle
Mike Nelson
Barry Jacobs
Adam Stein
Allan Baddour
Robin Hudson

...and a few others.

-Elizabeth

If you're still not sure who to vote for, come on over right now and hang out at my and Al (McSurely's) house -- 415 West Patterson Place, 27516 -- we've got good food, drink and lots of friends here. This is a party for Fred Battle, who we support for County Commissioner.

It is secondarily an Impeach Bush party (we're voting for Kent Kanoy, who, btw, is here now, too).

Adam Stein is here. We support him for Superior Court judge.

Of our non-candidate friends who are here, my favorite is Misha Coleman.

Thanks and see you soon I hope,
Ashley Osment

I blanked on the criticism of the slow voting process.

Is it that the new voting machines are slow or is it the process? When I saw the demo of the E & S optical scanner, I noticed that the ribbon print did seem slow though the sales guy said it wasn't a big deal.

If this is our brand new equipment - well - that sucks.

Ashley, wished I'd seen your invite earlier. I'd love to meet kent face-2-face. It's going to be one of the best votes I ever cast.

At the Morehead Planetarium site it had nothing to do with the new machines, rather it was an IBM laptop communicating with a HP printer. It seemed to take a fairly long time after they hit the print button.

Hey Pierre in this case we are voting on who judges us, which I spose' could be viewed as leading. Think of the opportunity presented to you. Someday you might have to face this person (the one your voting for) from across the judiciary bench. Therefore, you might want to vote for a judge who does not have a nasty predisposition towards whatever demographic you fall into.

Well, I'm having a hard time picking anyone for the County. A recent conversation with Alice Gordon convinced me to vote for her, and I have two people I will not be voting FOR, but other than that I am STILL undecided.

Pierre,

Please reconsider, there is a place in politics for everyone... even dead French anarchists.

Wow Ken, good catch. The link is for the rest of us philosophical freshmen. First person to call himself an anarchist? I guess someone always has to be first.

Wow indeed! And who said everybody doesn't have access to a computer and the Internet?

I voted for the whole slate, but these are the people I enthusiastically support:

Rep. David Price
Judge Chuck Anderson
Barry Jacobs
Ted Triebel
Debbie Piscatelli

Mark, this is an assumption now (my wife always tells me that's what gets us in trouble), but I think you can safely assume that Allen Baddour is a Tar Heel fan. He is Dickie's boy, after all.

Tom - I suspect you're right on Allen. As an Adam Stein supporter I'm compelled to say that I have personal knowledge that Adam is a big Tar Heel fan and it is a trait he has passed on to his children. Chapel Hill is an interesting place in terms of the basketball/intelligensia overlap. I tribute it to the great program and social responsibility of Dean Smith.

For what it's worth, as in other areas Judge Anderson's Tar Heel credentials are unparalleled:

He played under Coach Gutheridge on the freshman team in 1968-69, where he worked tirelessly with a young Roy Williams to keep the bench adequately warm.

From what I've heard, they were successful.

I have a thing about voting actually on voting day, from when i was little. I am still out on my second vote for superior court and county commissioner. But I can tell you that I am enthusiastically voting for:

Judge Anderson: who gained my vote from his experience and committment to judicial independence.

And my Representative David Price, who will lead our district and our nation back to sanity in a democratically controlled House as the Chair of an important appropriations subcommittee. http://www.newsobserver.com/659/story/422999.html

Allen Baddour is a fan of truth, justice, fair play, and excellence. So of course he's a Tar Heel fan. He grew up in Chapel Hill. He attended UNC as an undergraduate and a law student. He prefers the creatures of the light to the forces of evil, and so he is a Tar Heel fan.

Not sure what this has to do with the judicial race, but it _is_ fun! I wonder if, seriously, you could be elected to office in Orange County as an "out" Dookie. (That is, a Duke basketball fan. I have no problem with graduates or employees of the very fine university itself, on the whole. At least, the ones who are from here, or remain here.)

This is much less of an issue in Chatham, where we have more than our fair share of State fans.

d

p.s. Please pardon the interruption on this endorsement thread. I'm not trying to hijack it, I just thought the question of politics and basketball was funny.

Adam STein
Michael Patrick
Mike Nelson
Fred Battle

Duncan
Is there a site we can go to to keep up with what is happening in the Chatham elections?
JAcquie

Stein
Nelson

After that I was hoping to be swayed by one of you.

