That Bourbon Trail Tour that Ray Pickett Attended Has Now Produced Indictments

 

In May 2024, investigative reporter Bryan Anderson named Watauga Rep. Ray Pickett as among the North Carolina General Assembly Republicans who spent a wild time visiting distilleries around Frankfort, Ky., all expenses paid (which were considerable), but paid by whom? (The trip itself was outed on Reddit by a disgruntled employee at one distillery who described the visiting legislators as a bunch of swaggering Southern yahoos disturbing the peace and vomiting in sinks.)

The answer to who paid and was it legal came yesterday when a Wake County grand jury handed down four indictments of Raleigh lobbyists who induced companies they represented to underwrite the entire trip, thus violating the gift ban in North Carolina law that's supposed to keep our legislators from being wined and dined for legislative favors. (Or "Bourbon-ed and boiled" might be the better phrase.) 

After all, the pious, stated excuse for the whole trip to Kentucky was to celebrate "conservative business values," which (we've heard said by many people) are easier to celebrate in an alcoholic haze.

The charges against the lobbyists are mere misdemeanors, showing just how seriously our laws take gifting and grifting elected representatives, all of whom are scot-free in the affair. No NC lawmakers have been charged with anything, though some of them may have some 'splaining to do for not reporting everything on their disclosure forms.

Ray Pickett and Hurricane Relief

 

Rep. Ray Pickett

Newly installed Speaker of the NC House, Destin Hall, notable lawyer of Caldwell County and olympic gerrymanderer (who moved Watauga's Blue Ridge Precinct out of Ray Pickett's Dist. 93 and gave it to himself in Dist. 87, where those Blue Ridge progressives wouldn't be much of an annoyance in that otherwise blood-red district) -- but I digress. That squirt Destin Hall appears to be moving fast to funnel actual dollar bills toward the victims of Hurricane Helene -- to make up in some sense for the passage of S 382 back last November, which masqueraded as a hurricane relief bill but was actually a naked power-grab. Just announced yesterday, Hall has appointed a "Select Committee on Hurricane Helene Recovery" to make recommendations, write legislation, lay the groundwork -- quickly -- for specific appropriations.

To the Select Committee, Hall appointed the three mountain guys who initially raised hell over S 382 for the fakeout in its title -- "Hurricane Relief" -- because it offered zero relief. Those guys quickly folded and voted for the bill in the veto override, but not before (probably) getting some promises for their own districts. There must have been strategy in their caving, or else they're just bully-bait. I prefer my politicians cynical rather than craven.

Hall also appointed Ray Pickett to the Select Committee, who without any visible protest -- no indignant speaking up for constituents wiped out by flood, no symbolic no vote -- rather voted for S 382 at first sight. Voted for the same bill the three other guys had rightly called a notorious fraud. Those guys likely made a bargain or got a promise or leveraged their yes votes on the veto-override for specific economic relief to their constituents. What did Watauga and Ashe counties get for Ray Pickett's complicity? 

These Mtn Republicans Abandoned Their Constituents

 

There have been three pieces of law aimed (more or less) at hurricane recovery passed by the Republican super-majorities in the NC state Senate and House. 

1. A “first step” relief bill passed the General Assembly just two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated much of Western North Carolina. It provided around $270 million in aid, mostly to state agencies.

2. Two weeks after that, a second relief bill added around $600 million in new aid. Notably, "the bill did not include any direct grants to affected businesses that were underwater with COVID-era SBA loans" -- businesses unable to raise cash because of property loss and the cancellation of the Fall tourist season. (Cory Vaillancourt)

l to r, Gillespie, Clampitt, Pless

The pressure for more relief from the state's House and Senate quickly built. The state’s budget director Kristin Walker estimated $53.6 billion in damages across 39 federally declared disaster counties. Gov. Cooper proposed taking $3.9 billion from the “Rainy Day Fund,” including $475 million in grants for small businesses that were (and still are) drowning. Cooper was ignored. 

