The Other Stuff on the Ballot – May 2008 Edition

So you’ve got Barack and Hillary all figured out, but what else is on the ballot?Yes, it’s my periodic profile of the lesser known races on the ballot this May. I will be partisan and leave it to some other writer to profile the Republican Primaries (there are some). And I am skipping over the US President, NC Governor and US Senate races, presuming that you can find some good info on those somewhere else. I am also skipping the Orange School Board and the District 2 Commissioner races because I don't live in either of those districts and have not really followed those races.So what else is out there? A bunch of stuff and some of it is even fairly important. I have bolded below the names of folks that I think are the clear choice. In a few races you will see two bolded names in cases where I think progressive voters have an interesting choice to make. I personally have an opinion about those races as well and that may come through in my commentary.Lieutenant Governor – No Incumbent There are four candidates for Lieutenant Governor, but only two of them seem to have much of a following in this area: Hampton Dellinger and Dan Besse. Both Hamp and Dan are very good guys and both are experienced attorneys (if those two statements are not self-contradictory). The Lieutenant Governor has an important role in presiding over the NC Senate, but is even more important because s/he becomes Governor in the event that the Governor leaves office before his or her term is up. From that perspective, it seems to me that the real question is: Who is the more experienced candidate?Hampton Dellinger has served as an aid to the Governor on the judicial selection process, worked at the NAACP headquarters in Baltimore to reorganize the group in the mid 1990s, served on the NC Business Laws and the Economy Commission and the Governor's Advisory Council on Hispanic/Latino Affairs.Dan Besse has served as a Winston-Salem City Council Member adopting a greenways plan, clean air action strategies, “big box” development rules, a bicycle plan, a parks and open space plan, and fuel efficiency/clean vehicle policies. Dan also serves or has served on the N.C. Climate Action Plan Advisory Group, Transportation Advisory Committee, the N.C. Environmental Management Commission, the N.C. Sedimentation Control Commission, the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission, and N.C. Emergency Response Commission. Dan has been endorsed by the North Carolina Progressive Democrats caucus group.State Auditor – Republican Incumbent Two candidates are seeking to replace incumbent Republican Les Merritt: Beth Wood: "During her tenure in the State Auditor’s Office, Beth was instrumental in bringing the state’s compliance supplements up to federal standards, ensuring that federal grants are being used as intended. She was a leader in redesigning the Auditor’s Office training program to make training more relevant to state auditors’ work. And she helped develop employee evaluations that better reflected the job performance of Auditor’s Office employees."Fred Aikens: "I have more than 28 years experience working in the public sector with oversight and management responsibilities in two of the largest agencies in State Government. I know the operations of State Government and believe we need a State Auditor who will not only audit the financial columns but also help the Executive and Legislative Branches improve the performance of State Government."Frankly, they both sound like they have a lot of experience in state government, but Beth sounds like she has a lot more experience as an auditor. Both of them promise the same bland platitudes that all Auditor candidates always promise, so it seems like experience would have to be the decisive consideration.Commissioner of Insurance – No Incumbent Incumbent Commissioner Jim Long is passing the torch to former NC Rep. Wayne Goodwin, having formally endorsed Goodwin. Goodwin is an upstanding public servant, who ran a few years ago for Labor Commissioner. He currently serves as the Assistant Commissioner of Insurance. David C. Smith is the other challenger and he has been policy research director for the Lt. Governor and currently works as an attorney practicing in the area of insurance law. Frankly, they both sound well qualified to me and I admire the fact that both of them have taken the bold step of endorsing controversial proposals to lower auto insurance rates. What a surprise.Commissioner of Labor – Republican Incumbent Four challengers are vying for the Democratic nod, hoping to take on current Republican Commissioner Cherie Berry (pronounced so that the two names rhyme with one another). John C. Brooks would seem to be the most likely of the challengers having served as NC’s Labor Commissioner for 16 years from 1977 to 1993. Certainly he is the most qualified candidate. On the other hand it was Brooks who was at the helm in 1991 when fire inspections failed to prevent the Hamlet chicken plant fire that killed 25 workers. I think it is a reach to pin that on Commissioner Brooks, but still, it was his