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Easley, Ballantine Agree To Two Debates First Debate On Oct. 4 Covers Only Education; Oct. 15 Debate Will Be 'Free Flowing'POSTED: 11:56 am EDT September 29, 2004 UPDATED: 1:14 pm EDT September 29, 2004 RALEIGH, N.C. -- The great debate over the debates is over. Democratic Gov. Mike Easley and Republican challenger Patrick Ballantine have agreed to debate each other twice before the Nov. 2 election. Easley and Ballantine will face each other Monday, Oct. 4, in a one-hour, education-only debate organized in part by the Public School Forum of North Carolina. The 11 a.m. debate at the SAS auditorium...

Republican challenger Patrick Ballantine has pulled out of his only scheduled debate with Gov. Mike Easley, citing Easley's unwillingness to commit to any other forums. (snip) The N.C. Association of Broadcasters tried to work out a statewide debate but pulled its offer to organize a forum this week. "The governor kept giving us obstacles as to why he did not wish to accept our proposal for a debate," said Clay Milstead, who chairs the broadcast group's debate committee and works for WCTI-TV in New Bern. (snip) "We told them we didn't have to do it that way, that we were...

SEANC backs Ballantine, who backs raises Published: Sep 1, 2004 By AMY GARDNER, Staff Writer The State Employees Association of North Carolina's political committee endorsed Republican gubernatorial candidate Patrick Ballantine on Tuesday -- the first time ever the group has supported a Republican for statewide office. The endorsement is a rebuke to Democratic Gov. Mike Easley, who led state government through a three-year budget crisis during which state workers received paltry pay increases. "Patrick has a clear desire to have us at the table when he puts together his budget and when he develops policy and procedure," said Dana Cope,...

Few expected Ballantine's narrow victory over Vinroot, 30.3 percent to 30 percent. And the early end of the governor's primary season is causing some observers to rethink the chances that Gov. Mike Easley, a Democrat, will win re-election.

July 22, 2004 at 16:57:24 PDT Ex-Charlotte Mayor Drops GOP Governor Bid By GARY D. ROBERTSON ASSOCIATED PRESS RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot said Thursday he will not seek a runoff for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, leaving former state Sen. Patrick Ballantine as the nominee to challenge Gov. Mike Easley in November. "I have made a spiritual decision in this case," Vinroot said. "My choice today is not to call for a runoff. I'm going to respect the decision of the voters." Ballantine finished slightly ahead of Vinroot in Tuesday's six-person primary, with each getting about...

RALEIGH,N.C. -- Richard Vinroot announced Thursday afternoon that he will not call for a runoff in the GOP Gubernatorial election, thus handing the Republican nomination to primary winner Patrick Ballantine.

RALEIGH – North Carolina now has a rollicking, revealing, and interesting Republican nomination fight for governor. Of course, the primary is on Tuesday, so the arrival of this compelling campaign might be considered a bit late. On the other hand, here we are in the middle of summer holding what is likely to be a low-turnout primary, so who’s to say anyone would have been paying attention until now? Here’s the latest:

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Republican gubernatorial candidate Patrick Ballantine resigned Monday from the state Senate to focus his full attention on the primary campaign. Ballantine, the Senate minority leader and one of seven GOP candidates hoping to challenge Democratic Gov. Mike Easley in November, made the announcement at a late-morning news conference. "It is my obligation to the North Carolina Senate -- and to the people of my district -- to leave behind my colleagues and allies, and the office and position that I have held and treasured for the past decade,'' Ballantine said in a statement. Senate GOP colleagues said...

V I G I L / Time and PlaceNC House and Senate Redistricting Session meets 9:30 a.m. Monday, 24 NovemberVIGIL BEGINS AT 8:30 A.M. but folks should come whenever they can. If it's later, they may want to call 218-5071 or 805-9718 for updates and learn if the GA is still in session.Location Legislative Building - front entrance 16 West Jones Street, Raleigh - Call 919-786-2438 or 805-9718 for updates. MISSION STATEMENT We, the Grassroots Republicans, call on ALL legislators to vote for fair and constitutional redistricting plans. These plans will "level the playing field" for Republicans for the decade....

