The Republican nominee for N.C. superintendent of public instruction, who has been linked to past controversial postings on social media, will be a guest speaker at a gathering Thursday of the Tar River Republican Women club at the Nashville Exchange Steakhouse & Cafe.
Michele Morrow was invited as the GOP nominee for the statewide leader of public education and to be given the option to speak and answer any questions anyone may have, club President Mary Helen Pelt said in a phone interview over the weekend.
“We approached her last month about coming to speak,” Pelt said.
The gathering is set to start at 6 p.m. Thursday at the restaurant, which is across from the Nash County courthouse complex. Pelt also said that candidates for the Nash County Public Schools' Board of Education are going be given the opportunity to speak.
Morrow is a nurse, a former Christian missionary, a conservative activist and a 2022 school board candidate for the Wake County public schools system. Morrow in the March 5 GOP primary for the statewide superintendent job upset first-term incumbent Catherine Truitt, who had once served as a senior advisor on education to then-Gov. Pat McCrory, also a Republican.
Morrow is facing Mo Green, who won a three-candidate contest in the March 5 Democratic primary.
Green, an attorney by training, is a former superintendent of Guilford County Schools and a former chief operating officer of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Green also is a former executive director of the Winston-Salem-based philanthropic Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.
According to his campaign website, Green says that he is endorsed by former Govs. Jim Hunt and Bev Perdue, former N.C. Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson and former U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, all Democrats.
The general election is set for Nov. 5.
Morrow became a focus of nationwide and international attention not long after the political primaries when CNN’s KFile investigative team reported that Morrow had posted under a since-dormant social media account about having expressed support for a televised execution of former President Barack Obama and having suggested that then-President-elect Joe Biden be killed.
CNN’s KFile also reported that Morrow on social media made suggestions about executing other prominent Democrats, including Gov. Roy Cooper, a Nash County native, 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York.
CNN on March 21 posted online an interview of Morrow by a reporter in a parking lot as Morrow was leaving a nighttime GOP gathering in Wake County. The reporter repeatedly and unsuccessfully sought to obtain clarity from Morrow about the past postings on social media and whether Morrow stood by what was said.
Morrow in part said on camera, “I’m focused on helping the families of North Carolina for their children to get quality education, for them to be safe — and for us to be sure that our money is going into the classroom, rather than bureaucracies.”
Pelt said that she would like to hear Morrow’s side of the story.
“I’m aware of what the media has put out,” Pelt said. “I really don’t have a comment on that, but this is another good reason why we’re having her, is if the public would like to ask her any questions, now would be the time.”
Pelt said that the gathering is going to be open to the news media.
The Telegram on Monday sought comment from Morrow via an email link on her campaign’s website.
A person with the campaign, in response, said that Morrow is going to be speaking at the club's gathering to share her vision for bringing safety and discipline back to North Carolina classrooms and to explain how money and classroom time can be focused on academics and career preparedness rather than political agendas.
In prepared remarks as part of email correspondence with the campaign, Morrow said that, in having traveled the state for the last two years, she believes education is a top issue for everyone in North Carolina.
“North Carolinians do not believe simply throwing more money into the bureaucratic process is going to produce critically thinking, hard working young people who can compete in the marketplace and become the leaders of tomorrow,” Morrow said.
The prepared remarks did not include a response from Morrow to questions about the past postings on social media, but the GOP nominee did note the support she has received in campaigning across the state.
“We have seen an overwhelming number of parents, teachers and school administrators reach out and support our message of school safety, academic achievement and fiscal responsibility — and that is why I believe I will win in November,” Morrow said.
The Tar River Republican Women serves Nash, Edgecombe, Wilson, Halifax and Northampton counties.
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