Thursday, January 04, 2018

Red-To-Blue in the 7th Congressional District

The Cook Political Report rates the 7th Congressional District of North Carolina as solidly Republican, and maybe it was and maybe it still is, or maybe something's afoot down there in 2018 that might wring the smugness out of incumbent Republican Congressman David Rouzer.

Back in March Rouzer faced a gale of protest from hundreds attending a town hall event in the town of Bolivia. (We have to give Rouzer props for at least holding an open event, unlike most of the Republicans representing North Carolina in Congress like Virginia Foxx.) The natives were restless, and if anything is true for 2018 it's that the pressure is only growing against the Trump agenda, which Rouzer has slavishly supported.





The first Democrat who announced a challenge to Rouzer is medical doctor Kyle Horton, who got profiled yesterday by Elisabeth Almekinder on PoliticsNC.com. According to Almekinder, Dr. Horton is one of eight women physicians who are entering congressional races this year: "There has been only one female physician in Congress to date, and there are none presently serving."

Horton comes from a military family and has a particular passion for providing health care for veterans and their families. She worked for Veterans Affairs in Richmond, Va., as a doctor, "and it’s
Dr. Kyle Horton
really the delays I was having with my patients that first made me get engaged in politics.”
“After I moved back to North Carolina to take care of my mother’s health issues, I was no longer bound by the Hatch Act, and receiving a government paycheck from Veterans Affairs, so I could engage directly in legislative advocacy and campaigns unrestricted. I was going back and forth to the Hill over the last few years, working on provisions of bills, and even grassroots work for integrated veteran suicide prevention, homelessness and female veterans’ issues. I’ve also been working on raising awareness for veterans exposed to burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan, so that we don’t repeat the mistakes of agent orange in Vietnam,” said Horton. “I have devoted all my time and energy to doing volunteer advocacy work, and now, running for Congress.”
Horton will likely face a May primary election with another young Democratic professional, a prospect that can make her a stronger contender in November if she's the top vote-getter. She's just one of a nationwide new wave of dedicated young women who intend to make a difference.

Kyle Horton's website (where you can make an on-line contribution): http://www.drkyleforcongress.com.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm a working class guy, why should I vote for Democrats when NOT ONE of them voted to lower my taxes?

You keep posting articles about the Democrats taking over Republican seats. Why should I vote for them?

Meatcamp said...

The tax bill which you seem to support may lower your taxes by a small amount, but what that money will cost you, our children, and our grandchildren is almost incalculable. You and I will lose our first-world infrastructure, the investment in research and development that gave us a world-class economy, and our Social Security and Medicare. There will be no safety net for when we get sick and lose our jobs. There will be less money for education, for overseeing food and drug safety, for enforcing laws that protect our air and water. Billionaires and trillionaires will have much more money to purchase politicians and write laws that give them even more power to decide who runs the government. At some point they won't even bother throwing a few bones to keep you satisfied. And our children will inherit a massive deficit. You should vote for Democrats because they support much more responsible taxation and investment in our children's futures.

Anonymous said...

We haven't had a "first-world" infrastructure for some time anyways. Let's hope there is an infrastructure bill this year, we need it.

As for a world class economy, we are seeing corporations giving bonuses and raises because of the new tax law, so some workers are getting immediate benefits from it. Bringing corporate money back from overseas means they won't be investing it there. Maybe that'll mean more and better jobs here, but if the money stays over there there is no chance it will improve employment here.

Isn't investment in research and development done in the private sector? Apple, Google Tesla, Amazon, Microsoft all seem to be the leaders in tech and development, not the government.

The DJIA is up 25 % in one year, where many working people have their retirement accounts invested in.

I have seen more people close their businesses and lay off employees due to ACA increases in their Health Insurance than I will see from this tax decrease.

If billionaires and trillionaires are buying politicians they will buy politicians no matter which party is in office.

As for a massive deficit, Obama had a trillion dollar deficit for most of his eight years in office. This tax law MAY give 1.5 trillion over 10 YEARS. How is that suddenly "massive"?

Point is, I, and most people I know, do not believe the Democrats are working for us. Yes I'm white, male, lower middle class and work construction for a living. I see nothing in your statements that leads me to believe that you will make my life better.

What is "responsible taxation"?

I may be getting a pittance from this Republican tax law, but it is more than the Democrats are offering.

Anonymous said...

Economy is booming since the election! Lowest unemployment rate ion years! Lowest Black unemployment rate EVER! Million new jobs added. My 401K is up 30% since the election! My tax reduction will amount to another $40.00 per week in my TAKE HOME pay! Housing starts wayyyy up! Average hourly earnings UP and still climbing! GDP growh over 3%....higher than any year of the Obama presidency!

Yet, when everything is looking so good, Meatcamp is telling us that we should ignore all the facts we are observing and instead, subscribe to his uninformed and biased opinion that things will get worse some day!

Thanks Meatcamp! But, if it's all the same to you, I think I can handle the money I earned better than the government can!