Early voting begins Thursday, April 28 and ends May 14.

There are three early voting sites in Carteret County: Board of Elections in Beaufort, Fort Benjamin in Newport, and Western Park in Cedar Point.

Recommended candidates are:

US Senate Ted Budd

US House Tony Cowden

NC State Senate District 1 Norman Sanderson

NC State House District 13 Celeste Cairns

Carteret County Commissioner District 1 David Quinn

Carteret County Commissioner District 2 Chuck Shinn

Carteret County Commissioner District 3 Mark Mansfield

Carteret County Commissioner District 6 Chris Chadwick

Carteret County Board of Education District 1 Dana Vinson Mull

Carteret County Board of Education District District 3 Clark Jenkins

Carteret County Board of Education District 5 Brittany Wheatley

Carteret County Board of Education District 6 Kathryn Smith Chadwick

Carteret County Clerk of Court Ken Raper

Carteret County Register of Deeds Karen S. Hardesty

Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck

Supreme Court 3 Richard Dietz

Supreme Court 5 April C. Wood

Court of Appeals 8 Jules Tate Flood

Court of Appeals 9 Beth Freshwater Smith

Court of Appeals 10 John M. Tyson

Court of Appeals 11 Michael J. Stading

Ted Budd for NC Senate recommended by Donald Trump

CCTPP has been meeting in Morehead City NC every Tuesday since 2009. Meeting start time to 5:30 pm. Meetings in MHC are at Cox Family Restaurant and the meetings begin at 5:30 pm.

Our Western Carteret CCTPP meeting will continue in Cape Carteret at Ribeyes Steakhouse the first and third Tuesday at 6:30 pm.

CCTPP is undertaking an “Awareness Campaign” to remind everyone of the Biden Administration’s failure to evacuate ALL AMERICANS from Afghanistan during Biden’s botched withdrawal. The United States has a long tradition of LEAVING NO ONE BEHIND; that is until Joe Biden stole the election! No one should ever forget that Joe Biden left Americans behind and blocked the rescue of the Americans he abandoned by private organizations.

CCTPP is selling American flag pins flanked by a black ribbon to remind people of Biden’s egregious failure. The pins sell for $5 each and the funds will be used to continue our campaign and possibly future protests to highlight Biden’s failures. We hope you will buy a flag and ribbon from a CCTPP member or at select locations.

from Longleaf Pine Politics

Check out this link to find out more:

https://longleafpolitics.substack.com/p/7-big-questions-for-nc-in-2021?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo0MjQ4OTI5LCJwb3N0X2lkIjoyOTg1MzE3NCwiXyI6IkJOT2pzIiwiaWF0IjoxNjA5MzQ1NjY0LCJleHAiOjE2MDkzNDkyNjQsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0xODQ1OCIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.1CSnGnIVNRsibEDRB-R8rFTpRNCwS1WYGXT2m7joc90

Your vote counts!
Please email this link to friends and family and encourage them to vote in person.




Crystal Coast Tea Party Ballot

 

