I could say a lot about each of their politics, but to be honest, the scariest thing is that we know exactly who each of these Republicans will be answerable to, and it ain’t the people. Just like John Bradford was running to serve the lobbyists and the special interest groups who had asked him to run, these new opponents will all be mainly concerned with pleasing different parts of the GOP’s establishment.
And we’ve seen what the GOP’s establishment has done to our state over the last decade. I don’t know about you, but I’m not eager for more. I grew up in rural NC. I saw firsthand how they transformed the North Carolina of my childhood—an imperfect state, but a state that cared, a state that invested in its people, a state that had its communities back.
Under their leadership, our teachers can barely afford to put food on the table, many of our rural communities are withering, and 25% of all state positions are vacant because they refuse to invest.
And the Treasurer’s office is almost uniquely suited to counteract the GOP’s failures. A good Treasurer can attract talent to our state by ensuring that our teachers and other state employees have excellent healthcare and retirement benefits. A good Treasurer can invest in our communities by protecting our bond rating and using their role on the Local Government Commission to help our municipalities build much-needed infrastructure. And a good Treasurer can make wise investments with our state pension plan that will return excellent value to all our taxpayers.
But that also means that if any of these Republicans win next November, they can use the position to double down on all the ways our government has failed our municipalities, our state employees, and our taxpayers.
We have an advantage, though: we know that our message resonates. We know that our people are ready for a different path and a government that invests in their communities.