<p>RALEIGH, N.C. -- State lawmakers will hold meetings next week to hear from the public on the next version of legislative districts to be drawn.</p> <p>Both the House and Senate will hold public hearings Nov. 20 in Raleigh.</p> <p>The General Assembly is redrawing legislative districts for the third time in as many years after North Carolina courts ruled two sets of previous maps unconstitutional.</p>

Raleigh, NC. Today, results were released showing Patrick Ballantine easily winning a recent GOPUSA on-line poll of the 2004 race for Governor. Ballantine received 49.4% of votes in the poll. The results can be viewed seen here. "I'm very proud of the support my campaign has received this early in the race. This shows that the hard work we re putting in by traveling the state and meeting with voters is paying off, and I hope that we'll see this same result in the GOP Primary next May," Ballantine said. In an interesting twist, GOPUSA North Carolina Editor Robynn Rutledge...

CJ Home John Hood'sDaily Journal John Hood's Syndicated Weekly Column CJ Radio Opinions CJ Exclusives Issues Media Mangle About CarolinaJournal Headline Stories CJ Week in Review CJ Print Editions CJ Print Columnists State Columnists NC Newspapers NC Talk Radio National Columnists News Weblinks John Locke Foundation NC at War NC Education Alliance Center for Local Innovation Pope Center forHigher Education Upcoming Events Signup Search/Site Map Contact Us   John Hood's Daily Journal How to Win & Lose SimultaneouslyBy John HoodSeptember 26, 2003 This Month's Columns 9.26.03How to Win & Lose Simultaneously 9.25.03Open Field for Bowles? 9.24.03Open Field for Bowles?...

Come Meet Patrick Ballantine!State Senator Patrick Ballantine is coming to your area this Saturday, September 27, 2003, as part of his Tar Heel State Tour. He'll be meeting voters and riding in the Mule Days Parade in Benson. Patrick Ballantine is currently the Republican Senate Leader and is also a candidate for Governor.The Tar Heel State Tour will take Patrick Ballantine to all 100 counties before the end of the year to visit with the voters of our state. He's been to 42 counties so far in his tour of the state, and looks forward to being in Benson...

At about 12:17 p.m., a tree fell on the home of Ashley Stephenson, who lives in Pamlico Village off River Road, taking out the home's power box.

Fellow Republicans: Thank you for your posts regarding my campaign. I will try to check the forum as often as possible and reply when I can. As you can imagine, I have a very busy schedule with the campaign. I decided to run for Governor because something must be done to address our state's fiscal crisis. If we continue to borrow to spend more than we can afford, we will end up like California. I’m told their deficit is so big that if they fired every state employee (Teachers, Highway Patrol, Prison Guards, etc…) they would still have a deficit!...

People Who Want Better Government announces that at the 7 p.m., August 26th, 2003, joint meeting of Sweet Union Republican Women’s Club and Mecklenburg Evening Republican Women’s Club, at the Captain’s Galley Restaurant on Hwy 74 in Matthews, Senator Fern Shubert will officially announce she will seek the office of Governor of North Carolina. Senator Fern Shubert of Marshville (Union County), NC, will seek to be the first female Governor of North Carolina, focusing her campaign on jobs, education, and transportation. Sen. Shubert believes she is the candidate that can do the best job in bringing jobs to this state...

<p>RALEIGH, N.C. -- Former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot heads into his third campaign for governor with plenty of name recognition. Work still needs to be done to raise money.</p> <p>Vinroot has a lot less money than his competitors for the Republican nomination.</p>

The Associated PressRALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms has endorsed Bill Cobey for governor, calling the former state Republican Party head "an honorable, capable and vigorous leader."In a letter to "Republican Friends Everywhere," Helms credited Cobey with helping in the GOP's rise in North Carolina."I have seen how tirelessly Bill Cobey has worked for sound, conservative Republican principles in our state - and across America. He is a fine, capable and decent family man with a head full of common sense," Helms wrote.Cobey, 64, announced his candidacy for the GOP nomination for governor last week. Other Republicans...

Appearing together on television for the first time in the governor's race, Republicans Patrick Ballantine and Bill Cobey faulted Easley for not working effectively with the legislature, for not cutting the size of government and for not doing more to attract new industries and jobs.

North Carolina Republican Senate Caucus Senator Patrick J. Ballantine, Office of the Minority LeaderNorth Carolina Senate, 1127 Legislative Building, Raleigh, North Carolina 27601, (919) 715-2525 patrickb@ncleg.netSenate Democrats add taxes to temporary spending bill  Raleigh: June 19 - North Carolina Senate Democrats voted to add increased taxes, Thursday, to a stop-gap spending resolution designed to continue state government operations beyond June 30. This first ‘continuing resolution’ dampened earlier optimism that a full budget would be approved in time for the beginning of the new fiscal year July 1. Senate Republicans voted together against the continuing resolution after Democrats rejected a...