Tip: Clicking on tags in this page allows you to drill further with combined tag search. For example, if you are currently viewing the tag search result page for "health care", clicking on "Kay Hagan" will bring you to a list of contents that are tagged with both "health care" and "Kay Hagan."
In an odd twist, Democratic Sen. Charlie Dannelly said today he won’t campaign for another term and instead will support another candidate for the seat he’s held for 18 years.
Dannelly, 87, is Mecklenburg County’s longest-serving lawmaker. He filed for re-election in District 38 earlier this month and said he missed the window to withdraw.
Instead he’s supporting Joel Ford, a former Mecklenburg County Democratic chairman. Ford filed for the seat this week.
Democratic state Rep. Bill Faison is taking on two of the state's top Republicans as he continues to push for an increase in the sales tax to rehire teachers and state workers cut in this year's budget.
Faison taped WCNC-TV's "Flashpoint" political show with Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory and House Speaker Thom Tillis. Joel Ford, chairman of the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party, also participated.
The politicians taped the show Tuesday. It will air at 9:30 a.m. Sunday.
Faison, an Orange County Democrat, is traveling the state talking about his jobs plan, which is supported by a majority of the House Democratic Caucus but not the leadership. Tillis has said he won't consider a plan that raises taxes.
But the debate gives Faison valuable exposure as speculation about his future political plans continues and apparently fulfills his challenge to McCrory for a debate.
Still burning over Rep. Larry Kissell's health care vote, some Democrats in North Carolina's 8th Congressional District are courting a Charlotte attorney to mount a primary challenge.
The courtee is Chris Kouri, a former Ivy League football player who ran for the seat in 2002, upsetting a better known Democrat in the primary before losing to Republican Robin Hayes, Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer reports.
"I think it’s a legitimate groundswell," said Mecklenburg County Democratic chairman Joel Ford. "Chris Kouri is entertaining it. And I believe that if Chris gets enough grassroots support he’ll run."
Kouri, general counsel and director of community relations for Lowes Motor Speedway, declined comment. But the effort to unseat Kissell, a first-term Democrat in what was a district long-held by Republicans, underscores the lingering passion over health care.
Kissell, of Montgomery County, was one of 39 Democrats who voted against the health care bill that passed the House by five votes last month. He was one of just eight from a district carried by President Barack Obama last year.
A Kissell spokeswoman declined to talk about a possible challenge. "The Congressman is doing the people's business and is focused on that," said Haven Kerchner. "He has no comment on politics or his race next year."
