MARGARET DICKSON: Yardstick to see if N.C. candidates measure up
Saturday, March 10, 2018 -- Because of ongoing and deeply rooted partisan gridlock in Washington, who is elected to the N.C. General Assembly matters even more. Here are several issues to post on your fridge to evaluate candidates for the state Senate and House between now and the November election.
Posted — UpdatedFiling for elective office in North Carolina has closed and the stakes for those of us who live here are higher than ever. Candidates for offices from U.S. House of Representatives to local soil-and-water commissions put their money down, signed on the dotted line and tossed their hats into the 2018 rough and tumble campaign ring.
The good news is that voter interest is high, at least for now, which indicates spirited contests. The bad news is that 2018 is a “blue moon” election year, with the highest offices on the ballot being Congress and the state General Assembly contests that do not generally bring out voters the way presidential and gubernatorial races do.
Here are several issues to post on your fridge to evaluate candidates for the state Senate and House between now and the November election.
Legislators are not scheduled to return until May, and a lot of water from the Cape Fear and from private wells is going to be drunk from Fayetteville to Wilmington between now and then. Meanwhile, the underfunded state Division of Water Quality continues to cite Chemours for GenX contamination but lacks teeth to back up their actions. How on earth is it responsible behavior by our elected officials not to fund efforts to address water contamination and its effects on the people they are supposed to represent?
Candidates of all political stripes always say: “This election is the most important one of our lifetime.” Maybe so, and maybe not, but no one can argue that 2018 will be a watershed for our state.
Do we want more of the same gerrymandering, lack of transparency, underfunding of public education and health care, and an ongoing disregard of our environment? Or, do we want a fresh breeze and sunlight to blow through Congress and the General Assembly?
I cannot imagine why any voter would favor the former, and it is our responsibility to find out where candidates stand on these issues. We must not let them bamboozle us or slither away without answering our questions directly.
We have until Nov. 6th to pin them down.
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