SNOW HILL — Greene County Democrats welcomed North Carolina’s attorney general and gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein to a meet-and-greet this week at Maury Free Will Baptist Church.
The event started shortly after 12:30 p.m. Tuesday as Stein talked about his campaign platform for the November election and answered questions from those in attendance about his plans for the governor’s office.
Stein said that as a native to the state, North Carolina is “home to remarkable natural beauty from the mountains to the beaches and everywhere in between, home to growing economy and gorgeous weather, home to some of the finest educational institutions in the world.”
Stein criticized his opponent in the Nov. 5 election, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, and what he called the state’s right-wing policymakers.
With an eager audience, Stein said that North Carolina is “under assault” by Republicans. He said North Carolina is ranked 49th in education in the United States under the GOP and criticized Republican stands on the economy, abortion and gerrymandering.
“Friends, our home is under assault,” Stein said. “Right-wing politicians are taking a sledgehammer to its foundation. They damage our democracy to cling to power — gerrymandered legislative districts to make it harder to vote.”
The current state of the education system makes it harder for children here to compete academically, he said. It’s difficult to keep teachers in classrooms, Stein said, because teachers are underpaid.
“They undermine and underfund public education making it harder for our kids to compete,” Stein said. “They have dropped North Carolina to 49th in the country in what we invest in K-12 as a share of our state’s economy.”
Stein said gerrymandering is a threat to voters. More specifically, there has been gerrymandering with “surgical precision” to keep black votes from counting, he said.
“We have been fighting for you and your right to vote,” Stein said. “The Republicans in the super-majority in the General Assembly, they gerrymander districts to discriminate against certain voters.”
At the Department of Justice, Stein said he and his colleagues have worked to continue to let people choose their representatives, and “not the other way around.”
Stein also said that maintaining public safety and building an economy that benefits everyone are central to his platform.
“What we want to do is to make sure this economy works for everybody,” Stein said. “That everyone has a chance to thrive and succeed. We want to make sure that folks are living in safe communities, safe neighborhoods.”
Audience members asked Stein how he planned to improve teacher retention, the treatment of veterans and their long-term benefits, and how he plans to win the election.
Stein said that between now and November, his team plans to reach as many potential voters as possible. He said he can win by calling people, knocking on doors, and letting voters know what could be at stake for North Carolina.
“We’re going to try to earn every vote in North Carolina,” Stein said. “We’re here in Greene County in the east. I’ve been in the west a week or two ago and everywhere in between, and if we get in front of voters and tell them what this campaign is about — what kind of future we want to be able to deliver for the people of North Carolina and my track record of doing that kind of work as Attorney General, I think we are going to be fine.”
Stein said as governor he will do everything he can to help places like Greene County thrive.
Staying in your hometown and making a living should be achievable for those who want that, he said. Those who want to make a career, go to school or start a business should have every resource they need, he said.
“The interests and the needs are pretty similar from the east to the Piedmont to the west,” Stein said. “Folks just want a chance, they want to make it in their own hometown, not feel like they or their kids have to leave their community in order to provide for their families.”
He said North Carolina needs better roads, better water and sewer infrastructure and better railroads. If North Carolina can “deliver on these types of investments,” then the state will collectively benefit, Stein said.
Most Popular
Comments / 0