The choice is about what you want candidates to do in office

While it is “who” voters cast their ballots for in primaries and elections, it is all really about “what” they want – or don’t want – as matters of public policy and government services that motivates most citizens.

Rarely is a campaign for public office predominantly a congeniality contest.

It is not our general practice to endorse specific candidates but there are sets of government policy and practice priorities that are critical to North Carolina. Where candidates stand on the following critical issues should guide voters’ choices of the nominees they’ll be selecting in the primary for the fall general election.

Regardless of where any candidates stand or the partisan or ideological leanings of any eligible voter – we urge all those qualified to vote – either during the early voting period through Saturday May 14 or on primary voting day Tuesday May 17. You can find information on voting from the North Carolina State Board of Elections online here.      

 Before voting, find out where candidates stand on the following critical matters. We urge support of those state and local candidates who will:

DEFEND NORTH CAROLINA’S CONSTITUTION and the right of every child to have access to a quality education. That means supporting full implementation and funding of the Comprehensive Remedial Program the plaintiffs and defendants in the landmark Leandro case have developed and agreed to. This remedy is more than a quarter-century overdue. Along with this:

*    Demand accountability of the private schools that receive hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in the form of vouchers. Today those schools get a blank check allowing them to discriminate in admissions and with no requirement to show students are learning – or even attending class.
*    Provide a statewide bond issue to help local schools finance critical construction work to build new schools and upgrade current facilities to provide for smaller class sizes and access to the most current learning tools and materials.

RESTORE INTEGRITY TO THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF GOVERNORS AND UNC SYSTEM by ending the hyper-partisanship of appointments of the board, campus trustees and key campus administrators. A recent report from the American Association of University Professors calling out alarming trends in the UNC System relating to governance and academic freedom, as well as to a toxic climate of institutional racism coupled with a downgrade in the accreditation of the UNC-Chapel Hill Hussman School of Journalism and Media, related to concerns over diversity and race. “The controversy surrounding the decision by Nikole Hannah-Jones to turn down a tenured, endowed chair at the school exposed long-standing problems. Many stem from inconsistencies in executing the goals in the 2016 Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan,” said the accreditation team. 

GIVE ALL NORTH CAROLINIANS A VOICE in their representative government by adopting non-partisan criteria and a non-partisan system for drawing congressional, legislative and other elective district lines. For too long, too many citizens have been left without a fair voice in Congress or the halls of the state legislature because of the hyper-partisan and racially discriminatory way election districts have been established. Sure politics is politics, but no one should be denied a full voice because of where they live, the color of their skin or the political party they happen to be affiliated with.

ASSURE NO ONE IS DENIED ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE because they cannot afford it. Expanding Medicaid – too long forbidden – will give more than a half-million North Carolinians access to health care they cannot afford now. The failure, since 2014 to expand Medicaid at very little state expense hasn’t just cost the health of low-income citizens, it has jeopardized struggling rural hospitals.

STOP SHIFTING THE BURDEN OF PAYING FOR GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS AND SERVICES TO THOSE WHO CAN LEAST AFFORD IT by ending corporate tax cuts and adopting a more balanced system where businesses pay their fair share. Dramatic business tax cuts along with personal income tax cuts that have most benefitted those making the most money, means those who make the least must shoulder a bigger portion of the costs.

PROTECT THOSE WHO STAFF OUR STATE’S PRISONS AND JAILS as well as those who are incarcerated by providing appropriate compensation so these facilities are properly staffed and equipped with current technology. These facilities need to be secure and safe.

ENCOURAGE ALL ELIGIBLE VOTERS TO CAST BALLOTS by enacting laws to make voting easier and more accessible. Discourage actions that will make it more difficult or cumbersome for properly registered citizens to exercise their civic duty.

See you at the polls.