Voters Beware: Slate Of Liberals Running In Republican Primaries
As news broke that for the first time in North Carolina history, Republican voter registration exceeded Democrats, a liberal group highlighted its efforts to support liberal candidates in Republican primaries. The so-called grassroots group, NC Educators on the Ballot, successfully recruited six liberals to run in Republican primaries in competitive House seats. The group claims that it wants to increase conversation about public education, but in reality, the goal is to drain resources in a primary ahead of a competitive general election.
Here are the six candidates, districts, and their key stances on issues important to Republican primary voters. The candidates switched party affiliation ahead of the 90 day cut off before candidate filing.
Dr. Christopher Wilson, House District 117 in Henderson County.
He switched his voter registration in August from unaffiliated to Republican.
Wilson opposes President Trump’s effort to remove illegal aliens from the United States, and claims there is “zero” indoctrination in North Carolina public schools, despite the evidence. Wilson says the overall history of the United States is “very dark.”
Lisa Deaton Koperski, House District 89 in Catawba & Iredell Counties
Koperski switched her voter registration in August.
She said that school choice programs represent a “systematic problem.”
Michele Joyner-Dinwiddie, House District 35in Wake County
Joyner-Dinwiddie switched her voter registration from Democrat in August and attacked President Trump’s agenda to improve education by returning power to the states.
Pamela Ayscue, House District 32 in Vance County
Ayscue changed her party affiliation from Democrat to Republican this September.
Ayscue opposes school choice programs and judicial appropriation that would lead to higher taxes. In a telling move, Ayscue regularly shares videos from Democrat Governor Josh Stein, Democrat Attorney General Jeff Jackson, and liberal dark money groups on her campaign page for a Republican primary.
Pamela M. Zanni, House District 81 in Davidson County
Kelly Van Horn, House District 105 in Mecklenburg County.
VanHorn switched her registration last September.
On her campaign website, she touts her work with far left teacher unions, which are key component of the Democrat campaign machine.
Tim’s Take: It makes sense that as the North Carolina Democrat Party continues to shrink, liberal-leaning voters will begin to run in Republican primaries, since there is a better chance that they may actually be elected. But at the core, it’s fundamentally dishonest. Changing partisan affiliation to try to trick voters is dishonest.
