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5th District [NC - Burr] race heating up early
journalnow.com (The Winston-Salem Journal) ^ | Wed, February 12, 2003 | David Rice

Posted on 02/14/2003 2:12:10 PM PST by JohnnyZ

5th District race heating up early

GOP candidates are lining up for a shot at Burr's congressional seat

For most voters, the names of Republicans considering running for the 5th Congressional District seat are familiar ones: Gray, Brunstetter, Robinson, Snyder, maybe even Hege.

But after U.S. Rep. Richard Burr's announcement Monday that he won't run for re-election and will move toward a run for the U.S. Senate, what's striking is how many Republicans are sizing up the 2004 congressional race.

They are setting the stage for a very competitive primary in a very Republican 5th District.

"There are lots of people interested in succeeding Richard Burr. An open seat does not come along very often," said Lyons Gray, a former state legislator from Winston-Salem who says he is assessing a run for the seat.

"I do think there's going to be a large primary," said Pete Brunstetter, the chairman of the Forsyth County commissioners, who said he is exploring the prospects for a million-dollar campaign as well. "I think you're going to have a lot of good candidates."

Some candidates are already organizing. Vernon Robinson, a member of the Winston-Salem City Council, is lining up county chairmen, talking about replacing the income tax with a national sales tax and abolishing affirmative action in college admissions, employment and contracting.

"We're trying to put it together as quickly as possible," Robinson said yesterday. "I think it's going well. And when we have county chairmen in X number of counties, we'll go public."

In some cases, even candidates who live outside the district are considering campaigns in the 5th, since congressional candidates aren't required to live in their districts.

"A congressional seat doesn't come open every day," said Jim Snyder, a Lexington lawyer who mounted an unsuccessful Senate race last year and is now considering runs for the Senate, governor or House - even though Davidson County isn't in the 5th.

"About one-fourth of the congressmen, I'm informed, do not live in their districts. Davidson County has been part of the 5th. And I live about 10 minutes outside the 5th," Snyder said.

Although its outlines have changed with each plan passed by the General Assembly over the past 12 years, the 5th District remains heavily Republican.

The district is almost 91 percent white. It is 46 percent Republican in a state where analysts consider a district Republican if it is just 35 percent Republican by registration.

The 12-county district is anchored by Forsyth County, which accounts for 28 percent of its population. But Brunstetter warned that if too many candidates from Forsyth enter the race, they could well split the vote and dilute Forsyth's influence.

A day after Burr's announcement, those who said yesterday that they are considering a race in the 5th include:

• Brunstetter, 46, a corporate lawyer at Kilpatrick Stockton who has been a Forsyth County commissioner since 1991 and is the board's chairman.

"Obviously, we're at a stage nationally where you need leadership that's ready to hit the deck running. Given the national-security crisis ... and also the economic problems we're facing, you really can't afford a learning curve," Brunstetter said. "There's no harder way to learn public service and politics than at the local level."

• Gray, 60, who spent 12 years in the N.C. House, headed the House Finance Committee and shepherded through $1.4 billion in tax cuts when Republicans controlled the House from 1995 to 1998.

Gray has run for the congressional seat twice before, and he came close to unseating Democrat Steve Neal even before black and heavily Democratic voters were carved out of the 5th to create the 12th District.

Gray said he wants to continue discussing a campaign with family and potential supporters.

"I am looking at it over the next few weeks to evaluate whether I'll become a candidate," he said.

• Davidson County Sheriff Gerald Hege, 54, said he has had thoughts about higher office.

"I'm keeping my options open," Hege said. "I think that particular area would be a perfect district for me because of the name recognition, and it does have a conservative base.... Right now, I'm just satisfied where I'm at. I'm just watching this thing unfold."

• Ed Powell, 60, a lawyer, former legislator and former commissioner of motor vehicles, says he is seriously considering a race. He points to his work in Raleigh as a lobbyist for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., N.C. Citizens for Business and Industry, and Ford Motor Co.

"I have the experience of working with both sides of the aisle to get the job done," Powell said. "It's nice to make a noise in Congress, but it's something different to get the job done."

• Robinson, 47, who is in his second term as a City Council member, ran statewide races as a candidate for state superintendent of schools in 1992 and 1996 - and he says he won primaries in the 5th in both of those races.

Robinson, who runs a foundation that provides private-school scholarships for poor children, says he can raise $1 million for a congressional campaign.

"That's what I do - I raise money," he said.

• Snyder, 57, is a lawyer and author in Lexington who won support from religious conservatives in an unsuccessful bid against Elizabeth Dole in the GOP race for U.S. Senate last year. He said he is weighing a second run for the Senate, as well as bids for Congress or governor.

"During the Senate campaign, we campaigned seriously in this heavily Republican area. So we're looking very seriously at a congressional campaign," Snyder said. "Our organization's very heavy in the 5th District."

• Nathan Tabor, 29, is a vice president for a family-owned business in Kernersville that makes Revival Soy, a soy-based nutrition supplement. Tabor's family gave $150,000 this year for the state to start its own version of the Amber Alert system to locate missing children.

"I am strongly seeking a run for Congress. We'll be making a formal announcement soon," Tabor said yesterday.