Instead, the bosses in the General Assembly came up with the massive garbage of S 382, "Disaster Relief 3/Budget/Various Law Changes," which contained only a promise of future appropriations for hurricane relief but no actual money, while its real purpose was to take away power from the governor and other state-wide Council of State members after they were elected but not yet in office. The rainy day fund stayed sacrosanct and very dry. So Gov. Cooper vetoed the monstrocity. Budget Director Kristin Walker had testified in a House hearing just prior to the veto-override vote in the House that the state had $9.1 billion "unappropriated in reserves across a variety of accounts," and that Gov. Cooper's suggestion of $3.9 billion for hurricane relief would still leave a very comfortable $5.5 billion in reserve.

No dice. The NCGOP wanted to cripple Democrats more than it wanted to help its own citizens.

We've written here about the three Republican House members who initially defied their caucus and voted against S 382 and who almost immediately a few days later reversed themselves and voted to ignore the pleas of their constituents. Reps. Mike Clampitt, Karl Gillespie, and Mark Pless abandoned their supposed principles and voted to make the sham disaster relief bill an official slap in the face for their drowned counties.

They're not the only Republicans representing Western North Carolina in the House. At least three other of those guys happily voted yes on the first passage of S 382, for whatever self-serving rationalizations they made for not actually appropriating any new direct aid for their counties:

Jake Johnson (Dist. 113). Youngest Republican in Raleigh and Majority Deputy Whip. Rather than working to get more direct money appropriated for Helene relief, whippersnapper Johnson took the opportunity to criticize the Cooper admin's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for -- get this -- enforcing river set-backs for rebuilding disappeared infrastructure: "Where a lot of the rebuilding is going to have to be done — and a lot of the cleanup, obviously, is near the river — one thing we need to look at is, you know, at least temporarily suspending some of the [regulations], how close you can work to a river and making sure that, you know, they're not cracking down on that," Johnson told Fox News Digital.

Ray Pickett

Ray Pickett (Dist. 93). Putting his "followship" skills on full display, Pickett echoed Johnson, tagged along with Johnson's opportunistic attack on DEQ, though his "me too" and "I was just going to say that too" came without any mention of "a specific policy he was most concerned about but said he was [vaguely] worried about DEQ's permitting and approvals process in general .... I absolutely share those concerns," Pickett told Fox News Digital. "I see it with some of our infrastructure that's going to have to be replaced. DEQ … has not always been the quickest agency we have." This was all tough-guy posturing against an environmental agency that had not, in fact, been any impediment at all to recovery but had rather been on the scene in the West since the middle of the flood.

Dudley Greene (Dist. 85). New in the House, representing hard-hit Avery, Mitchell, Yancey, and McDowell counties. He's mere furniture and does as he's told by the bosses.

Big Question: Why Did Rep. Ray Pickett Vote for S 382?

 

Rep. Ray Pickett

While three other mountain Republicans from Western North Carolina sensibly voted against the so-called "Disaster Relief" bill, which provided zero relief but crippled the offices that Democrats won in the statewide election, Rep. Ray Pickett voted for it. Why? S 382 offers rather actual real neglect for hurricane victims.

How much money [was appropriated in S 382] for the NC victims of the Hurricane Helene?

Zero.

No rental assistance.

No small business support.

No direct assistance to families.

Instead, 117 pages of the 131 page “Disaster Relief 3” bill is far less about hurricane relief and far more of an overhaul to move executive branch power away from recently elected Democrats to Republicans....

Here’s what the bill really does:

The Governor would no longer have the ability to appoint people to the State Board of Elections or Utility Commission.

The Lt. Governor would no longer chair the energy crisis committee or the Energy Policy Council which would also be eliminated.

The Attorney General would lose the ability to intervene in lawsuits to protect consumers and prohibits the AG from taking a position not authorized by the Republican majority.

And lastly, the bill would prevent the State Superintendent of public instruction from appealing decisions by a state board that reviews charter school applications. (Tales of an Educated Debutante)

Gov. Roy Cooper angrily vetoed S 382 yesterday and attached this message:

“This legislation is a sham. It does not send money to Western North Carolina but merely shuffles money from one fund to another in Raleigh. This legislation was titled disaster relief but instead violates the constitution by taking appointments away from the next Governor for the Board of Elections, Utilities Commission and Commander of the NC Highway Patrol, letting political parties choose appellate judges and interfering with the Attorney General’s ability to advocate for lower electric bills for consumers. Instead of giving small business grants to disaster counties it strikes a cruel blow by blocking the extension of better unemployment benefits for people who have lost jobs because of natural disasters. Finally, it plays politics by taking away two judges elected by the people and adding two judges appointed by the legislature, taking away authority from the Lieutenant Governor and the Superintendent of Public Instruction and more.”

