The Tuesday Primary: Sam Spagnola, Lisa Clapp, etc.

I am going to recap some of the posts I have written about the current primary season. 

There are two local races in which I have particular interest-- and for these, I support Sam Spagnola and Lisa Clapp.

For the District 3 County Commissioner's seat, I would be voting for Sam Spagnola.  The big issue in this year's election at the county level is the orgy of bond spending that was approved two years ago.  Our illustrious county commissioners voted to place $650 million in bonds on the ballot during 2008, in abrogation of their fiduciary responsibility.  The economy collapsed shortly thereafter, and the county has been left in a huge fiscal predicament ever since. 

Linda Shaw was among those commissioners who voted to place those bonds on the ballot.  She can try to wash her hands of the situation by claiming that she was merely allowing voters to make the decision.  But ultimately, it is her responsibility.  It is a mess she helped create.  Her multiple attempts to explain this issue away during the current primary season season have been unfortunate; and seemed less than truthful to the discerning observer.  The "smoking gun" video that demonstrates her support for the bonds-- in spite of the fact they would likely require a tax increase-- is found here. 

Sam Spagnola rightfully has emphasized the bond issue, among several others.  I think Sam is a true fiscal conservative; and I think he would not have voted to place $650 billion in bonds on the ballot simultaneously to please certain power groups or interest groups.

It should be noted that Linda Shaw has also been endorsed by the Simkins PAC.  Warning bells should be a-ringing.  I genuinely hope that readers in District 3 will vote for Sam Spagnola.

In the race for the at-large school board seat, I will be voting for Lisa Clapp.  She is running against the incumbent Nancy Routh, who embodies the status quo in the Guilford County Schools system.

Ms. Clapp is emphasizing all the right issues-- school safety and discipline; neighborhood schools; academic achievement; and budget accountability.  She has demonstrated passion and energy in advocating for these issues-- and especially with regard to school safety. 

Her opponent is part of the group that has refrained from taking effective action on the matter of order in the classroom.  This likely explains Ms. Routh's endorsement by the Simkins PAC.

Ms. Clapp is the better choice by far.  I urge readers to support her.

In the District 2 commissioner's race, Bill Bencini is opposed by Myrene Stanley.  While Bencini has some impressive credentials, we have witnessed over the last couple of days the News and Record bending over backwards to describe him as moderate, pragmatic and flexible.  Seeing our daily paper describe him this way must be at least somewhat disconcerting to local conservatives who surely understand that, to some extent, the paper is likely speaking in code.

Ms. Stanley appears to be at least one or two notches further to the right than Mr. Bencini.  It appears she would have a consistent philosophical approach to governing.

Bencini has served as a city council member in High Point for about ten years; and will have very high name recognition in High Point.  Myrene Stanley is therefore facing a fairly formidable opponent.  But I would be among those voting for her.  If Mr. Bencini wins, we will have the opportunity to observe firsthand his performance; and in that event, I hope my concerns are dispelled quickly.

For the state court of appeals races, I will be voting for the incumbent Ann Calabria to fill the "Calabria seat".

But the "Elmore seat" is much more problematic.  The incumbent Rick Elmore, who claims some Greensboro roots, has modeled himself after Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is a part-of-the-time judicial activist.  Such a profile should be of concern to any real conservative.  His only Republican opponent, Steven Walker, says he would most closely try to emulate Justice Scalia.  I find that reassuring about Walker because it speaks to his judicial philosophy; and I will be voting for him. 

But it also turns out that the Simkins PAC has endorsed Judge Elmore.  That should raise some red flags, because the PAC has historically had sympathies with criminal defendants and defense attorneys.

I am going to take a break over the weekend until primary day-- i.e., Tuesday, May 4. I encourage my readers to vote.  Furthermore, if you feel this post has been helpful, I invite you to e-mail it to family, friends and neighbors.  Although both are facing entrenched incumbents, and must be considered underdogs, Sam Spagnola and Lisa Clapp particularly deserve a chance to make a real difference in our county.   

Comments

[Marshall]

Is it 650 billion or million?...seems like a bunch either way.

[Joe Guarino]

You are right, Marshall. My bad, over-50 syndrome. Thanks, I will fix.:)

[Elizabeth Smith]

Thank you! This was great info. I especially appreciated what you said about the Elmore seat. I had pretty much come to the same conclusion you did, but I wondered if I had missed something because, in conservative circles, I was only hearing "Vote Calabria and Elmore". I had not heard of the Simkins PAC endorsement. It does raise red flags and solidifies my position.

[Joe Guarino]

Thanks, Elizabeth. The North Carolina Family Policy Council posted questionnaires on their website; and that is where the revelation about Elmore's judicial philosophy came to light.

Here in Greensboro and Guilford County, the Simkins endorsements merit considerable attention. They usually come out the week before the election (or primary). This week, Yes Weekly posted the Simkins endorsements on its blog.

[Spag]

Joe, I spoke with Ann Marie Calabria earlier this week and she must raise $14,000 by Monday to get qualify for matching funds. Judge Calabria was shafted in 2006 when she ran for Supreme Court Justice and a liberal 527 campaigned against her and she was denied public funds to fight back.

Contributions can be made online at judgecalabria.com.

Also, I thank you again for your continued support in my race.