• David Rice can be reached in Raleigh at (919) 833-9056 or at drice@wsjournal.com

• Journal reporter Patrick Wilson contributed to this story.


TOPICS: Extended News; Politics/Elections; US: North Carolina
KEYWORDS: 2004; jimsnyder; richardburr; ushouse; vernonrobinson
I think Vernon Robinson really is the best choice here. He's at least as conservative as all the other candidates, plus he's demonstrated a commitment to public service. Plus he's black.

Vernon Robinson, a member of the Winston-Salem City Council, is lining up county chairmen, talking about replacing the income tax with a national sales tax and abolishing affirmative action in college admissions, employment and contracting.

Music to my ears!!!

1 posted on 02/14/2003 2:12:11 PM PST by JohnnyZ
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To: Howlin; mykdsmom; Constitution Day
% One Ping %


2 posted on 02/14/2003 2:15:47 PM PST by JohnnyZ (I am just here for the beer)
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To: JohnnyZ
Most importantly, he's pro-2nd Amendment!!
3 posted on 02/14/2003 2:50:43 PM PST by Dan from Michigan ("Yippee Kai Aye......")
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To: Dan from Michigan
Buy a gun for home defense
4 posted on 02/14/2003 2:51:43 PM PST by Dan from Michigan ("Yippee Kai Aye......")
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To: Dan from Michigan
Yup, that's an understatement! I'm gonna cross-link to the article where he says families should get themselves a gun for self-protection, never mind duct tape.
5 posted on 02/14/2003 2:53:21 PM PST by JohnnyZ (I am just here for the beer)
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To: JohnnyZ
Vernon Robinson, Jim Snyder, and other fine Republican candidates. The 5th district in North Carolina will be very lucky for many years to come.
6 posted on 02/14/2003 3:38:40 PM PST by LdSentinal
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To: JohnnyZ
I hope Vernon Robinson wins the NC-05. If NC conservatives throw their support behind Robinson, they have an opportunity to show the world who the real racists are.
7 posted on 02/14/2003 4:33:09 PM PST by Kuksool (Help Wanted: Minority GOP Politicans)
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To: Kuksool; JohnnyZ
Ditto and big *BUMP*
8 posted on 02/14/2003 5:55:11 PM PST by fieldmarshaldj (~All our ZOT are belong to us~)
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To: fieldmarshaldj
Here's a vote and prayer for Vernon Robinson ... I love the Jefferson quote on his web site; "I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility to any form of tyranny over the mind of man".

If he is as vicious and conservative as he seems, I believe the racial arsonists are going to have their hands full trying to herd him unto the Democrat plantation.
9 posted on 02/14/2003 8:23:22 PM PST by MAKnight
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To: JohnnyZ
Does he have a web site plus e-mail address?
jim
10 posted on 02/14/2003 9:03:52 PM PST by Jim Thornley
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To: Jim Thornley
His website from his 2002 run for NC house is still up: http://www.GoVernonGo.org

Which lists: vrobinson@triad.rr.com

Also there is his enduring site as an alderman, where he lists ALL his contact info, though I think the idea is it's for his constituents: http://www.libertyforall.net/vernon/ but most of it's still under construction.

11 posted on 02/14/2003 10:09:57 PM PST by JohnnyZ (I am just here for the beer)
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To: JohnnyZ; mhking
I've been corresponding with Vernon via email and he gave me his phone number (left me a message) and I might call him tonight. I'm trying to get him to join FR. He's rather frustrated by the lack of RNC support for voter outreach in the black voter community.
12 posted on 05/05/2003 2:11:50 PM PDT by GraniteStateConservative (Putting government in charge of morality is like putting pedophiles in charge of children.)
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To: GraniteStateConservative
Funny, I was just talking to him on the phone and mentioned I had heard about him from, among other places, Free Republic.

Maybe we need to FReep the RNC and NRCC? I'm not sure Tom Davis would be too thrilled with electing a conservative in this district, though . . .

13 posted on 05/05/2003 2:46:56 PM PDT by JohnnyZ (That's my theory and I'm sticking to it! At least for the present . . .)
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To: JohnnyZ
DAvis is not in charge of the NRCC anymore.
14 posted on 05/05/2003 2:52:27 PM PDT by ACAC
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To: ACAC
Oh right, I forgot. Reynolds has got to be better. Good deal.
15 posted on 05/05/2003 2:59:01 PM PDT by JohnnyZ (That's my theory and I'm sticking to it! At least for the present . . .)
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To: JohnnyZ
His website for the Congressional Campaign is as follows:
http://www.robinsonforcongress.com

Vernon Robinson is the only true conservative in this race: He has a proven record of cutting taxes and standing up to the liberal special interests -- including the gay-rights lobby. And he is the only candidate in this race who has the courage to take strongly conservative positions like ending affirmative action, protecting our Second Amendment Rights, reforming the tax code, and defending the rights of the unborn.

In my opinion Vernon Robinson is the heir to the legacy of Jesse Helms -- and the whole nations needs him in DC!
16 posted on 05/24/2003 10:30:17 PM PDT by Southern Tory (A Jesse Helms Republican)
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