Well good evening everyone I’m Dwayne Anthony Walker I am the very pleased and proud pastor of L Rock Amion Church it is so wonderful to see all of you wonderful people grace us on this evening good to see all of these wonderful elected officials it’s good to
See all of these wonderful persons who want to be elected officials and good to see the wonderful people who want to elect elected officials I’m so happy and delighted and excited to see you because you certainly understand that this coming election is the most important election of our
Lifetime we say that each election cycle and it could not be truer than right now we certainly understand what is at stake and your presence here tonight indicates how serious you’re taking this moment and for that I say you should give yourselves a wonderful Round of Applause
I do want to thank Miss Colette Force for forer for the asking us to gather on tonight and the black voter project and we’re excited about uh gathering on this night and for all that will take place here I want you to feel welcome here at Little Rock Church we’re always excited
To have you with us and while I’m saying that let me go on and tell you that if you don’t have a church home your welcome to come here I would love to be your pastor and Little Rock would love to be your church we start service at 10:00 a.m. each Sunday
Morning and you’re certainly welcome to uh join us and uh uh we we worship about an hour or so uh but we do believe in having church amen amen uh let me do this I I do want to just offer a word of Prayer prayer and then we’ll turn it over to
Colette our father and our God we are so grateful for this and every privilege that is ours to gather in this place we thank you God for the occasion that draws us here as we blend our minds and our hearts are of concern for our community for our city for our County
For our state for our nation and indeed for our world we thank you for all the the minds that are here and those who offer themselves for political office we ask that as they as they campaign that you will continue to keep them and their families safe and that you will allow uh
The persons to emerge to represent us who will glorify you and will and also who will represent all of the citizens of the state and Nation well lead us and guide us through this process we pray in the name of your son and our savior Jesus the Christ amen God
God bless you have a wonderful evening again good evening my name is Colette forest and I am merely one of the individuals that are a part of the initiative called the Charlotte black voter project now I’m going to take you back we’re g to do some roll call I don’t know if everybody
Know what roll call is but you gonna find that in a second Joselyn nollie with the black political caucus are you in here stand up please Minister Karen Mack with the NAACP are you in here stand up please the Mighty Fine Brothers 1906 they came and they said and they said oh
Where are here ice cold baby 06 alpha alpha could you please stand up and last stay standing stay standing All You Beautiful Nubian and pleas stay standing Minister mad 1913 some sisters came but after 1908 the game will never be the same aka’s Delta Sigma Theta please stand up
Now 1911 was such a fine year that they came an Inception to that bear their name Omega scii Kaa alpas side please stand up now I know goob is here because they can’t do anything without Fair Zetas and sigas please please stand up now if I have any Precinct chairs please stand
Up pastors ministers Faith Community please stand up now I don’t know if Cynthia Wallace is in here but Cynthia Wallace is with the rural project if she’s here please stand up if you are not we call your name in absentia please continue standing if I omitted anyone my pastors
My Deacon my doctors my fraternities the divine nine please stand up at this time now you are standing you are standing because this is not a collect Affair this is the collective F Beta Sigma Sigma gamma row Zeta beta no one person can do this so we need to get that straight
When we pull this off and we will pull it off we will then say we did that and then we will say all right elected this is what the black community needs this is what our children need this is what our school needs this is what the justice system needs this is
What we need because until we work that accountable muscle that accountable muscle we gonna have politicians continuing to fail to rise to be public servants because such a time as this we need public servants so without further Ado I want to last but not least I want
To sh the babies where Charlotte in the house please stand up Audrey kale in the house please stand up Providence day in the house please stand up and any other age student and I also want to remember and the last is just the sweetest formally incarcerated individuals please stand
Up because if we want to act like we ain’t got a cousin now okay because what we have to get in our head nobody can be left behind this election cycle no one your fate is connected to my fate BJ your fate is connected to Bobby and Bobby’s fate is
Connected to West Charlotte his fellow classmates and Audrey C I know you do Fletcher that’s right CU I invited you here so you’re supposed to be here because this all the grownups situ fine grown self down the babies keep on standing because I know we get frustrated I know we get tired but this is what we’re fighting for these babies they