President            Donald J. Trump

U.S. Senate              Thom Tillis

U.S. House, Congress Dist 3   Greg Murphy

Governor              Dan Forest

Lieutenant Governor      Mark Robinson

State Attorney General    Jim  O’Neill

State Auditor       Anthony(Tony) Wayne Street

Agriculture Commissioner     Steve Troxler

NC Insurance Commissioner    Mike Causey

Labor Commissioner        Josh Dobson

Secretary of State        E.C. Sykes

Super of Public Instruction    Catherine Truitt

State Treasurer        Dale Folwell

NC Supreme Court Chief Justice

        Seat 1        Paul Newby

NC Supreme Court Associate Justice

        Seat 2        Phil Berger, Jr

        Seat 4        Tamara Barringer

NC Court of Appeals Judge

    `    Seat 4        April C. Wood

        Seat 5         Fred Gore

        Seat 6         Chris Dillon

        Seat 7         Jeff Carpenter             
   
        Seat 13        Jefferson G. Griffin    

NC Senate

        District 2                 Norman Sanderson

NC  House of Representatives

        District 13               Patricia(Pat) McElraft

Superior Court Judge,

        Dist 3B      Clinton D. Rowe

District Court Judge 3B

        Seat 1        Paul j. Delamar

        Seat 2        Andrew Wigmore

        Seat 3        W. David McFadyen 111

        Seat 4        L. Walter Mills

        Seat 5        Bob Cherry

        Seat 6        Clinton D. Rowe    

Board of Commissioners

        District 3    Bob Cavanaugh

        District 4    Jimmy Farrington

        District 5    Eddie Bo Wheatly

        District 6    Chris Chadwick

Board of Education

        District 2    Katie Statler

        District 3    Dennis M. Goodwin

        District 4    Travis Day

Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor

        Adam B. Lockey

 

Carteret County Sales tax one-quarter % increase: 

                 Vote FOR

School Bond   $42.000.000 + interest:

                   Vote  FOR

               PAID FOR BY TEA NC PAC

Election Day is Tuesday, March 3, 2020. You must vote on Election Day at your assigned precinct.

I am resending this Letter to the Editor of the Carteret News Times because even though it was submitted three days before their publishing deadline, the News Times refused to publish the Letter. Please forward to all you friends so that they can see the bias of the News Times in favor of Andrea Phillips Beasley. Andrea is Lockwood Phillips’ daughter, and her Uncle Walter Phillips is editor of the News Times. The following is the email from the News Times delaying publication until AFTER the election. It seems the News Times has joined the other Fake News rather than letting the public see ALL the news to make informed decisions.

Email from the News Times
Dear Mr. Lang, 

We did not have room for all the letters submitted for Sunday’s News-Times. Since yours has already been seen extensively on the Internet we are holding it until the next edition. If you would like, you can edit it to reflect that it is post-election or we will just run it as it is. 


Regards, 

Nikki Phillips 

 
Nikki Phillips
Associate Publisher
Carteret County News-Times

Letter to the Editor of the Carteret County News Times
Carteret County School Board Elections
A lot has been made of Carteret County Superintendent Mat Bottoms’ sudden retirement. He has pointed the blame at the Carteret County School Board, and asked voters to research candidates before voting. Of course, this is good advice for anyone running for elective office, but rarely done.

Bottoms wants you to believe that partisan school board elections is a major reason he retired early. But if you are over 50 you’ve heard Paul Harvey’s admonition “here’s the rest of the story.”

School Boards are elected by the voters to oversee the spending and educational programs of the school administration. The school administration is to develop educational programs and curriculum within the guidelines of the Board of Education who were elected to represent the voters’ interests and values. Unfortunately, many school administrators are confused and think the Board of Education works for them rather than those who elected them to office. 

School Administrators have used School Boards as “rubber stamps” to approve budgets and curriculum without question. This has led to inefficiency, overspending, and the introduction of curriculum, like inappropriate sex education to the very young, that is contrary to the values of parents and taxpayers. Mecklenburg County and Charlotte are prime examples of these abuses in North Carolina. A liberal sex education program patterned after the Charlotte/Mecklenburg school system has no business being implemented in Carteret County. Parents and other Carteret County citizens helped bring attention to inappropriate sex education here. The election of partisan school board members is crucial to helping prevent inappropriate programs and decisions in education. The current board has worked to maintain our values.

However, upon his announced resignation, Mat Bottoms chose to attack recent school board election changes as one of his reasons for resigning (more about that later). He claims that changes to the school board elections were done in secret. Either Mr. Bottoms was not informed of the plans to change to partisan elections, or he is knowingly misrepresenting the process of changing the election process that took place over a two and one half year process.

The procedure to change the Board of Education election process began with a draft resolution that I authored. Mr. Bottoms claimed that the resolution was done in secret. To the contrary, the draft resolution was emailed to four members of the Board of Education for comment. No request was made not to share the draft resolution with anyone. BOE members were free to share with any other BOE members or any school administrators. I received email comments from two BOE members, a phone call from one BOE member, and no response from the fourth. Two BOE members said they had NO problem with the draft resolution, and the other offered several comments that I incorporated into the draft resolution. Do you actually believe that not one of these BOE members shared this draft with anyone in the school administration? The second draft incorporating comments from the BOE was then emailed to six of the seven Board of Commissioners for review and comment. One of the commissioners did not have an email at the time. Of the six county commissioners, three expressed varying degrees of opposition. Three others were supportive, and the seventh verbally agreed with the resolution. Given that the three opposing commissioners were very close to the then school superintendent, do you believe he knew nothing about the proposed resolution like Mat Bottoms claims?

