Neely Enjoys Gubernatorial Campaign Run on Message Not Money

Raleigh Attorney Chuck Neely uses the microphone like a megaphone. He is trying to amplify his message without using a big bank account to do it.

"Money is not everything. Message is everything," he says. "Money helps, but you've got to have a message. And you've got to have some core convictions and beliefs and principles, and I've got that in spades."

Neely is running on a platform that includes more than $500 million in proposed tax cuts. He will accomplish that by cutting state spending.

Strengthening families is a centerpiece of Neely's message.

"How do we give parents control over education? How do we lower the taxes on working families? How do we deal with some of the cultural issues, like domestic violence and child support? I think those are real serious issues," he says.

In the General Assembly, Neely was assigned to the Finance and Judiciary committees and focused on taxation, so why such emphasis now on family matters?

"As governor, you need to look out over the whole horizon of what it is that makes this state work or not work," he says. "And if you look at that, you realize that it is the weakening of family structures -- the inability of many of our children to succeed in life -- that's the principal issue that we need to be focused on."

Neely is convinced that he is carrying a message and a passion that a campaign war chest just cannot buy.

"I think what I have that none of the others have is a message that reaches out and that deals with the concerns of the people," he says.

Neely says he is really enjoying the campaign.

"I like the response that I'm getting from people as I go across the state," he says.

Voters head to the polls for the election primaries Tuesday, May 2.