GOP News

November 6^th was a great day to be a Republican in Henderson County!

Chuck Edwards, Chuck McGrady, Cody Henson and Mike Edney were reelected by an impressive margin in Henderson County.  It’s been a while since all these seats were challenged and our candidates reminded everyone that they are experienced elected officials with a proven track record and a loyal base.

Several offices were unopposed by a Democrat challenger – congratulations to Greg Newman, Lowell Griffin, Kim Gasperson-Justice, Rebecca McCall, Bill Lapsley, Lee King.  I think we will all be pleased with the new Henderson County School Board members, Dot Case and Jay Egolf and the returning member Amy Lynn Holt.

On the state level, all four judicial seats went to Democrats.  A fluke allowed two Republicans to run for a single seat splitting the vote for two offices and costing the party those two seats.  Henderson County voters saw the distinction and voted for candidates our party supported: Barbara Jackson and Jefferson Griffin.

Henderson County and state voters passed 4 of the 6 amendments, including the very important Voter ID Amendment.  The bipartisan Board of Elections and Ethics Amendment and the Bipartisan Judicial Merit Commission failed to pass state wide, including Henderson County.   Republicans retain their majority in the NC General Assembly however will lose the super majority we enjoyed before.   The Assembly can go into session and pass the Voter ID law to help preserve (and in some cases, restore) the integrity of our election processes this year while we still have a supermajority.

On a Federal level, District 11 sent Congressman Meadows back to the House to continue his work implementing Trump’s agenda, protecting our rights, securing our borders and working with other Congressmen to do the same with the Freedom Caucus.

While the House of Representatives lost the Republican Majority as history predicted, we kept many seats.  Republicans actually picked up Senate seats allowing Trump to continue to fill Judicial appointments with Judges who will rule based on the Constitution, not social trends and partisan politics.

Voter turnout was up across the state and the nation, but especially in Henderson County.   Turn out in 2018 was 56.78% compared to the 2014 midterm with 46.5% of eligible voters casting their votes.

I believe our successful 2018 Election is a result of the many people praying, the volunteers who worked tirelessly to accomplish so much and our candidates who ran campaigns of integrity on a proven track record.  I cannot thank you all enough for what the people in this county have done!

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Republican Women’s Club for all their hard work to help with fundraising and the phenomenal Watch Party where we all enjoyed great food, company and election returns!

Now, we turn our focus to 2020 – undoubtedly, the MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF OUR LIFE TIME!

Republican Headquarters opens at 6:30am on Election day.  Call (828) 693-6040 for election information.

Election Day November 6^th all 35 precincts open from 6:30am until 7:30pm

Volunteers still needed.  If you are available call the office.

This election is off to a great start with early voting, but we need EVERY REPUBLICAN VOTE in the county to offset the liberal counties.  Please vote on NOVEMBER 6^th if you have not already voted.  Take a friend with you to the polls!

ABOUT THOSE AMENDMENTS

There are 6 NC Constitutional Amendments on the November 6^th ballot.   This summary of these amendments explains why the Republican Party is supporting each one.

Here is a brief overview of how it works.  The NC Constitution is really a document that is written for future laws.  Amendments like these advise law makers and set boundaries/requirements for future laws.  Using the Constitution as a foundation, laws are written after much debate, discussion and compromise.  The laws are then, generally turned over to administrative bodies who write policy and procedures to implement and enforce the laws.   Each step of the way depends on the previous step and adds the detail.  Law makers cannot change the constitution – they can propose changes, but it is up to “we the people” to make those changes at the ballot box.

These six amendments address an area of our government, society and culture to improve fairness, protect the integrity of our courts, election system, citizens’ rights, or fiscal responsibility.

Right to Hunt and Fish: 

• Hunting and fishing is part of our NC heritage and we don’t want to lose that part of our culture as the times change
• Some don’t believe these rights are at risk now, but this amendment protects the right to hunt and fish in the future.
• Remember our constitution deals with future law.

Victims Bill of Rights:

• This amendment will guarantee certain rights for all victims of crime in NC
• Some Judicial districts do a better job than others in the way they treat the victim
• This amendment will require all victims have the right to

• • be notified of trial dates,
  • be notified when their attacker is released from jail,
  • be given the opportunity to weigh in before a plea bargain is offered.
  • And others
• This amendment will steer legislation to make victim treatment fair and consistent across the state – ensuring that all victims have those rights and are protected.
• Defendants already have many legal rights, and that is good. All victims deserve the same respect and treatment.  This amendment will require that.
• Some don’t believe the Victims need these rights – but it will be up to you the voter to decide if victims deserve fair treatment in NC.

