Reeves may be an incumbent, but he does not see many familiar faces on the campaign trail. Because of redistricting, 70 percent of voters in District 16 are new. Reeves said he is talking about the same issues current Raleigh mayor Charles Meeker used to unseat Coble last year.
"Our key issues are clear-cutting of trees, trying to reduce sprawl and promote smart growth," Reeves said.
Coble would rather talk about the state budget crisis, and why he believes lawmakers like Reeves helped create it.
"The issues are the state budget and the out-of-control spending of our leadership in the Senate," Coble said.
On the subject of sprawl, Coble points out that during the budget crisis, the Legislature took $225 million out of a fund designated to build new roads.
"When I was mayor of Raleigh, we did two bond issues that built roads and parks that the state of North Carolina would not fund," he said.
"Ninety-four percent of our budget deals with health services, education, police protection. What are you going to cut?" Reeves said.
The election will take place on Tuesday, November 5.
• Credits
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