Free Republic

Some fighters seize the public’s imagination with awe-inspiring one-punch knockouts. Others bedazzle with bursts of supersonic speed. A few grab headlines with their retina-burning attire, their inspirational life stories or their inflammatory trash talk. Onetime light heavyweight champion Harold Johnson, who died Thursday morning at 86, didn’t take any shortcuts to earn his greatness. He was a solid citizen in a sport saturated by crazies, criminals and characters. He was the guy who clocked in every day and did his job in such a classy, dignified manner that one couldn’t help but admire his excellence. Johnson was a beautifully proportioned...

Raleigh, N.C. – Democratic incumbent Larry Kissell is clinging to a slim one point lead in the race for North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District according to a new SurveyUSA poll released today by the Civitas Institute. According to the poll of 450 registered voters in that district, 46 percent said they would vote for Kissell if the election for United States House of Representatives were today. Forty-five percent of voters said they would vote for Harold Johnson, and nine percent said they are undecided. When looking at those who are most likely to vote in 2010, Johnson takes the lead...

The polling war in North Carolina's 8th district continued Wednesday with a new survey from Republican Harold Johnson's campaign showing the former sportscaster down just 5 points to freshman Rep. Larry Kissell (D). Johnson's poll, which was in the field Aug. 29-30, showed Kissell with 39 percent to Johnson's 34 percent, with the remaining 27 percent either undecided or favoring Libertarian Thomas Hill. The survey had a 4.9 point margin of error. The poll of 400 likely 8th district voters was conducted for Johnson by the GOP firm Public Opinion Strategies. The results paint a very different picture of the...

Harold Johnson has picked up the support of most of the voters who chose one of the also rans in the 8th District Republican primary for Congress, and as a result he's now opened up a 49-39 lead over Tim D'Annunzio with a week to go until the runoff election. Among people who reported voting for Hal Jordan or Lou Huddleston last month Johnson holds a 60-28 advantage. Johnson is also holding onto 93% of the voters who chose him in the primary while just 80% of D'Annunzio's original supporters are still with him. Whoever wins the nomination will have...

A new survey by Public Policy Polling shows Republican Harold Johnson would give Democratic Rep. Larry Kissell a stronger challenge in the fall than Tim D'Annunzio. Kissell leads both Republicans in hypothetical match-ups, but leads D'Annunzio by a much wider margin. The poll also showed Kissell with "a steep decline" in his approval numbers since January. Johnson and D'Annunzio face off in a Tuesday runoff. Tom Jensen, a spokesman for the Democratic-leaning firm from Raleigh, said D'Annunzio has been hurt by critical stories since the May 4 primary, including criticism from GOP officials. In th poll, 39 percent said their...

Fayetteville Republican Lou Huddleston Wednesday called on 8th District rival Tim D’Annunzio to leave the race, saying “he hasn’t shown the disposition and the temperament voters would expect from someone who wants to be their congressman.” ... “When you walk off of a stage because you’re not happy about something ... you’re walking away from voters, you’re disrespecting voters,” Huddleston said.

Animated former WSOC sportscaster says he'll join the GOP field to compete for the 8th District seat. For more than a quarter-century, thousands of Charlotte-area viewers watched Harold Johnson broadcast nightly sports news with an outsize personality and a ringmaster's zeal. Now "The Big Guy" will put his energy into politics. Johnson, 68, announced Friday that he'll run as a Republican for the 8th District seat held by Democrat Larry Kissell of Montgomery County. "If you ever watched me on the air you know I speak from the heart," he told the Observer. "What I'm seeing here in Washington, this...