Deserve a future Better World they deserve democracy so I’ve talked to so many people they don’t like the Democrats they don’t like the the Republicans they don’t like Trump they don’t like Biden well you know what you got so much more on the ticket you got the governor
Lieutenant governor you got the Attorney General you got the judges Supreme Court appellant Court these babies are depending on us please tell me your school baby all right Mal Creek in the house sit down my loves thank you so when you talk about the future we will now have a performance by
None other than Bobby Forest that’s my mom y’all so good evening oh this Podium kind of hold on let me let me adjust uh good evening everybody how y’all doing did you know that if you’re 18 years or older you can vote so you should vote
Have a good night everybody all right go ahead wait what oh there’s no Round of Applause oh so y’all must know no no no no no because y’all must know right no what Bobby oh nothing it’s just um it’s just that only 30% of registered voters voted last election cycle three out of
10 people use the one tool we have as citizens of this country citizens uh the one tool that our ancestors fought tooth and nail for the tool they used to get people into office to pass the Civil Rights Act the crown act and a plethora of other pieces of paper that give us
Minorities basic human rights man that don’t sound crazy to you we have to pass laws to be seen as equal maybe citizen was so strong of a word from what I’ve seen in my lifetime more Dennison than anything but I guess that just comes with the territory of America though
Right consumer consumerism negligence guns guns oh guns you know there’s laws for those things I wouldn’t know within the last two months we’ve lost 12 kids to gun violence oh that’s y’all okay let me try again we’ve lost 12 people 12 stories never to be told 12 books filled with
Pages stained red with the blood that is far too tender to be shed but there it is red is the appears in this community is bleeding out while simultaneously being strangled by Charlotte’s rampant gentrification problem and I’m not blaming you because it’s just the status quo we’re so used
To it we’re so numb and it hurts but it happens everywhere right we’re we just got to Thug it out it is what it is right can’t you see we’re crying for help we’re watching the world burn around us in Palestine and Congo we’re seeing women lose the progress they work
So hard for with roie Wade being overturned and worst of all we are watching the people who were supposed to help us so supposed to be our civil servants we’re watching them sit here and let it happen we’re watching them stand idle and watch it all unfold and
Worst of all we’re watching them use our struggle our problems as a platform to get elected again to watching them use that platform to get elected again to do what four more years of nothing another genocide facilitated and funded to watch more communities bleed we’re shooting each other not because we’re angry we’re
Scared we are horrified and we don’t know what to do my mom somewhere in the audience about to give herself a high five in fact I think I might walk over and give her a high five myself she over here we just high five because something she just told me she’s
Tried to drill into my head since I was a kid it finally clicked I can’t do it alone I cannot do it alone no ma no matter interviews I do or speeches I can give are ever going to be enough no matter of artistic interpretation to breathe life into someone’s story will
Help it’s not a just it’s not just a community issue it’s a systematic issue and the only way to tackle those is to use the tools that the people who walk before us work so hard to get you have to vote I need you to vote My Generation West Charlotte Mallet Creek Providence
Day I guess Sergeant kale we need you to hope we need you to vote and for the sake of any sort of future in this godforsaken country we need you to vote can I get any louder because y y’all ain’t getting it 30% remember that uh so with the flame I saw hopefully
Kindled inside of you vote or watch the flame inside of us burn it all to the ground thank you wow wow wow proud of you I mean that proud of you I have the privilege and honor to uh introduce our moderator for the evening he doesn’t need an introduction but I’m
Going to do it anyway so dric Russell is an award-winning journalist at WBTV he was born and raised in Washington DC dric got his start in TV news at wjwj in Buford South Carolina before returning to his hometown to work for the news Channel 8 WJLA dric was reporting in the nation’s
Capital during the 9/11 terrorist attacks the first inauguration of George W bush and the DC sniper attacks dedric moved to Charlotte in 2003 to work for WBTV while at WBTV dedric has been the education reporter lifestyle host co-chair of wbtv’s diversity and inclusion committee and is currently the executive producer of community content
Dri receiv received his bachelor’s degree from Virginia State University and a masters in communication from Syracuse University dri is a member of the National Association of black journalists charotte Association of black journalists and Alpha F Alpha Fraternity Incorporated dedric is married and has a daughter who will
Graduate in May with a degree in elementary education so please let’s give a round of applause for dedric Russell and while Mr Russell makes his way up here we will have the newest member of Charlotte City Council who is a beacon that change can happen Miss Tiana Brown heads up Beauty after the