The resolution was then provided to the Carteret County NC Legislative members for review, comment, and support. Then I decided to let the issue rest for a while. When I resurrected the resolution, some BOE members had changed, and some Board of Commissioners had changed. The resolution was passed by the BOC, it was opposed by two BOE members who had previously agreed to the resolution, it was endorsed by the Carteret County GOP, and forwarded to the NC Legislature (NCLEG) as a local bill. During the NCLEG process, seven other counties signed onto and adopted partisan school board elections. That brought the total number of counties requiring partisan school board elections to over twenty one at that time, and the number of counties has now increased.

Partisan school board elections has widespread support because it provides voters with transparent information where school board members stand on critical issues like sex education and fiscal responsibility. 

Two current Republican school board candidates oppose partisan school board elections because they believe that they can compromise with Democrats on your values. Sort of like Representative Nancy Pelosi ripping up President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address. Is that the kind of compromise you want for your children? One of these school board candidates has avoided our public schools for much of her children’s education.  She private-schooled and homeschooled her children (which I applaud) but she has zero experience in public school administration. While the other school board candidate opposes partisan school board elections because she says “politics is harming Carteret County schools,” but she could not provide a single example of what harm was being done or what she would do to correct the problem at a recent public forum.

So why does Mat Bottoms not like partisan school board elections? Could it be that he doesn’t like working with the school board that actually provided oversight, but wants a school board that is a rubber stamp? Could it be that he was hired by the school board, and they are his boss representing your values and tax dollars? Might it be because he was only making $165,000 per year and asked for a raise that was not granted? Could it be because the school board knew that if they granted his raise request that they would have less money for teachers? Maybe because he told teachers there wasn’t any money in the budget for them to buy supplies (that they use their own money to buy), but he later spent on unneeded furniture? Or maybe he requested support for a referendum to build another school (that is actually needed) but he refused to provide details to the BOE as to how the money (in excess of $25 million) would be used? 

Now if I were you, I’d want my school board to know that taxpayer money was being wisely spent. Apparently Mr. Bottoms and the people he is supporting for the school board are just “RUBBER STAMPS.” 

The recent flurry of Letters to the Editor are from a small group of individuals who are taking advantage of Carteret County taxpayers. They are mostly upper middle income families like the dentist who is unnecessarily benefiting from a program to obtain “free” college credits for his children using Carteret County taxpayers money; money that could pay for more teachers in our schools. The dentist can more than afford to pay for specialized education for his own children, but takes money that could be used to help more students. There is plenty of factual information available at www.travisday.com/mast and I encourage you to do your own research.

Vote for Travis Day and Jerry Buttery who will fight for the great school system and teachers our county has and must continue to maintain.

Carteret News Times joins CNN Fake News!

Carteret County School Board Primary Elections are ongoing. March 3, 2020 it the final day you can vote, and you must vote at your assigned precinct. It is critical to vote for the best candidates, and CCTPP recommend reelecting Travis Day and electing Jerry Buttery to continue to hold the school administration accountable for expenditure of taxpayer dollars, and representing the conservative values parents in Carteret County expect. Below is some information you may find useful in making your decision.

A lot has been made of Carteret County Superintendent Mat Bottoms’ sudden retirement. He has pointed the blame at the Carteret County School Board, and asked voters to research candidates before voting. Of course, this is good advice for anyone running for elective office, but rarely done.

Bottoms wants you to believe that partisan school board elections is a major reason he retired early. But if you are over 50 you’ve heard Paul Harvey’s admonition “here’s the rest of the story.”

School Boards are elected by the voters to oversee the spending and educational programs of the school administration. The school administration is to develop educational programs and curriculum within the guidelines of the Board of Education who were elected to represent the voters’ interests and values. Unfortunately, many school administrators are confused and think the Board of Education works for them rather than those who elected them to office. 