So, in other words, Ray Pickett will have another chance to vote like his fellow mountain Republicans did the first time -- when the bill comes back to the House for veto-override.

Please tell Ray Pickett that we'll be watching his vote on S 382.

Ray Pickett's office: 919-733-7727

Ray Pickett's email: Ray.Pickett@ncleg.gov

Rep. Ray Pickett Shouldn't Brag

 

So NC House Rep. Ray Pickett (R-Watauga) sent out a newsletter dated July 2nd in which he bragged that he helped pass the local bill, S 912, spinning that it's a great plan for enhanced democracy -- "ensure[s] that every resident's voice is heard in the election of local officials." S 912 is the attempt by Senator Ralph Hise to keep the voters of Watauga from rejecting by referendum his new gerrymander of both the County Commish and the Watauga School Board.

Pickett's bragging may be a trifle misplaced, since the destruction of the current non-partisan School Board by a gerrymander that will ensure it will become much more partisan and divided is widely hated by both Republicans and Democrats. The current School Board, which was not consulted nor warned that Hise was about to upend it, is composed of two Republicans, two Democrats, and one Unaffiliated member, and that body unanimously opposed the change.

Pickett doesn't vote in the best interests of the people of Watauga. He votes like Senator Hise tells him.

Was Ray Pickett Drunk and Rude at a Bourbon-Fueled Event in Kentucky?

 

Ray Pickett

Anderson Alerts very recently publicized an outraged comment on Reddit about a group of North Carolina legislators, including Watauga County Rep. Ray Pickett, who allegedly behaved very badly at a Louisville event celebrating Bourbon, "conservative business values," and the Kentucky Derby.

A Reddit user who identified as a bourbon distillery representative posted over last weekend that 33 North Carolina officials behaved poorly as guests at a recent event. “Their arrival was marked by loud, unruly conduct that disrupted other guests and tarnished the atmosphere we work hard to maintain,” wrote the Reddit user ItIsCroy. “What was perhaps most disturbing was their lack of accountability for their actions. Despite being extremely rude, disruptive, not tipping the bartenders and tour guides, and even VOMITING in our bathroom sinks, not a single apology was offered.”

Bryan Anderson identified Blowing Rock Rep. Ray Pickett as probably attending, but Pickett refused to comment to Anderson.

The Bastards in Raleigh

 

They're turning North Carolina into a shithole state.

Ray Pickett, House Dist. 93

Meanwhile, I'm trying to control the acid reaction to them now coursing through my own body politic. The big boys in Raleigh, last seen grubbing for even more unseemly power in the new state budget, put a heavy tax on our last nerve. They only want control of the voting process, control of the judiciary, control of the classroom, and control of their own nasty secrets. (The best run-down on all the bad stuff in the budget was written by Jeffrey Billman for The Assembly -- which is well worth subscribing to. NC Newsline also has excellent cumulative coverage.) I could have cried, "Told ya so!"

I knew when they caved to the governor on expanding Medicaid coverage but tied its expansion to the passage of a new budget -- didn't you know they would deliver a portmanteau of abominables in that budget? Of course you knew it, or else you're a spring flower unaware of coming frost or don't have a clue about the character of these "conservatives" because you didn't believe such cruelty and contempt for democracy could actually exist in modern American human beings. Especially the ones who say they follow Jesus.

Gov. Cooper surely knew and apparently resigned himself to the inevitable horrors the Republicans would visit on representative government. He wanted Medicaid expansion. He's getting it, with tons of stuff he didn't want -- none of us wanted! -- and letting it become law without his signature. Because, you know, Tricia Cotham (plus five other Democrats who haven't switched parties -- four Black and one white -- who also voted for this waste-dump of ideology run amuck).

Ralph Hise, Senate Dist. 47

In my House District 93, Rep. Ray Pickett voted for it. He's just a drone anyway. Under his brand name, he votes for whatever the brand wants. He must be defeated for reelection. Democrat Ben Massey will make the run in 2024. Winning will depend on whether the citizens of District 93 really do prefer pay-to-play, petty vindictiveness, and the scolding laws of men who don't trust women.

