North Carolina Primary - LIVE THREAD (with Primer)

May 6, 2008 | Live

[MitchellC]

The official discussion thread for North Carolina's big day - the first time in twenty years NC has mattered in a Presidential primary. Also, several other hotly contested primary races, determining who will face off in November to replace term limited Governor Mike Easley; and some very interesting Congressional races, among them the three-way 11th district race that includes Free Republic's own John Armor.

Races are held under run-off rules; if the top vote-getter doesn't reach 40%, the top two vote-getters will face off in June.

North Carolinians, let us know what you see/hear at the polls today.

Contested primaries:

*-incumbent

PRESIDENT

R
John McCain
Mike Huckabee
Ron Paul
Alan Keyes

D
Hillary Clinton
Barack Obama
Mike Gravel


GOVERNOR

R
Bill Graham
Pat McCrory
Robert Orr
Fred Smith
E Powers

D
Richard Moore
Dennis Nielson
Bev Perdue


LT. GOVERNOR

R
Timothy Cook
Greg Dority
Robert Pittenger
Jim Snyder

D
Dan Besse
Walter Dalton
Hampton Dellinger
Pat Smathers


STATE TREASURER

R
Bill Daughtridge

D
Janet Cowell
Michael Weisel
David Young


SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

R
Joe Johnson
Richard Morgan
Eric Smith

D
June Atkinson
Eddie Davis


US CONGRESS:

3rd District

R
Walter Jones*
Joe McLaughlin

D
Marshall Adame
Craig Weber


4th District

R
Augustus Cho
BJ Lawson

D
David Price*


5th District

R
Virginia Foxx*

D
Diane Hamby
Roy Carter


6th District

R
Howard Coble*

D
Johnny Carter
Jay Ovittore
Teresa Sue Bratton


District 9

R
Sue Myrick*
Jack Stratton

D
Ross Overby
Harry Taylor


District 10

R
Patrick McHenry*
Lance Sigmon

D
Daniel Johnson
Steve Ivester


District 11

R
John Armor
Carl Mumpower
Spence Campbell

D
Heath Shuler*


District 13

R
Hugh Webster

D
Brad Miller*
Derald Hafner

[PGalt]

WOOOHOOOO! Go John!

I get the honor of voting for my FRiend John today! Good luck CB!

Thanks Edgar3!

[MitchellC]

What makes Smith a conservative and McCrory a moderate?

Smith's big issue is illegal immigration. He wants to basically copy Arizona.

McCrory has drawn the ire of conservatives here in Charlotte with his support of a new taxpayer-funded arena (as a gift to Bobcats owner Bob Johnson) and a light rail line instead of spending money on the roads (where it is BADLY needed).

McCrory seems like a nice guy and after all his years in Charlotte he's never had any ethics issue raised (that I know of). He's a persuasive speaker and you can't NOT like the guy on a personal level. I'm not sure how bad or good he'd really be as Gov., but my fear is that he'd use it as a stepping stone.

[NonValueAdded]

Best of luck today.

[cardinal4]

Best of luck to you today, sir...

[Road Warrior ‘04]

Have the networks projected the winners yet?

[JRochelle]

Could we have a complete live thread for both primaries in the breaking news section?

[envisio]

Just got back to work. I voted for Hillary.

I am regestered unaffiliated. Some of the people outside asked me and I told them my intention to keep Hillary in to take the fight all the way to the convention, then I will vote McCain in the general.

My proudest vote was for Sue Myrick. She’s the one that pushed to have Jimmy Carter’s visa revoked after he visited Hamas. She has more cajones than every liberal man in congress combined. I love her!

[Laura722]

This is my first post here at Free Republic. I just voted this morning with my mother. We voted for Joe McLaughlin over Walter Jones. We also voted for Fred Smith for Governor. I voted “No Preference” instead of voting for McCain. Voting for him in the general election will be enough.

[Tax-chick]

Bttt for Sue Myrick, a fine Congresscritter! She doesn’t seem to have a meaningful primary opponent.

Turnout at my precinct is quite heavy for a primary. We just left there, and there had been 200 voters. I’m sending my teens back during the lunch hour, and I’ll try to get over there again during the babies’ nap and after supper.

Polls close at 7:00, right?

[SuperSonic]

Welcome to FreeRepublic!

[TC Rider]

I did my civic duty around 8:30 in Holly Springs (Raleigh Suburb)

I didn’t have a chance to change my registration so I couldn’t help out Op Chaos.

It will be interesting to see if there is a anti-Gant effect. In the Helms/Gant race, conservative Dems voted for Gant as the weaker candidate against Jesse, then of course voted for Helms in the General election.

Will the conservative Dems flip policy to vote for Hillary?

FWIW, I voted for Fred for Gov. The man had 100 BBQs. One in each of NC counties!

[tarheelswamprat]

Please go home and call at least five friends and neighbors and ask them if they have voted?

Worth repeating!

Best wishes for a victory in your own race today.

[MitchellC]

Welcome to Free Republic. I’m with you, I see no reason to vote for the presidential candidates. McCain should be glad to get my vote in November, and the other three on the ballot are poor excuses for a protest vote.

[maica]

Scalia included Brain Lamb as part of that “media” filter. Brian looked hurt, Scalia looked amused.

####

Good for Scalia! The one-sided preference of cspan is indisputable.

[MitchellC]

I sent my husband off with a “who to vote for” list

I got ya beat! At last count, I have at least three, possibly up to seven, family members who are voting from a list I printed out. (Fred Smith, Eric H Smith, and judges Poirier and Tyson.)

You think I should take the snake? She’d enjoy it!

I wouldn't if I were you, she might cross over and vote for Hillary...

[tarheelswamprat]

...to replace term limited Governor Mike Easley...
...to replace term limited Governor Mike Easley...
...to replace term limited Governor Mike Easley...
...to replace term limited Governor Mike Easley...
...to replace term limited Governor Mike Easley...

Sorry, folks! I read that, was overcome with euphoria and got a little carried away... /grin

[maica]

My proudest vote was for Sue Myrick.

#####

She was on our local conservative-leaning morning radio station today - a very good spokesperson for conservatives. I hope she does a lot more in the way of public advocacy. The Republican party has really lost most of its eloquent, energetic spokespersons.

Is her seat safe?

[MitchellC]

She's [Perdue] also recruited Andy Griffith to appear in some folksy-downhome TV ads :-/

I saw that. He did the same thing for Easley last time around. Gee thanks, Andy.

[Moose4]

Morning all. Well, I’m not going to be one of the North Carolinians participating in “Operation Chaos”...when I hit my polling place today at lunch or after work, I’ll be grabbing a Pubbie ballot (I’m registered “unaffiliated”). Granted, in beautiful south Nifongville (Durham County), voting Republican seems to be pretty much a futile gesture. The Rat race pimps and their guilty enablers own Durham, and probably always will.

I’ll probably vote Keyes in the primary if I vote that line at all. More than likely I’ll hold my nose and vote for Juan McCain in the general as the lesser of all the evils, but dammit, I just can’t support the guy in the primary.

I have to plead ignorance that I don’t even know which Congressional district I’m in. I’ll be doing some research between now and voting time!

}:-)4

[MitchellC]

Good for Scalia! The one-sided preference of cspan is indisputable.

Am I the only who's noticed that they always scan the audience at conservative events and put the camera on the oddest looking person there - someone falling asleep, mouth-breathing, making an intense look, etc. ?