School Administrators have used School Boards as “rubber stamps” to approve budgets and curriculum without question. This has led to inefficiency, overspending, and the introduction of curriculum, like inappropriate sex education to the very young, that is contrary to the values of parents and taxpayers. Mecklenburg County and Charlotte are prime examples of these abuses in North Carolina. A liberal sex education program patterned after the Charlotte/Mecklenburg school system has no business being implemented in Carteret County. Parents and other Carteret County citizens helped bring attention to inappropriate sex education here. The election of partisan school board members is crucial to helping prevent inappropriate programs and decisions in education. The current board has worked to maintain our values.

However, upon his announced resignation, Mat Bottoms chose to attack recent school board election changes as one of his reasons for resigning (more about that later). He claims that changes to the school board elections were done in secret. Either Mr. Bottoms was not informed of the plans to change to partisan elections, or he is knowingly misrepresenting the process of changing the election process that took place over a two and one half year process.

The procedure to change the Board of Education election process began with a draft resolution that I authored. Mr. Bottoms claimed that the resolution was done in secret. To the contrary, the draft resolution was emailed to four members of the Board of Education for comment. No request was made not to share the draft resolution with anyone. BOE members were free to share with any other BOE members or any school administrators. I received email comments from two BOE members, a phone call from one BOE member, and no response from the fourth. Two BOE members said they had NO problem with the draft resolution, and the other offered several comments that I incorporated into the draft resolution. Do you actually believe that not one of these BOE members shared this draft with anyone in the school administration? The second draft incorporating comments from the BOE was then emailed to six of the seven Board of Commissioners for review and comment. One of the commissioners did not have an email at the time. Of the six county commissioners, three expressed varying degrees of opposition. Three others were supportive, and the seventh verbally agreed with the resolution. Given that the three opposing commissioners were very close to the then school superintendent, do you believe he knew nothing about the proposed resolution like Mat Bottoms claims?

The resolution was then provided to the Carteret County NC Legislative members for review, comment, and support. Then I decided to let the issue rest for a while. When I resurrected the resolution, some BOE members had changed, and some Board of Commissioners had changed. The resolution was passed by the BOC, it was opposed by two BOE members who had previously agreed to the resolution, it was endorsed by the Carteret County GOP, and forwarded to the NC Legislature (NCLEG) as a local bill. During the NCLEG process, seven other counties signed onto and adopted partisan school board elections. That brought the total number of counties requiring partisan school board elections to over twenty one at that time, and the number of counties has now increased.

Partisan school board elections has widespread support because it provides voters with transparent information where school board members stand on critical issues like sex education and fiscal responsibility. 

Two current Republican school board candidates oppose partisan school board elections because they believe that they can compromise with Democrats on your values. Sort of like Representative Nancy Pelosi ripping up President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address. Is that the kind of compromise you want for your children? One of these school board candidates has avoided our public schools for much of her children’s education.  She private-schooled and homeschooled her children (which I applaud) but she has zero experience in public school administration. While the other school board candidate opposes partisan school board elections because she says “politics is harming Carteret County schools,” but she could not provide a single example of what harm was being done or what she would do to correct the problem at a recent public forum.

So why does Mat Bottoms not like partisan school board elections? Could it be that he doesn’t like working with the school board that actually provided oversight, but wants a school board that is a rubber stamp? Could it be that he was hired by the school board, and they are his boss representing your values and tax dollars? Might it be because he was only making $165,000 per year and asked for a raise that was not granted? Could it be because the school board knew that if they granted his raise request that they would have less money for teachers? Maybe because he told teachers there wasn’t any money in the budget for them to buy supplies (that they use their own money to buy), but he later spent on unneeded furniture? Or maybe he requested support for a referendum to build another school (that is actually needed) but he refused to provide details to the BOE as to how the money (in excess of $25 million) would be used? 

Now if I were you, I’d want my school board to know that taxpayer money was being wisely spent. Apparently Mr. Bottoms and the people he is supporting for the school board are just “RUBBER STAMPS.” 