In my Senate District 47, Sen. Ralph Hise is the actual author of much mischief (including double-bunking himself with Sen. Deanna Ballard in 2022, to get rid of her). He's already mucho powerful and doesn't mind bending rules to benefit himself further. As Chair of both Appropriations/Base Budget and Redistricting and Elections, Hise has his foot on our necks. Without any doubt, he will run for reelection. So far there's no Democrat willing to carry the flag against him. Both this Senate district and House District 93 were gerrymandered to make them unwinnable by Democrats. How about Democrats and Unaffiliateds together?

NB: Of course all House and Senate districts are up for another round of partisan redistricting (promised for next month, as close as possible to the December filing period for 2024, so that Democrats have less time to recruit and field candidates). Supreme Court Chief Paul Newby decided partisan gerrymandering is the true American way. As I said, they own the highest court and they've taken new steps in the budget to create and control their own Superior Court judges. Holy crap!

The Intellectual Conditioning of Ray Pickett

Around 40 of North Carolina’s 170 lawmakers are members of ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, an arm of corporate America which produces "model bills" touching on every aspect of American life in a way that usually directly benefits corporate ambitions (i.e., greed). The Center for Media and Democracy publishes "ALEC Exposed," a detailed listing of ALEC-written bills and the lengths to which it goes to influence state-level legislators. Among its goals are the elimination of regulations regarding corporate behavior, the cramping of voting rights (to keep "the right people" in power), and a new Constitutional Convention of the states to rewrite our basic governing document. ALEC claims to include “nearly one-quarter of the country’s state legislators and stakeholders.”

Ray Pickett

Not a lot of the North Carolina members of ALEC talk publicly about their involvement -- given the highly controversial nature of the org and the dark implications of unseen forces using idiots elected officials as their puppets -- but apparently Rep. Ray Pickett of the NC House (93rd Dist.), "a newer ALEC member who has attended two of its conferences," didn't get the keep-quiet memo, and he became the chief source behind a NandO investigative piece published on Sunday, "A Look Inside ALEC's Influence in NC."

Pickett is an enthusiastic acolyte to the corporate vision for America and was forthcoming with helpful info:

There are two primary ALEC memberships: legislative and private sector. Legislative members like Pickett must be elected officials, and pay a $200 two-year membership fee. Costs incurred from attending conferences can eventually get reimbursed by ALEC, according to Pickett.

Members are divided into task forces that hold online meetings throughout the year to discuss model legislation proposals. According to Pickett — who is a member of the energy, environment and agriculture task force — 50 to 70 proposals are made each year. About four are chosen to be discussed further. The task forces then meet in-person at the annual conferences, where the chosen proposals are voted on. Within each task force, there is a fifty-fifty split between legislative members and private sector members, who all get a vote. If passed, the model legislation moves to the ALEC Board of Directors, which decides whether to give the model legislation official ALEC endorsement. The board consists of lawmakers and ex-lawmakers, but also has a corporate/industry presence. “It’s like any other conference. Doctors, they have conferences, and they talk about new technology,” Pickett said. “But we talk about new policy, and that’s what we discuss pretty much all day long.”

...Pickett said the contacts he has made with corporate representatives at ALEC meetings have helped him serve his constituents better, especially on more technical topics in which he lacks expertise, like telecommunications.“

Well golly gee! It's swell that ALEC has corporate geniuses ready and willing to help him program his smart TV! What Pickett doesn't realize, or realizes but doesn't care, is that the corporate dudes he's meeting with are also lobbyists sitting him down in private rooms at high-priced hotels and feeding him a steady diet of what he either wants to hear or thinks is brilliant because it comes with flattery and isn't actually intellectual pressure at all to do the bidding of very dark forces that distrust our democracy.

Ray Pickett Signs on to House Bill Eliminating Tenure at All NC Colleges and Universities

 

Pickett

Rep. Ray Pickett (R, Blowing Rock) became a primary sponsor of House Bill 715, which seeks (among other things) the elimination of all faculty tenure in all state-owned colleges and universities. Pickett's 93rd House district includes Appalachian State University.

