Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / Nov. 4, 2010, edition 1 / Page 3
Part of Elon University Student Newspaper / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
THE PENDULUM NEWS THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 4. 2010 // PAGE 3 THE PENDULUM MIDTERM ELECTION COVERAGE U.S. House of Representatives Power Swing ill II I CNN projected seat totals per party as of Nov. 3 Johnson wins sheriff’s seat by more than 20 points Melissa Kansky Muttimedia Editor Republican incumbent Terry Johnson beat out Democrat Ron Parrish for Alamance County Sheriff Nov. 2, winning 61 ijercent to 39 percent. Johnson has served as Alamance' 'Courity' Sherriff since 2002. Despite Johnson's win, both candidates support the immigration law 287(g) for Alamance County, which “establishes legal status and identifies wanted persons." The two candidates stand in agreement with respect to illegal aliens in the county and discriminatory actions against Hispanics have been at the heart of this election. Johnson faces a Department of Justice investigation concerning the number of traffic stops and arrests of Hispanics. Laura Roselle, an Elon University professor of political science, found 1,344 traffic stops on Hispanic drivers within a four-year period, and the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina expressed concern of racial profiling. Parrish supports the investigation and said in a •previous interview with The Pendulum that he would “cooperate and release all available results, make changes where appropriate and move forward with the business of protecting our community.” He said restoring the public's trust is the number one goal. With increased budget shortages, the usage of funds also played a role in this year's election. Parrish has called for a reorganization of economic priorities while Johnson communicated a plan to evaluate programs on a monthly basis to ensure funds are used efficiently. (R) TERRY JOHNSON (D) RON PARRISH Gary Brande, an Alamance County voter, said, “I’ve met Terry Johnson, so 1 voted for him. I've liked a lot of the things that he’s done and some of the things he's been involved in.” County voters reject sales tax initiative, support amendment Sam Parker Senior Reporter .Alamance County voters saw two new issues on their ballots Nov. 2, one regarding a proposed constitutional amendment and one pertaining to a proposed sales tax increase. The sales tax was rejected during the election, while the amendment passed. The sales tax was voted down 71 percent to 29 percent, while the amendment was passed 8(i percent to 14 percent. The approved constitutional amendment prohibits convicted felons from running for sheriff positions in the state of North Carolina, an issue that arose last May in the primary elections when six felons ran for sheriff offices. Since the majority of county voters support the amendment, it will be embossed into the state Constitution. The proposed quarter-cent percent sales tax increase on the ballot signifies the first time Alamance County voters were able to vote on the issue. Since county voters opposed the increase, the issue may reappear for voter reconsideration in the future. Rhonda Talley, an Alamance County voter, said she thinks the new tax proposal is an unnecessary supplement. “1 feel like we're already heavily taxed in North Carolina, comparatively,” Talley said. “Of course, a lot of government excess is on every corner, so 1 think they need to take a long look at that before they start encouraging new taxes.” If voters had supported the sales tax boost, county governments would not have been required to pass the legislation. Kathleen Treadwell, an Alamance County voter, said she disagrees with this possibility of refusal. “I think the thing that is important for Alamance County is the willingness to implement the sales tax if the voting populous decides that's a good idea,” Treadwell said. “I like the candidates that actually care about our students and understand that we need to raise some money for our school systems." Republicans sweep county commissioners vote Jack Dodson News Editor Republicans Tim Sutton, Bill Lashley and Tom Manning defeated Democratic and Libertarian candidates for the three seats on the Alamance County commissioners board Nov. 2, winning by as much as eight points. With 28 percent of the vote for the four-year term, Lashley led Sutton, who had 27 percent, Democrat Ann Vaughan, who had 21 percent, Democrat Henry Vines, with 20 percent and Libertarian Brandon Black, who garnered 3 percent. For the two-year term. Manning defeated Democrat and 2010 Elon alumnus Jeremy Teetor 62 percent to 34 percent. In the race between eight candidates for three seats, incumbents Vaughan, Sutton and Lashley were squaring off for two seats as four-year commissioners. Lashley was giving up his two-year seat to run for the four-year term. Teetor, a student teacher, was running for a two-year seat on the board against Manning, an Alamance-Burlington School System Board of Education member and former chairman at the Alamance County Chamber of Commerce. During the summer, former Rep. Cary Allred submitted a petition with 200 signatures so he could be a write-in candidate for the two-year term. He received 3 percent of the vote. Allred, who was formerly a Republican, was a county commissioner for 10 years before he went to the state house. Once there, the Republican party accused him of inappropriate behavior and he eventually resigned. He said in a previous interview that he was wrongly accused by the Republican party in North Carolina and wanted to go back to local politics during this race. Vines said the results reflected a desire for change in government. “(It's) just the swing, voters are saying that they wanted that change," Vines said. “We'll just have to hold them to it. I don't know how they are going to do it without raising taxes. We will just have to hold them to their promises. It seems to be a statement of the presidency and the Democratic majority, the voters expressing their dislike. It came all the way from the top to the local elections.” Some of the largest issues in the county commissioners race this year reflected a troubled economy as both Lashley and Sutton said in previous interviews they were against raising taxes, despite trends in North Carolina of doing just that, according to a recent Businessweek article. “It came down to people were willing to say 'no' to more taxes and 'no' to excessive spending," Sutton said. “1 think that straight-ticket voting helped a lot. More taxes and fees in this economy has got a resounding slap in the face.” He said the local results speak to dissatisfaction on the national level. “1 do think that there's psychologically a curttail effect all the way down from the national level to the local level,” Sutton said. “But we’ve won before when there wasn't a curttail.” More locally, 287(g) was an issue candidates debated throughout the election season. Thelegislationallowsdesignated local law enforcement officers to perform immigration functions and was supported by the Alamance County Sheriff’s MOLLY CAREY | Stan Ptlolooraphw Robert Johnson, left, won one of the two seats in the three-way race for superior court judge while Alamance County commissioner candidate Henry Vines, right, did not receive enough votes to join the board of commissioners. Office. Vaughan voted against the localized version of the law, but Lashley and Sutton both said they were in support of it. Sutton said he didn't expect that to change. And he said he expects the board to be more conservative than it already is. “I don't think our board's going to soften the stance on 287(g) at all, period,” Sutton said. Black said he didn't know what to expect going into election day. He said because of his zero-dollar campaign style. he probably could have done more to increase the number of votes he received. He said part of that is because of the fact that voters don't tend to support third-party candidates. “I think people are scared to change direction there,” Black said. “There's a lot of fear people have for voting third-party.” He said he plans to run again. “Our country needs some change," Sutton said. “Politics is local — I think that's true. You need to start at the local level.*'
Elon University Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Nov. 4, 2010, edition 1
3
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75