The recent flurry of Letters to the Editor are from a small group of individuals who are taking advantage of Carteret County taxpayers. They are mostly upper middle income families like the dentist who is unnecessarily benefiting from a program to obtain “free” college credits for his children using Carteret County taxpayers money; money that could pay for more teachers in our schools. The dentist can more than afford to pay for specialized education for his own children, but takes money that could be used to help more students. There is plenty of factual information available at www.travisday.com/mast and I encourage you to do your own research.

Vote for Travis Day and Jerry Buttery who will fight for the great school system and teachers our county has and must continue to maintain.

Below is the list of candidates recommended by CCTPP in the Primary Election. Early voting is now ongoing. Election Day is March 3, 2020. On Election Day, you must vote at the precinct where you are assigned.

Eastern NC has been without representation in Congress since the passing of Congressman Walter B. Jones. Tomorrow, April 30, 2019 is your chance to elect someone to represent you in the upcoming General Election.

There are 17 Republican candidates claiming to represent conservative values precious to Eastern NC. Crystal Coast Tea Party is recommending Michael Speciale who best represents our values of Limited Government, Fiscal Responsibility, and Free Markets. 

Whomever you vote for however, please vote. Don’t be like New York’s 14th District where only 18% of Democratic voters turned out to elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

You will have to vote in your own precinct on April 30th. It will take only minutes as you only have to vote for one candidate.

If you’d like to volunteer to help at the poll tomorrow, reply to this email. If you are already signed up to help and you need supplies, some signs and candidate information has been left at Cox Family Restaurant.

Thank you for voting.

Last night, April 2, 2019, Crystal Coast TEA Party hosted five candidates or their representative at the Morehead City and Cape Carteret meetings. This brings the total of nine candidates (of 17 Republican candidates running for Third District US House of Representatives) who have addressed CCTPP members on their views and to answer questions from the floor.

Following the candidates, meeting attendees discussed pros and cons of each candidate, then voted by secret ballot on the candidate they determined to best fulfill our TEA Party principles, Fiscal Responsibility, Limited Government, and Free Markets.

The Crystal Coast TEA Party is happy to recommend Michael Speciale for Third District US House of Representatives.

The Third District is extremely fortunate to have so many highly qualified conservative candidates. The decision was a difficult one. Whichever candidate ultimately wins the Third District primary, CCTPP encourages each of the remaining candidates to stay engaged and carry the conservative banner in future local, state, and federal elections. To the ultimate primary winner, we got your back too!

North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District special election, 2019

• Primary: April 30
• General election: September 10
• Voter registration deadline: April 5 (primary), August 16 (general)
• Early voting: August 22 – September 7

• Absentee voting deadline: September 3 (request), September 10 (return)
• Online registration: No
• Same-day registration: Yes
• Voter ID: Photo ID required
• Poll times: 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

A special election to fill the seat representing North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House will be held in 2019. Primaries are scheduled for April 30, 2019, and primary runoffs are scheduled for July 9, 2019. The general election will be held September 10, 2019. However, if no primary runoffs are held, the general election date will move to July 9, 2019. The filing deadline was March 8, 2019.^[1][2]

The special election will fill the vacancy left by Walter Jones (R), who died on February 10, 2019.^[3]

North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District is located in the eastern portion of the stateand includes all or parts of Currituck, Camden, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Chowan, Tyrrell, Dare, Hyde, Beaufort, Pamlico, Carteret, Pitt, Craven, Onslow, Jones, Lenoir, and Greene.^[4]

Candidates and election results

General election candidates

General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Primary candidates

• Richard Bew (D)
• Gregory Humphrey (D)
• Ike Johnson (D)
• Dana Outlaw (D)
• Ernest Reeves (D)
• Allen Thomas (D)
• Kevin Baiko (R)
• Paul Beaumont (R)
• Graham Boyd (R)
• Celeste Cairns (R)
• Gary Ceres (R)
• Chimer Davis Clark Jr. (R)
• Don Cox (R)
• Francis De Luca (R)
• Phil Law (R)
• Jeff Moore (R)
• Gregory Murphy (R)
• Michele Nix (R)
• Mike Payment (R)
• Joan Perry (R)
• Eric Rouse (R)
• Phillip Shepard (R)
• Michael Speciale (R)
• Greg Holt (Constitution Party)
• Shannon Bray  (L)
• Tim Harris  (L)

Withdrew, disqualified, or did not make ballot

• Sandy Smith
• Ollie Nelson

Click on link to get more information about the candidates.