[Joe Guarino]

You are most welcome, Sam. I hope it helps. And I hope you are knocking on doors, or something.:)

[RedAcre]

The problem with the Walker fellow for judge is that he has never been either an attorney or a judge. He is only about 30 years old, and since graduating from law school, he has been a law clerk. That means he's been doing research and writing for a judge. He has never represented a client, argued before a judge, filed a motion, or presented a case to a jury.

Walker may be conservative, but I won't vote to put someone with so little experience on our state's second-highest court. Walker may disagree with Elmore on some decisions, but not all Republicans on the Court of Appeals vote together. Judges Calabria and Elmore have disagreed in the past, as have Judges Calabria and Steelman.

I know both Judge Calabria and Judge Elmore personally. I am a rock-solid, constitutionalist/Founding-Fathers conservative. I can say that both Judge Elmore and Judge Calabria are both conservative, and I am voting for both. A vote for Walker would assuredly change that seat over to Democratic hands in November. Walker has been ripped by conservatives and liberals alike at candidate forums for having so little experience. Voters in November will remember this. I'm not saying "no" to Walker, just "not yet." He needs more seasoning. Furthermore, if Walker wanted to run as a "conservative," he should have challenged the one Democrat running for reelection on the Court of Appeals this year.

By the way, the Simkins PAC also endorsed Judge Robert N. "Bob" Hunter, Jr., a Republican, for Court of Appeals in 2008. Judge Hunter is a Greensboro native and is a solid conservative Republican. My thought is that the Simkins PAC is endorsing Judge Elmore because he is from Greensboro, and it's good to support your own.

Donate to Judge Calabria: http://www.calabria4judge.com/donate.html
Donate to Judge Elmore: http://www.judgeelmore.com/contribute/contribute.htm

[Joe Guarino]

RedAcre, I appreciate your comments, and I am familiar with these arguments. But sorry, I can't bring myself to vote for a judge who models himself after Justice Kennedy, and who is endorsed by the Simkins PAC.

[RedAcre]

That's fine. Kennedy drives me crazy at times. However, a vote for Walker will change the seat from someone who emulates Kennedy to someone who emulates, say, Ruth Bader Ginsburg (i.e., Leto Copeley).

You wouldn't hire a third-year medical student to be the hospital's Chief of Surgery. You wouldn't hire a recent flight school grad to pilot the space shuttle. I'm not voting for a 30 year old with no legal experience to be a judge. If you can't bring yourself to vote for Elmore, don't vote for Walker.

If he were running for the legislature, I say go for it. But being a judge takes more than a conservative philosophy; it also requires wisdom, which comes through experience. Just saying you like Scalia is not enough, and means little on the Court of Appeals. The COA is an error-correcting court. It does not set judicial policy. Judges on the COA are extremely constrained by precedent, from the US Supreme Court, the NC Supreme Court, and other panels of the NC COA. If Walker wanted to be like Scalia, he should have run for the vacant NC Supreme Court seat. I love Scalia (his vote in Gonzalez v. Raich notwithstanding), and I have a law degree, but there's no way in Hades that I am qualified to run for the Court of Appeals.

Further, if Walker wanted to challenge a liberal judge, he should have gone after Martha Geer, who is the most liberal member of the NC COA. Not sure if Walker didn't have the stones or what, but if he wanted to beat a "liberal" judge, he should have targeted Judge Geer, not Judge Elmore.

And mark my words, should Walker be elected, you will see a bill introduced in our state legislature to have a constitutional amendment to make judges an appointed position. The bill will be introduced so fast it will make your head spin, and it will pass with overwhelming bipartisan support. In 1974, a fire extinguisher salesman (Republican) who didn't even have a law degree almost beat the sitting Democratic Chief Justice, Susie Sharp. The subsequent media attention caused NC to be a national embarrassment, and soon the constitution was changed to require all judges to at least have a law degree. Should this Walker fellow win, you will see a similar swift change.

Finally, as I stare at my personally autographed picture of Jesse Helms, I can say that I will absolutely not vote for Walker for COA in the primary. If he makes it to November, I won't vote for him then. He could be running against John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the ghost of Earl Warren, and I ain't voting for him. I won't vote for the liberal, but I sure won't be voting for Walker. The only people who really vote in judicial elections are die-hard partisans, women, and folks in the legal community (e.g., judges, lawyers, paralegals). There will be enough folks in the last two groups (and enough conservatives like me) who will sit on our hands or vote for the alternative if Walker is one of the final two.

Thus, in sum, if Judge Elmore does not win the primary: (1) a liberal will likely win the seat in November; or (2) our constitution will be changed so that we will no longer be able to elect judges. I'm not going all "Chicken Little," but I know of what I speak. I wish I could tell you more, but I cannot.

[Joe Guarino]

Red, the candidacy of someone like Elmore poses certain dilemmas. Simply put, some of us cannot bring ourselves to vote for someone like that, regardless of whatever the possible consequences might be. It is a matter of principle. Some of us just do not want to be party to someone like that being elected. Yes, there is a theoretical risk that someone who is even more of an activist than Elmore might get elected; but we will see what happens. We will see whether Walker's share of the vote would be responsible for that outcome. But I don't regard that as a sufficient reason to vote for Elmore.

[Stormy]

Our Dear Senator Hagen has finally surfaced in Washington. Now, we know which constituents she is there to serve:

http://biggovernment.com/capitolconfidential/2010/05/04/permanent-bailouts-not-enough-banks-fight-for-even-more-advantages/#more-115222