Also listed as a primary sponsor ... Rep. Destin Hall of Caldwell County, who represents Watauga's Blue Ridge precinct.

The bill would reduce all faculty employment to either at-will assignments or to limited term contracts of one, two, three, or four years.

The bill also targets faculty research, demanding "cost-benefit analysis" for all "non-instructional research" being undertaken by any faculty. "Cost-benefit" is mischief masquerading as some sort of economic measurement of what good comes from research of any kind. If you're into, say, the status of women in ancient Aegean cultures, the cost-benefit analysis may put you on the outs with Ray Pickett and others who think (?) like him.

Both Republicans Representing Watauga Voted for Medicaid Expansion

 

Yesterday the NC House passed HB76 "Access to Healthcare Options" (Medicaid expansion under Obamacare) with both men representing Watauga County voting yes -- Ray Pickett, who represents most of the county and Destin Hall, who carved out Blue Ridge Precinct for his Caldwell District.

The bill passed 92-22 on its final reading. All Democrats voted for it and a bunch of majority Republicans too.

The bill goes now to the Senate. And that's where the trouble will begin.

What Happened in Kansas?

 

Dr. Samuel Johnson

This here quote explains a lot (though man needs to be woman):

Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.

--Samuel Johnson

The women of Kansas thought hard about losing rights and becoming meat of the state and went out and said no, despite the state legislature's best effort to complicate the ballot and obfuscate what "yes" even meant.

That mini-wave on abortion rights apparently woke up some Republican senators (according to Sen. Lindsey Graham). Even our own Thom Tillis: “Kansas, which is a pretty red state ― it’s hard to find the words. I think people should look at it.” What he meant by "people should look at it," other than probably something like "Holy shit! Did you just see what happened in Kansas?" or "What can we do to free ourselves from Right To Life?" -- that's open to interpretation.

I feel the pincers that grip the GOP right now, because I'm squeezing as hard as I can. Biden's not the issue this November. The Republican Party is, as it's been transformed by Trump and his flying monkeys of Cruelty and Fraud. 

So I've already seen one TV attack ad on Ted Budd's willingness to ban abortion. The ad was produced and paid for by an unnamed Democratic super PAC, which makes me ask out loud, why isn't Cheri Beasley speaking up too? Budd needs to be pinned. In an interview on the KC O'dea Show, he applauded the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Org decision as "a great thing." Then, later, when he had time to think about it, he decided it was just tough shit for women forced to give birth, because -- you know -- the tragedy of murdering a kid (that's how they talk). Budd told NexStar Media Group, "Let’s not add more tragedy to a very tough situation.” He has no idea. No idea, earthly. 

But you watch Budd and all them bros now run for cover, get tongue-tied, deny past positions. They'll say, "We would appreciate it very much if you'd stop talking about all the laws we want to pass."

WRAL demanded what every Democratic candidate should demand of their Republican opponents, even red-district outgunned Democrats in supposedly unwinnable districts -- Demand that those Republicans explain where they stand on banning abortion. Lean in.

North Carolina voters must know, before they cast ballots this fall, in specific detail where every legislative candidate stands. Do they stand with extremes like the Republican legislators who want the State Constitution to say life starts at fertilization and anyone who willfully tries or destroys a life is accountable for attempted murder?

--WRAL editorial, Aug. 4, 2022

Rep. Ray Pickett

Smart Republicans like Berger Moore can tell toxicity before they step in it, so they'll go around the question and go to ground on the abortion issue -- double-talk it. Say as little as possible. But the far dumber Republican local candidates are unprepared or under-prepared for the shit-storm that can come when they answer carelessly. Take, say, Rep. Ray Pickett of the 93rd HD, a piece of Republican furniture not destined to rise in leadership but a dutiful foot soldier for the party's brand. Does he understand what banning abortion means? And does he support it?

The Supremes Made Me a Single-Issue Voter

 

With the clarity we've come to expect from him, Sen. Jeff Jackson lays out the potential for November:

Next year in NC: 

1) Our state legislature will convene. 

2) The GOP will pass a bill banning abortion. 

3) The Governor will veto it. 

4) A veto override vote will be held. 

5) Either Dems will have enough members to sustain the veto, or not. 

Those are the stakes this November.