Crystal Coast Tea Party is inviting all candidates that want to introduce their platforms to attend one of our meetings. CCTPP meets every Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Cox Family Restaurant in Morehead City, and the first and third Tuesday of each month at Ribeyes Steakhouse in Cape Carteret at 6:30 p.m.

NC House Representative Greg Murphy will be attending our meeting in Morehead City on March 26th, and at the Cape Carteret meeting on April 2nd. Michelle Nix’s husband John will be attending tonights meeting in Morehead City in Michelle’s place.

The above candidate information came from Ballotpedia, https://ballotpedia.org/North_Carolina%27s_3rd_Congressional_District_special_election,_2019

Add to the earlier list:

Republicans

Celeste Cairns

Libertarian

Shannon Wilson Bray

This Tuesday, March 5, Jeff Moore from Carteret County will attend the CCTPP meeting at Cox Family Restaurant in MHC at 6 p.m. Jeff is running for the US Congress to fill Walter Jones’ seat in the US House.

On March 26, Dr. Greg Murphy from Greenville will attend the CCTPP meeting at Cox Family Restaurant in MHC at 6 p.m. Greg is also a candidate for the US Congress to fill Congressman Jones’ seat in the US House.

Dr. Murphy will attend the April 2 meeting in Cape Carteret at Ribeye Steakhouse at 6:30 p.m. 

Both Jeff Moore and Dr. Greg Murphy follow Phil Law and Michelle Nix, also 23rd District candidates, who have attended earlier CCTPP meetings to introduce themselves to conservative voters in Carteret County.

Two Democrats have also joined the 3rd District race, New Bern Mayor Dana Outlaw and Daryl Farrow.

See the article below for more information on who is running:
https://www.witn.com/content/news/Candidate-filing-for-3rd-Congressional-District-begins-today-506644191.html

Governor Roy Cooper has announced a Special Election to elect someone to the US Congress representing the NC Third District. Details for this special election were sent to you in an earlier email. The purpose of this email is to provide you information as to who we know is running to date, to provide some background information on these candidates, to encourage you to attend Crystal Coast Tea Party meetings to meet the candidates, and to vote in the Special Election.

To date, the follow people has announced they will be running for the NC Third District race to fill Congressman Jones’ seat:

Republican

Phil Law
Jeff Moore
NC State Representative Greg Murphy
Michelle Nix
NC State Representative Phil Sheppard
Sandy Smith
NC State Representative Michael Speciale

Democrat

Ollie Nelson

Below, you will find short Bio’s printed on some of the candidates in the News and Observer (so consider their liberal bias when reviewing these summaries):

Phil Law –

Law grew up near Winston-Salem and joined the Marines upon his high school graduation. He saw combat in Iraq and also served in Kosovo and Liberia during his four years in the Marines. A married father of three, Law lives in Jacksonville and works in information technology. He said he will stand behind President Donald Trump on issues, including combating illegal immigration.

“President Trump is fighting for us every day and needs our support, which I will stress each day on the campaign trail. We cannot allow radical Democratic officials to nullify the vote of the people through phony impeachment charges. If this is to become President Trump’s Alamo, then I will stand with him to the very end — win or lose,” Law said in a statement announcing his candidacy on Jan. 14, 2019.

Read more here: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article226775819.html#storylink=cpyJeff Moore – 

Moore, who worked in McCrory’s administration on economic and workforce development policy, is a native of Carteret County. Moore, a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, worked in financial services and now is a geopolitical risk consultant. He also worked as a reporter for the North State Journal. A married father of two, Moore lists immigration as his top issue.

“The leftist push for amnesty for illegal aliens and protection from law enforcement in sanctuary cities rips at the fabric of civil society. Every town should cooperate fully with ICE, and we should empower those protecting our homeland to do their jobs,” Moore writes on his campaign website.

