The National Republican Congressional Committee has just released their updated list of "On the Radar" candidates in their "Young Guns" program. Three of the eleven candidates in the Republican primary for NC-9 made the list.
To me, the NRCC appears more interested in playing it safe by supporting candidates who will have across-the-aisle appeal to Democrats or who can self-fund, rather than picking candidates with the strongest conservative resume. Both the Rothenberg and Cook political analysis sites show NC-9 as a strong Republican seat with Rothenberg rating it safe Republican and Cook showing the seat with a strong Republican tilt. With those characteristics, we should be trying to get the best conservative elected and not just any Republican.
That "best conservative" is Ric Killian - the current State Representative for NC-105 in South Charlotte.
When it comes to national security issues Ric Killian is uniquely qualified to serve as the district's representative in Congress having now been to war twice. Last week, he returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan as a Colonel in the US Army. As a member of Congress, he would be the only member to have served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. You can read about his return here.
On spending, Ric Killian has been a strong voice against misplaced priorities. For example, he led the charge to oppose wasteful transit spending at the Federal level to speed passenger rail service between Charlotte and Raleigh by a mere 13 minutes. This rail project would commit hundreds of millions in tax dollars to address a tiny fraction of our transportation and infrastructure needs. See here for his editorial on this issue.
Finally, Ric Killian regularly receives an A rating from Civitas Action for his votes in the Legislature. In 2010 he was one of only 2 NC House Legislators to receive that rating. See the entire list here. He is a proven, dependable, and consistent conservative.
Running for Congress is about more than being a single-issue advocate. It is about more than just money and fundraising. None of the other candidates can present a comparable record across such a broad spectrum of issues.
Conservative voters are smart. They educate themselves and vote accordingly. I'm sure they will do so in this race as well. When they do, I expect they will see that one choice stands above the rest and that choice is Ric Killian.
If you are the best conservative in south charlotte, why did southcharlotte.org endorse pendergraph?
ReplyDeleteThat would seem to be quite a response, until you look a little deeper. You see, southcharlotte.org is not an organization as far as one can tell. In fact, it appears to be a one-man-show by a local activist. What is even more embarrassing is that this one-man-show's southcharlotte.org is credited on Commissioner Pendergraph's campaign site as a "Breaking News" item. Check out the follow up post for more on this one.
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