Since Ashley let the cat out of the bag that was at her Fred Battle event, I thought I might chime in and say how thrilled I am to be supporting Fred again. I say "again" because Fred's 1985 campaign was the first local race I was involved with, along with Wes Hare's mayoral bid that year.

Here's the letter to the editor that I didn't send off in time:

Having known Fred Battle for over 20 years, I was delighted to learn that he was running for the Board of County Commissioners. Battle has been an unflagging champion of the Orange County community for his entire life.
Fred knows the issues. He served on the Chapel Hill Carrboro School Board and has had children graduated from both school systems. His performance at the candidate forums is one of a seasoned participant in county affairs, his answers consistently thoughtful and relevant.
Fred also understands the full range of concerns facing our county. I remember some years ago when it was suggested that the NAACP and the Sierra Club might co-sponsor candidate forums, Fred was immediately supportive. He recognized the value in getting these two often disparate constituencies in the same room and that social justice and environmental stewardship must be achieved in tandem.
It is a rare privilege to be able to vote for a candidate of Fred Battle's stature. He will be an outstanding addition to Orange County government.

Dan Coleman

Other enthusiasms this year?
Adam Stein
Kent Kanoy

Jacquie,

There are a couple of listservs in Chatham which are not nearly as comprehensive as this one (although, on the big one, Chatham Chatlist, there's a once-a-week virtual swap meet which will keep you informed on the best places to get guinea hens and find doctors who make house calls). If you e-mail me offline, I'll send you some of those. Gene Galin runs the big one. There's a lot of bickering going on back and forth at the moment -- predictably about the commissioner's race, but also the Clerk of Court race, surprisingly enough -- but it's hard to get a reading off any one of the lists about how candidates might be doing.

However, if I were to handicap it, I'd say:

Lucier and Thompson win seats on the county commission, thus giving the forces for right a majority.

Vanderbeck has been a very good campaigner, is well-respected, and actually _lives_ in the district he wants to represent, but he's still got a monster to slay in Bunkey Morgan. On the other hand, putting up a candidate that ran hard against Bunkey may be helping Lucier and Thompson -- Bunkey has been mainly focused on Bunkey this season, and the others running who would be Bunkey people -- Emerson and Nettles -- have not benefited from this. I'm not counting Vanderbeck out, but even if he loses he may have helped us win.

So score one for the angels!

Some folks on the lists are disturbed by the activity of the Chatham Coalition, especially their formation of a slate (Lucier, Thompson, Vanderbeck) and their independent campaign on behalf of their slate. This kind of thing is still new in Chatham County, at least to be so public about it, and some people are a little put off. (The Chatham Coalition is strongly identified with northeast Chatham, which can put off the Siler City/Goldston/Bear Creek (and to a lesser extent, Silk Hope) people, and if it wants to a force for change in the longterm, the coalition will have to branch out and explain why their values are also good for western Chatham. That will take some time.

Duncan

p.s. Just a reminder, vote on Tuesday!

Duncan, I think it would be fair to assume that Barry Jacobs is a Dookie, although I voting for him anyway.

Turnout is going to be incredibly low-

1,193 people voted early.

Two year ago it was 2,225.

Even in the municipal elections in the fall 1,780 people voted early.

Very high early turnout numbers in Chatham though, which I can only imagine is good news.

Also to be noted:

the early voting two years ago went heavily for the two candidates endorsed by nomerger.org so the lower early voting turnout could be a reflection of a reduced role in the election this year by that group.

That might mean bad things for Fred Battle, as the non-incumbent candidate endorsed by that group. All the more reason to go cast a vote for him tomorrow!

I've expanded on my endorsements at Concerned Citizen.

I'm narrowing my field. I've got to go with Fred Battle.

An observation - Barry has that knack for seeming to be a Tarheel fan or a Duke fan depending upon who he's speaking with.

I didn't know a party could endorse judges.

Last year, or perhaps this past fall, sometime after the 2005 national championship, Barry Jacobs wrote an article in the Indy about UNC's improbable run to the national championship. That after we were preseason #1 in some polls. That irked me enough to remember it... and would a real Tar Heel ever think our victories were improbable? Or at least admit it out loud?

And that may be, deep down, part of the reason that if I manage to remember to go vote today (feel free to send me emails reminding me to do so), I will vote only for Mike in the commissioner race.

 

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