Read more here: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article226775819.html#storylink=cpy

Greg Murphy – 
Murphy represent NC House District 9 in the Legislature. A urological surgeon, Murphy is a practicing physician. As a medical missionary, Murphy has traveled to Haiti, India, and Africa. In the State House, he introduced legislation to stop misuse of opioids. A married father of three, Murphy attended high school in Raleigh and lives in Greenville. Murphy’s platform includes calls for lower taxes, less government, more liberty and the promotion of personal responsibility.

“My vote will never be turned over to any person or party. It belongs to the people,” Murphy said in a statement announcing his candidacy.

Read more here: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article226775819.html#storylink=cpy

Michelle Nix – 
The vice chair of the North Carolina Republican Party, Nix calls herself a “conservative patriot” on her Twitter account. She filed paperwork to run in February. Nix, from Kinston, worked at First Citizens Investor Services for nearly 18 years, according to her LinkedIn account. In October, Nix posted a photo on Instagram that some Democrats called racist. It featured a white hand making the “OK” symbol and a dark-colored hand making a fist.

Read more here: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article226775819.html#storylink=cpy

Phil Sheppard – A pastor at Lighthouse Baptist Church, Shepard is in his fifth term representing Onslow County in the NC House. He was born in Jacksonville, attended Coastal Carolina Community College and has lived in Onslow County all of his life, he said in a candidate questionnaire last fall.

Read more here: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article226775819.html#storylink=cpy

Sandy Smith –
Smith has never run for political office before, according to her campaign website. She calls herself the “breath of fresh air” that the Republican Party needs. Smith is married and has four adult children, including a daughter who enlisted in the Marines. She and her husband have a sustainable farm in Ayden, raising free-range pigs and bees. She is a graduate of East Carolina University, who has lived all over the country but settled in Eastern North Carolina.

“Yes, we have the most women ever in congress, which is truly a great thing,” Smith writes on her website. “The problem is we have the wrong women in congress. The time is imperative now that we put the right women in congress. I am a Strong Republican Women that love this great country, respect our President and is truly proud to embraces all of America’s Greatness.”Read more here: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article226775819.html#storylink=cpy

Michael Speciale – 
Speciale, who was born in Chicago, is in his fourth term in the NC House representing Craven County. He joined the Marines and spent much of his career at Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point. Speciale is married with two children and eight grandchildren.

Speciale made headlines throughout his term in the NC House. In 2017, he introduced a bill to make gay marriage illegal again in the state in defiance with of a US Supreme Court ruling. The same year, he wanted the state’s constitutional ban on secession dropped. In 2015, Speciale shared a Facebook post that referred to President Barack Obama as that “Islamic son of a bitch.” He made fun of aimed at requiring dog breeders to exercise their animals and to use humane euthanasia, according to previous News and Observer reporting.

“Exercise on a daily basis — if I kick him across the floor, is that daily exercise?” Speciale said during floor debate in 2013. “Euthanasia performed humanely — so I should choose the ax or the baseball bat?”

Speciale played up those headlines in his campaign announcement.

“He is unapologetic for what he believes and has made media headlines for standing strong for those positions,” the statement said.

Read more here: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article226775819.html#storylink=cpy

NOTE: It appears the N & O doesn’t like Representative Speciale very much.

For some unexplained reason, the News and Observer provided no specific information on Ollie Nelson.

All of the above candidates are invited to come and speak to Crystal Coast Tea Party. Phil Law and Michelle Nix have already attended one or more meetings to explain the positions and answer questions. Jeff Moore plans to attend our next meeting on Tuesday, March 5 at Cox Family Restaurant in Morehead City at 6 p.m. We encourage you to come and learn more about each candidate.

Crystal Coast Tea Party has two meeting locations. We meet every Tuesday at Cox Family Restaurant in Morehead City at 6 p.m. and at Ribeye Steakhouse in Cape Carteret the first and third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m.

Just click on the link below to learn why to vote “YES” on all six of the NC Constitutional Amendments.

https://mailchi.mp/davidlewis/capitol-connection-zb6kevdztr?e=67b9f007a5