By Tammy Wilson
Staff Writer
This November, who will you see on the ballot at our local, Jackson County, polling place? Of course, the two Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain. In addition to their names there will be Bob Barr from the Libertarian party and three qualified write-ins, Cynthia McKinney, Brian Moore and Ralph Nader. With the exceptions of the write-ins, these will only be the most advertised and researched candidates. Our job as North Carolinians is to also vote in favor of the best interest of our state and local area. For that to happen we need to find out who is on the ballot in our county, what, and how, they plan to improve Jackson County, North Carolina.
To represent North Carolinians at the federal level in the U.S. Senate, our choices are between Elizabeth Dole (Republican), Kay Hagan (Democrat), Christopher Cole (Libertarian), and qualified write in Walker Fry Rucker. Elizabeth Dole, Republican, is currently our U.S. Senate Representative. Her prime competition comes from a ten year veteran of the N.C. State Senate, Kay Hagan.
Running for the office of U.S. Congress District 11 are Heath Shuler (Democrat), Carl Mumpower (Republican), and Keith Smith (Libertarian). Heath Shuler is running for his second term as Congressman of District 11. In congress one of the issues Shuler works for is balancing the budget. Carl Mumpower previously served two terms as Vice-Mayor for Ashville. Keith Smith is trying to become the first Libertarian elected to Congress.
For Governor Bev Perdue (Democrat), Pat McCrory (Republican), and Michael C. Munger (Libertarian) are the runners. Bev Perdue is the current Lieutenant Governor and her goal is to make North Carolinians the healthiest and best educated citizens in the United States. Pat McCrory has served seven terms as Mayor of Charlotte and is the first to serve so many terms. Michael C Munger is a professor of Public Policy and Economics at Duke
University.
John J. Snow Jr. (Democrat) is running against staunch Republican Susan C Pons for the NC Senate District 50. Susan sincerely believes in patriotism and bringing it back to schools by requiring the singing of the National Anthem.
Phil Haire (Democrat) is the current Representative in the NC State House District 119. He is running against Dodie Allen (Republican). Dodie has participated in many community service ventures and has been a member of several political organizations.
These are the choices we will have on the November 2008 ballot. If you need to know more than to what party each candidate belongs, to make a decision there are some websites that are available for more information that may help you make informed choices during the forthcoming election:
http://www.elizabethdole.org/, http://dole.senate.gov/public/, http://munger4governorncgov.com, http://www.cherokeesentinel.com/news/2008/0402/front_page/002.html
http://www.ncleg.net, www.dodie2008.com/, http://shuler.house.gov/, www.mumpower08.com/, http://www.electkeithsmith.com/