I think I just became "a single-issue voter." And I've got a candidate to vote for.

House District 93

(Watauga, excepting Blue Ridge Precinct, plus Ashe and Alleghany counties)

(Watauga's Blue Ridge Precinct is now in the 87th HD. Thank you, gerrymander. And the Gerrymanderer-in-Chief in the NC House, Destin Hall, is the incumbent Republican of HD87. Democrat Barbara Kirby is running against him)

I remember Ben Massey as the ever-present, early-bird, cheerful-but-firm manager of the Watauga County Farmers Market. That was a few years ago. I thought he did a good job. Then he left Watauga and became president of the Ashe County Farmers Mkt. He and his wife Darleen are fixtures there, selling their own farm produce. They live in Ashe County on a "rural homestead" reclaimed from its dispersal to nine heirs probably because someone died without a will. Ben Massey is running for the House seat, currently held by Republican of Blowing Rock, Ray Pickett.

I met Ben and his campaign manager last night. Formidable team with a clear plan. And with admittedly huge odds against them: NCFree rates the district R+11. That's due, of course, to Destin Hall Hisownself in Caldwell County, taking Blue Ridge Precinct off Ray Pickett's hands and adding very rural Alleghany County to counteract Watauga's Democratic voters. The district has see-sawed between parties when it was just Watauga and Ashe -- Democrats Cullie Tarleton and Ray Russell and Republicans Jonathan Jordan and now Ray Pickett. But the Republicans don't like a seesaw and propped up Pickett with a cinderblock of new Republicans. No more going blue for you, House Seat 93! 

Understanding that the 93rd is uphill all the way, Ben Massey nevertheless has cred already in Ashe, and a formidable Party org in Watauga, and a local history in Alleghany -- dependably Democratic, going back to the Civil War -- that might turn at least purple if Trumpist turnout sags. I know: Alleghany's potential is more of a used to be, but how can you stay in politics without hope?

Massey fits the district, and I like the writing on his website:

Ben is the guy on your road whom everyone depends on. He and his tractor are there to pull the log out of your driveway after a windstorm, and he always remembers to ask about your parent who is recovering from surgery.

...he knows what it means to be a good neighbor. His dad was a Mail Carrier and his mom owned a Dance School. His grandfather was a Deputy Sheriff shot and killed in the line of duty. Ben grew up barning tobacco and working at the local gas station. As a young man seeking to make his own way, he patched together grants, loans and part-time jobs to pay his way through college at UNC-Chapel Hill and graduated as a Physical Therapist.

He retired as the executive director of the state’s PT licensure board, administering the state laws for over 13,000 physical therapists and physical therapist assistants in North Carolina.

Here's a nugget: He got inducted into “The Order of the Long Leaf Pine” by Governor Pat McCrory "for significant contributions to the state and his community through exemplary services and exceptional accomplishments." Many of those accomplishments and awards are listed at the bottom of his bio page.

He talked last night about the importance of Roe and said he had actually decided to run way back in May 2021 when the Supreme Court first announced that it was taking the Mississippi abortion case, now known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Org. He will be an unflagging advocate for women's rights, as Republicans move toward taking charge of uteruses and mandating pregnancies.

Local Bill H193 Is Kaput

 

Ray Pickett

Issued before 9 a.m. this morning, this bottomline news: Watauga County Commission requests the shelving of that special legislation introduced by Rep. Ray Pickett and will follow the town's UDO in the building of a parking garage, a facility that both parties believe is needed.

Here's the money in the last paragraph:

We have reached a consensus so that the local law will be withdrawn, litigation can be avoided, and consideration of the County’s parking garage project can move forward as speedily as possible consistent with the Town’s development ordinance.

 

The Underhanded, Horrible, No-Good Screwing of Boone NC

 

Rep. Ray Pickett introduced a "local bill" (H193, that the governor can't veto) which will exempt the development of the Oscar and Suma Hardin House property (a.k.a, the Turner House) in downtown Boone from following the rules in Boone's Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). The Watauga County Commish wants to build a parking deck for the Courthouse, and they don't want to be bothered with following rules that will include a public hearing. If you recall, they refused a public hearing before they demolished that historic house.

