Wilmington, NC - Many local Republican and Unaffiliated voters have already cast their votes in the 2022 Republican primary election. But many more plan to vote tomorrow (May 17th), or may decide its not worth their time to participate, and skip voting altogether. The latter group may think that their only concern is to ensure that the Democrats lose, and that Republican candidates are victorious in November no matter who they are or what they stand for. We can not stress enough how such ambivalence about our primary process is dangerous to the cause of individual liberty, our Constitution, and to traditional Republican values of limited government, low taxes, and fiscal responsibility. There are so many elected Republicans who have claimed they were "conservatives" during the campaign season, only to act far more like liberal Democrats when they got into office. These RINOs are far more dangerous than a Democrat. Democrats are a known threat to traditional Republican values. But the RINO is a snake, that hides in the grass, and can inflict immense damage. The primary process allows voters an opportunity to "weed out" the snakes before they get into office.
While voting in primary elections is extremely important, it is equally important that you do your homework before you vote. Bill Rivenbark and Deb Hayes claimed they were conservatives when they were voted on to the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners in 2020. Yet they refused to do anything to stop the Countywide mask mandate last year, and were happy to increase our property taxes and give themselves a raise in the process. Stephanie Kraybill claimed she held Republican values when she was voted on to the New Hanover County Board of Education in 2020. Yet she has supported school mask mandates, Critical Race Theory, and even transgender sports in our middle schools.
If we don't want a repeat of this hypocrisy, voters need to dig deeper than a candidate's slogans and sound bytes. We need to determine what the candidates' detailed and specific views on the issues are. The best way you can do this is by reviewing the candidate's responses to the New Hanover RLC's comprehensive candidate surveys. Every Republican candidate running for the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners and the New Hanover County Board of Education was sent an appropriate survey for their race and asked to participate. Two of the four candidates for Board of Commissioners and one of the five candidates for Board of Education declined to submit a survey. The failure of these candidates to place their views on the issues on to the record should tell you something. The six candidates who did respond to our comprehensive surveys should be commended for their transparency, regardless of whether the New Hanover RLC endorsed them or not.
If you have not yet voted in the 2022 Republican primary then we ask you to carefully review the survey responses of all the candidates before you vote on Tuesday. An educated voter is fundamental to the cause of individual liberty,
New Hanover County Board of Commissioners (2 seats available)
- Harry Knight (Endorsed)
- Tom Toby
- LeAnn Pierce (Not Submitted)
- Joe Irrera (Not Submitted)
New Hanover County Board of Education (4 seats available)
- Melissa Mason (Endorsed)
- Chris Sutton
- Pat Bradford
- Josie Barnhart
- Pete Wildeboar (Not Submitted)
Obviously we would like you to vote for Harry Knight and for Melissa Mason. We believe that they are principled patriots that will fight for the values that make our country great, and that they will NOT disappoint! But since multiple seats are available on each of these local government boards, we hope that the survey responses of the other candidates will help guide you towards making an educated vote on Tuesday.