department.Ty Richardson has been involved in state government for a good while, having helped elect Jim Hunt as Governor and having tried to help elect Howard Lee as Lt. Governor. The information I found did not suggest any special qualifications he might have for this office, but perhaps there are some that I am simply unaware of.Robin Anderson seems a little more promising in that she is an attorney who serves as Chair of the State Personnel Commission, suggesting at least that she is knowledgeable about the relevant area of law.Based on my internet research, I am leaning toward Mary Fant Donnan who was the former director of Policy Research for the Labor Department for 7 years in the 1990’s and who now works at the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation in Winston-Salem. She sounds like she knows a lot about labor law and labor policy.Superintendent of Public Instruction I have yet to hear any real reason why we should unseat incumbent Superintendent June Atkinson. The challenger is Eddie Davis.  State Treasurer – No Incumbent Most folks in Orange County seem to be supporting NC Senator Janet Cowell in her bid for the State Treasurer’s office. Cowell has been a Democratic leading light in the Senate. Michael Weisel and David Young are also running in this race.NC Senate District 23 I am not sure that I can add a lot to the discussion on this race. County Commissioner Moses Carey is challenging incumbent Senator Ellie Kinnaird. Some say that Carey would be more effective if elected, others say Kinnaird is more progressive and has been an effective advocate and conscience for the state. The “effectiveness” argument has a little traction based on reputation, although Senator Kinnaird was recently named the 23rd most effective legislator in North Carolina which is certainly not a shabby showing. Particularly because she achieved that ranking despite sometimes standing up to the Democratic leadership in the Senate when it comes to protecting public employees, people with disabilities and other folks that the NC Senate doesn’t seem to care about very much. All that said, Moses has worked long and hard for Orange County and I am sure he will continue to be an important community leader, win or lose.Orange County Commissioner At-Large – No Incumbent The candidates are Neloa Barbee Jones, Bernadette Pellissier and Mary M. Wolff. Ms. Wolff has not come to any candidate forums and is (to date) the only candidate that has managed to be still more mystifying than her husband, Kevin Wolff (erstwhile Chapel Hill Mayoral candidate and current Republican Primary candidate for this same County Commissioner seat). Can’t tell you what the Wolff household is up to here, but I think we can see that it scarcely matters.Neloa Jones has been a frequent contributor here on OP and is a passionate voice for the Rogers Road area. Neloa has been spirited in this race and is running more strongly than I expected.Bernadette Pelissier has been involved in the local community for a long time, having been on the County Planning Board and having served as the President of the local chapter of the Sierra Club among other things.Ya’ll can probably find plenty of information on this race on other threads on OP. So I will stop there.  Transfer Tax Referendum This is another one that has gotten a lot of discussion elsewhere on OP. My support for the tax has been widely publicized already, so I won’t even pretend to give you both sides of the argument here. The tax would be 4/10ths of a percent on the sale of any piece of real estate in Orange County (paid by the seller at the time of sale). The money will be used for parks and schools. You can vote FOR or AGAINST.Court of Appeals Judge (Wynn Seat) These judicial races are all non-partisan these days, although that appears to mean only that the party affiliations are not listed on the ballot – the elections are still quite partisan. Anyway, there is surely no good reason that we would want to replace incumbent Judge James Wynn. His two opponents are both conservative Republicans.Court of Appeals Judge (Tyson Seat) The democrats that are challenging Republican incumbent Judge Tyson are Sam Ervin IV and Kristin Ruth. Ervin will probably win because of his primary qualification: Being the son of a former US Senator from North Carolina. Ervin has served under both Gov. Easley and Gov. Hunt on the North Carolina Utilities Commission (which does not give me reason to hope). Judge Ruth is an experienced trial court attorney from Wake County. Her work on child support issues has been highlighted by the News & Observer and she seems like the better choice to me.District Court JudgeThere are three candidates running: Page Vernon, Lamar Proctor and Glenn Gerding. The attorneys that I know who work in district court seem to be leaning mostly toward Page Vernon and I am voting for her, but Glenn Gerding does seem to have some popular support as well, having endorsements from several local elected officials in the OC. Glenn was the only candidate who showed up at the OP Happy Hour a few weeks ago and I think he made a favorable impression on folks there.