That Ray Pickett, who served on the Blowing Rock Town Council and who would not, we think, have screwed his own town with a bill like this, is apparently happy to screw Boone speaks to a political moral compass somewhat out of whack.

The Town's UDO development standards apply to everyone, whether a government, a major or minor devloper, or even a person wanting to build a storage shed. Why should the big, powerful players be exempt from the rules all the rest of us have to follow just because they have the means and power to get a special law introduced in Raleigh?

But we have other questions. Who on the County Commission approached Pickett to get this bill introduced? And what secret meetings went on behind the scenes that led the Commission -- without ever taking a public vote that we know of -- to take this underhanded path. Who met with whom and who was there? And why the need to operate under cover and in the dark of night without public input or knowledge? And what says the Boone Town Council about such a blatant and dangerous subverting of local control?

Update on Candidate Filings -- 1 Day Left

 

Deanna Ballard

Though Sen. Jeff Jackson dropped out of the US Senate race and cleared the path for Cheri Beasley, she still has -- believe it or not -- 8 Democratic primary opponents, some of them "perennials" and some who apparently don't mind spending the filing fee of $1,740. To gain what, exactly?

Speaking of Sen. Jackson, he's filed to run in the new 14th CD and at the moment has a single primary opponent.

Former congressman Mark Walker did finally file yesterday for the Republican primary for US Senate.

Perennial Democratic candidate Erica D. Smith has filed in the CD1 and will face state senator Don Davis in a primary for the open seat. No Republican incumbent but 4 Republicans filed in the primary.

In CD4, considered "safe Democratic," a real fight is shaping up between Nida Allam, a Durham County commissioner; Valerie Foushee, a formidable state senator; and Richard L. Watkins, a young African American Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology.

CD6 (largely Guildford Co.), which is supposed to be a solid Democratic House seat, so far has no Democratic candidate. Apparently waiting for current Democratic incumbent Kathy Manning to file for reelection.

NC Senate race to watch: Deanna Ballard and Ralph Hise were double-bunked in this new district (Dist. 47),  and indeed Ballard has decided to take on Hise, the very man who drew the map that double-bunked them. The Republican establishment was evidently trying to encourage her to retire, but she ain't going easy.

Ashe County Democrat Ben Massey has filed to run against incumbent Republican Ray Pickett. Two Watauga precincts (Blue Ridge and Elk) have been removed from this district (#93) and added to Caldwell, while Allegheny County got added to Pickett's district.

For the first time in many years, there will be a Democratic primary contest for a County Commission seat between Carrington Pertalion and Angela Laws King.

Watauga Chopped Up in New NC House District Map

 

Above, NC House districts for the next decade -- barring judicial interference. This map overall graded F by the Princeton Gerrymandering Project. The opinion of Watauga voters in Blue Ridge and Elk precincts -- unprintable in a G-rated blog. Blue Ridge and Elk precincts have been added to the 87th House District, which is mainly Caldwell County where Destin Hall holds the seat. Hall, incidentally, is the Republican chair of the House redistricting committee, and he drew the map.

Blowing Rock precinct is left in House District 93, which means that Ray Pickett was allowed to keep his district. District 93 also now includes Allegheny County. The Princeton Gerrymandering Project rates the partisan divide 41.68% Democratic to 58.22% Republican.

This map and the NC Senate map are not targets of the law suit filed yesterday in Wake County. That legal challenge will move forward in state courts, beginning with a three-judge panel to be appointed by Chief Justice Paul Newby. The suit complains only about the 14 US congressional districts (which also chops up Watauga so that Congresswoman Virginia Foxx can be rid of most of us Wataugans while retaining the core of her red district). Surely there will follow suits against the NC House and NC Senate redistricting.

Deanna Ballard and Ray Pickett Used As Bait

 

Travis Fain, reporting for WRAL:

Ray Pickett. 

...Greater Carolina is a 501(c)(4), one of several "dark money" groups that can raise unlimited cash without identifying donors. It sent invites to lobbyists and others in the General Assembly orbit, inviting them to the Sept. 2 game between East Carolina University and Appalachian State University, which will be played in Charlotte.... 

For $1,000, donors can attend a pre-game tailgate with an open bar and food from a "double decker tailgate unit" ....

