As of 9am today, early voting in the May 2014 primary election is underway. That means it's time for the annual OrangePolitics endorsement thread where we ask you, if you feel so inclined, to share with the community who you are voting for (or would vote for) and why.
Here is our list of all of the candidates with links to their websites and social media. You can also review all the information about this year's races that we have here on OP, including:
- Our 2014 Carrboro Board of Aldermen special election forum
- Our 2014 Orange County Board of Education forum
- Our 2014 questionnaire for candidates running for Register of Deeds
- Our recap from the Orange County Democratic Party's Sheriff candidates forum
- Our 2014 Orange County Sheriff Forum
- Our 2014 Orange County Board of Commissioners forum (taking place Sunday night at 7pm at this link, so check back then!)
As always, this is a special-rules post. The rules: Only write who you're voting for (and why, if you like). You may also list the people you would vote for if you lived in their districts. Do not refer in any way to to any candidates you are not supporting. If you don't follow the rules, your comment will be removed. You're free to critique the candidates through comments on other posts or by posting your own blog entry. In fact, you're warmly invited to do so!
Issues:
Comments
I'm voting to re-elect Deborah Brooks as.....
Register of Deeds.I have known Deborah for the 38 years she has worked for the Register of Deeds Office in Hillsborough, 4 years as the Register of Deeds (ROD). For 28 of those years I worked with her as Land Records Manager/GIS Director of Orange County.Deborah was trained, nurtured and promoted by two of NC's best ROD's and Democrats, Betty June Hayes and Joyce Pearson. Like them she has done a good job and deserves re-election.Like Betty June and Joyce, Deborah has carefully evolved the procedures and technology of the office to create and maintain the County's land title and vital records, making sure that document high standards and integrity are required in processing and access. Deborah knows that you can't just throw new technology at the records, that the process of obtaining and implementing technology requires extensive evaluation and testing, that there are no off-the-shelf systems that can perform the office's record creation and maintenance. She knows that changes in technology must be made with the taxpayer in mind so the citizen gets the best product for the least money.Deborah has worked hard to provide office professional users the access they need to records while still securing her warrant of their accuracy and integrity. She has continued to use and support the PIN system of real property indexing that is a leading edge online tool of title searching in North Carolina. She has also worked hard to cooperate with the County in providing extensive land records info to citizens on their home computers. Deborah is highly dedicated to the citizen receiving friendly, helpful and accurate service whether in her office or on their computer.Deborah has stated clearly her support of equal rights and her opposition to all discrimination. While her oath of office requires her to issue marriage licenses according to NC law, she looks forward and supports changes to the laws that will allow her to issue a marriage license to gay couples.Deborah is a lifetime resident of Orange County with an extensive family in the northern part of the County. She is a staunch Democrat. All these things about Deborah that I have described to you I have personally witnessed. I urge you to vote for the re-election of Deborah Brooks for Register of Deeds.
Deborah Brooks, Barry Jacobs, David Caldwell
Roscoe did such a thorough job of explaining all Deborah's strengths and abilities, all that I can add is that she's also just a really nice person.Barry is a leader. He gets his facts rights. I trust him.David is up against some strong candidates, and I think it is inevitable there will be a run off election. I like David's background, a good mix of technical and social experience. He's level headed, calm, and seems very trustworthy to me.
Mark Chilton for Register of Deeds
I reserve the right to add to this later, but for now, I think Billy Sugarfix says enough.
Endorsements - Especially Robin Hudson
BOCC: Jacobs, Burroughs (my district)RoD: Chilton And, if you care about the courts and justice, please, please go vote for Robin Hudson for the NC supreme court. Stop what you are doing and go vote for her now. Maintaining her seat at this critical time in NC is very important.
Theresa Watson for Alderman
If I lived in Carrboro I would vote for Theresa Watson. I've known her for almost 10 years since I taught one of her sons. Theresa is the only registered Democrat running for Alderman. She has worked with many groups in town and is has been an advocate for children.Loren