 Income Tax Cap: 

• Reduces the personal income tax cap from 10% to 7%
• Limits future tax hikes – keeps you and me from becoming the public piggy bank if a “tax and spend” General Assembly gets into office.
• Our income tax in Jan 2019 will be 5.25% leaving a reasonable cushion for lean years if taxes do need to be raised.
• Some are opposed to this cap because they are concerned about future spending needs – will 7% be enough?
• Over the last 8 years, our Republican Assembly has lowered taxes while

• • Raising teacher pay,
  • Raising the deductible,
  • Eliminating a 2.5 Billion dollar debt
  • Creating a 2 Billion dollar surplus
• Our fiscal health is about sound fiscal policies, not tax hikes. This cap will require our Assembly to continue good fiscal policies and allow the wage earner to keep more of their hard earned money.

Voter Photo ID:

• Will require NC Voters to present a photo ID before voting.
• Today, NC law has certain requirements regarding who can vote – voters must be a certain age, a US citizen, not a felon, a resident of NC,  Properly registered and so forth
• NC stops short of enforcing those requirements because NC doesn’t require the voter to prove who they are
• Currently, a voter gives a name and address and can vote if that name and address is in NCBOE voter registration data base as active or inactive – regardless of who that person actually is.  All they do is say a name and address that is on the list.  The list is a public document.
• If you are not who you say you are, it is almost impossible to catch that fraud because today the HCBOE CANNOT ask for ID.
• This common-sense amendment will help stop this type of voter fraud by requiring proof of Identification before you vote
• Some are opposed to this amendment because they are afraid some voters won’t be able to get an ID.  Since voters are protected from discrimination any laws, policies and procedures put in place will have to make sure that anyone who wants a qualifying ID can get that qualifying ID.   This simply isn’t a valid argument – it is an excuse.
• Some are opposed because they say fraud doesn’t occur.

• • Volunteer callers and “door to door” campaign volunteers uncovered a disturbing number of folks who were still on the active voter rolls but had either passed away or moved away. We weren’t looking for these folks, and we barely scratched the surface.
  • If HC is representative of the rest of the state, there must be hundreds of thousands of opportunities for people to give false names and addresses and vote multiple times – that has the potential to change the outcome of an election.
  • It is hard to prove voter fraud when all the data and information needed to prove it is not made available.  ICE has subpoenaed voting records for 44 counties in NC because of earlier voter fraud arrests
• I am not a fan of letting the honor system protect my vote and the integrity of our election processes. It’s your vote we are protecting.
• We cannot continue run this state with a catch me if you can mindset, this is too important, and we must put safeguards in place.

Judicial Vacancy Appointments:

• This amendment helps appointments be merit based by changing the way appointments are made.
• Currently, if a judge retires or resigns before the term is up, the Governor appoints a judge to fill the vacancy, at his or her sole discretion whether that judge is qualified or not. Remember, this is one person filling a position that normally the citizens of NC fill at the ballot box.
• Appointments can be based on political favors, or merit based depending on the whim of the governor regardless of party affiliation. It doesn’t matter whether Republican or Democrat, that is way too much power for one person.
• How does this amendment change the way appointments are made?

• • A commission is formed with appointments from all three branches, legislative, judicial and executive
  • Candidates to fill the vacancy apply to the commission for consideration.
  • The commission evaluates the qualifications of the applicants and submits the list to the legislators.
  • The legislators selects two or more candidates from the commission’s list and submits those names to the governor for consideration
  • the governor selects his appointment from that list of vetted applicants rather than his or her personal list of political friends
• This puts the citizens back in the process of selecting the judges as it should be, without requiring a special election for every vacancy.
• I have heard folks oppose this amendment because the governor is still making the appointment, however I believe this is a good compromise because the executive branch retains that authority but is limited to applicants who have be determined to be qualified.

Bipartisan Board of Ethics and Elections

• This amendment will change the Board of Ethics and Elections from a nine-member board to an eight-member board to make it truly bipartisan
• Currently, our Board of Ethics and Elections is a nine-member board largely appointed by the Governor
• There are 4 Republicans, 4 Democrats and 1 Unaffiliated.
• This leaves that board susceptible to political decisions rather than fair and equitable because the unaffiliated member can be strongly political in his or her convictions
• Some are opposed to this change because they say it will create gridlock,
• In reality, it will force a bipartisan decision-making process which serves the people, not the party.