Elections
News and opinions related to local elections.
The people who frequent this blog need no further encouragement to vote on November 7.
However, if you know someone who doesn't really know who's running in Orange County's elections, or can't distinguish between Mark Martin the Supreme Court candidate and Mark Martin the NASCAR driver, please consider directing them to a new web site, www.yallvote.com.
The site contains a comprehensive list of web sites for candidates running for North Carolina state and local offices. For example, the Orange County page has candidate links for competitive races for County Commission, Sheriff, Superior Court, House District 54, and Senate District 23. Other features include links to voter registration forms, a blog to debate voter turnout issues, an "Election Alarm Clock" reminder, and other links to relevant sites.
www.yallvote.com is non-partisan, non-commercial (i.e., we accept no advertising and collect no revenue) and does not support a particular candidate or ideology.
The Herald has a story today about Orange County forming a committee to educate the voters about the proposed County Commissioners districting plan. Orange County voters will get to vote on the matter this November. The plan would work like this:
THE PROPOSED PLAN
Orange County will be divided into two districts. The districts will roughly follow the school district lines.
District 1 will include Chapel Hill, Carrboro and some nearby suburban and rural buffer areas. District 1 will have 3 seats on the board. The voters of District 1 will choose their party nominees in May, but voters from both districts will choose the winners in November.
District 2 will be the whole rest of the county including Hillsborough, White Cross, Efland and points north. District 2 will have 2 seats on the board. As with District 1, the primaries will be open only to District 2 voters, but all voters will participate in the general election.
Guest Post by Adam Compton
This past week, while I was at home in Cedar Grove, I received a very interesting phone call.
The woman on the line, who never identified herself, asked, "Sir, are you a registered voter in the Orange County area?"
When I said I was, she continued to tell me I had been selected for a survey. I had a little time on my hands, so I agreed to answer her questions. She began by running through a list of people and asking if I had heard of them.
"Mike Easley?"
"Charles Anderson?"
"Adam Stein?"
"Carl Fox?"
"Allen Baddour?"
After I replied that I knew them all, she asked who I planed to vote for in the election for Superior Court Judge. I told her that I was an Anderson supporter.
That's when things got interesting.
The woman ran through a series of questions, asking me if I would be more or less likely to vote for this candidate under a given set of conditions.
A few weeks ago, the Chancellor appointed yet another administrative honcho to lead UNC's efforts to build Carolina North. Gone is the language of listening and visioning that we heard about the Ken Broun committee. In the Chapel Hill News, the Chancellor is clearly taking sides calling Jack Evans a "quarterback" for Carolina North: "Moeser said Evans should be adept at reading the defense, i.e. the community leaders and residents who are wary of the massive project."
It's interesting to watch UNC cycle through it's various PR phases. First we're supposed to be buddies, acting as partners, sharing the same goals for the community, etc. But next thing you know we're on opposing teams, lobbing bombs, and trying to advance our goals at any cost.
With each week the details of NC House Speaker Jim Black's political machine become more embarrassing to Democrats in particular and North Carolinians in general. Or at least it ought to be embarassing to Democrats. The latest revelations turn out to be sadly not-so-shocking:
Jim Black & Co. took control of the North Carolina House of Representatives in 2002 by bribing fellow house member Michael Decker with an offer of $50,000 and a job for Decker's son. Decker accepted the offer and took the $50,000 (primarily in donations to his campaign account). His son got the job at the legislature as well. In turn, Decker switched from Republican to Democrat and turned a 61-59 Republican majority into a 60-60 deadlock in the legislature. Yesterday Decker admitted to the bribery scheme in federal court: http://www.newsobserver.com/1179/story/466790.html
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