For $5,000, Greater Carolina throws in tickets to the game. For $10,000, donors also get two tickets to a stadium suite where Sens. Deanna Ballard, R-Watauga, Todd Johnson, R-Union, and Dave Craven, R-Randolph, will watch the game, along with Reps. Ray Pickett, R-Watauga, David Willis, R-Union, Jason Saine, R-Lincoln, and Matthew Winslow, R-Franklin.

So for a mere $10,000, you can watch Ray Pickett and Deanna Ballard watch a football game. 

 

So Now Rep. Ray Russell Is Antifa?

 

This is the kind of ridiculous attack piece that backfires on a Republican challenger like Ray Pickett.

They're Going after Ray Russell and Ray Pickett Ain't Embarrassed

The basically silly attacks on Rep. Ray Russell (HD93) by an anonymous group calling itself "Citizens for a Better NC House" -- see immediately down-column -- are meant to help advantage Ray's Republican challenger, Ray Pickett, an ex-Blowing Rock town commissioner, local inn-keeper, and....

Hold it right there. "Ex-Blowing Rock town commissioner" sent me on an extended search of State Board of Elections (NCSBE) data to find out when Ray Pickett previously served on the B'Rock Town Commission. Here's the somewhat confounding facts I found:

2011 -- Ran for Town Commission as "Phillip R. Pickett." (Assume that's Ray; if not, I apologize.) Finished 4th behind winner Albert Yount with 155 votes out of a total of 953 cast.

2013 -- Ran again, finished 3rd behind Doug Matheson but took a 2-year seat with 279 votes out of 1,663.

2015 -- Did not run again. At least he's not listed as a candidate on SBOE "Elections" page for that fall.

2017 -- Despite what is not shown for 2015, Pickett was indisputably a sitting Commissioner during the election of 2017, finishing 4th with 222 votes out of 1,237. Ousted by Virginia Powell.

2019 -- Ran again, finishing 3rd with 159 votes out of 814 cast -- failing again to win a seat.

I can't account for the gap between 2015 and 2017, how someone not on the ballot in 2015, after winning a 2-year term in 2013, can show up in all press stories as a sitting town commissioner all through 2017. Appointment to an unexpired term, maybe? I dunno. And I'm not going to spend any more time on this, except for this conclusion: Ray Pickett served on B'Rock town council for either 2 or 3+ years and did not grow his base. 155 votes, his first time out; 159 votes, his last try.

Maybe someone in the NCGOP, or allied orgs, promised him this year that if he'd just sign up to run against first-termer Ray Russell, he'd get campaign help from 3rd parties with lottsa bucks. Besides, Bruh, rest assured that a Trumpy House district like the 93rd still "leans Republican," according to all the people who count beans, and Trump's reelection is really gonna bring out the Republicans (supposedly). Persuasive talk for an ambitious politician, but I dunno. After trying to locate the Ray Pickett campaign, I'm keyed to ask, "Leans Republican, Despite the Candidate"? 

Truth be told, Ray Pickett looks like he needs help. He listed a single contribution from Friends of Tim Moore ($5,400) in Feb. on his 1st Quarter report, and so far as we can tell, he's submitted no 2nd Quarter report. (Ray Pickett is also listed as his own treasurer. When did they change the law on that?) He doesn't seem to be trying all that hard. Relying on the dirty work by "Citizens for a Better NC House" to get him elected? 

His Facebook page has 71 "likes," 76 "follows," and to date, since its launch on Jan. 6 of this year, just 16 updates (and a half-dozen of those were repetitions of the campaign cover page). Among those roughly dozen original postings: Commendably, he met with officials of the Blue Ridge Conservancy and was lobbied on conservation issues, and he gave blood, but he also doesn't see the problem with a statue of Teddy Roosevelt subordinating an Indian and a Black man. He was against wearing facemasks on June 16, as a tyrannical oppression by government, and he thought it awfully important to pass on a list of conservative principles, No. 6 of which is "Trump is the President and doing a great job!" and No. 16, "All fear is fueled by the media, this is a fact."

Ray Pickett knows the crap they're shoveling at Ray Russell. He legally can't have connections -- certainly not approval -- of that shoveled crap, but there's such a thing as tacit approval. He perhaps thinks that 3rd-party attacks will be the way he'll win if he wins at all.