Bars 30 years ago 30 years ago she made a mistake she paid her dues and she is here to let people no Second Chances are for real you are not the sum of your worst mistakes there is always another day hello y’all hello wonderful and amazing people
God gave me a gift gave me Gift of Gab and I don’t write down anything most of the time but I love Colette she’s become my sister she’s a fire here like me and Bobby you are amazing absolutely amazing but you are your mother’s child you are amazing so yes I am Tiana
Brown I have the honor and pleasure and privilege and I’m so humbled to serve on Charlotte City Council as the first formerly incarcerated woman or person as sad because it’s 2024 and people say they want to give us a second chance but they really do not but I answer to
Someone one that owns all of you so whether you give me a second chance or not God has decided to put me in position to make real authentic change I cannot be broken good measures press down where Dr Walker runneth over I’m born and raised
Um in this community in in in church my family Dr Walker thank you so much for graciously giving us your home if you want to know about me just call me send me an email I know I got a good story right it’s a phenomenal Story the rules
Of engagements are the speakers will be called to participate based on the order of the ballot the governor lieutenant governor Attorney General North Carolina superintendent of Public Instruction North Carolina Supreme Court North Carolina court of appeals y’all don’t want to make Colette mad right one minute per candidate for the
Introduction each candidate will have two minutes to answer questions and one minute for rebuttal each candidate will have one minute to close one minute to close 60 seconds we’ll be watching you a green sheet will tell candid will tell each candidate when to begin a yellow sheet when the candidate has one minute
Left and a red card when the candidate must stop now col who doing all that flipping with all them cards and Sheet the students oh yeah y’all got them y’all going to get them in order okay all question and answers will have to be written down on index cards and
Must be submitted to the moderator for the moderator to ask the questions okay audience you do not get to ask questions directly y’all heard that y’all have to write it down on a card send it up and that’s the order of business thank y’all so much for coming out here y’all
Wonderful people we look good y’all look good I love my people it is what it is right I know some people don’t think I’m supposed to be there but guess what y’all don’t get to make that decision District 3 did and I won humanly every Precinct every District so
Get over it okay get over it thank y’all so much Tiana Brown Charlotte City Council District 3 yeah that’s me thank you Braxton for endorsing me the only person on city council that believed in me have a good day so this is what I’m going to teach my little sister man matters
Not man matters not I Miss Brown I Need You to hear this my mother had me when she was 16 in Charleston South Carolina and she passed away at age 19 my father fought in the Vietnam War and he too was missing an action and later distinguished as Kia at age
19 I became with trial in 2006 didn’t have insurance sacheted down to DSS filled out Medicaid EBT food stamps went to the library because I couldn’t afford all the books that I wanted my son to ferociously devour so who would have thought that that story could
Command what I step into God allowing me to command man does not control your story never forget that Miss Brown now because what is for you is for you and no one else will receive it just wanted to take a little side step there so we will now have the
Baddest the most illustrious magnanimous magnificent H hundredth member of Congress Dr Elma Adams PhD to come forward and give us a call for Action just to set the tone right before we begin the Forum good evening and before I do that I want to invite all of you to my state
Of the district address tomorrow I’ll have two one in cabis County at 11: and uh one at Mallet Creek High School at 7M tomorrow night you can go to my website and sign up but good evening Charlotte praise the Lord everybody we’re in the church let me just thank Dr
Walker for hosting us and Colette listen you’re just and I this young man I don’t know what to say about him but I I am just so impressed and I want to thank all the candidates for being here uh and and all of those who are currently serving in office services
Indeed the rent we pay for living on God’s Earth and Charlotte I want to thank you for allowing me to proudly represent you in the US Congress for the past 10 years you know Franklin delanor Roosevelt reminded us when he said that the ultimate rulers of of our democracy is not the
President not Senators not congressmen or congress women not Representatives or elected officials the voters and it was the novelist John Gardner who said that that democracy democracy is measured not by its leaders doing extraordinary things but by its citizens doing those extraordinarily well folks tomorrow is
Up to us and what happens tomorrow will depend on what we can do today and then the days up until the first election that we’ll have for the primary but I do want to thank all these young people who here uh for wanting to be involved in in
Their government and uh for for getting the very best from us that we have to give you know the decisions made in the next few years will impact their lives and the issues of climate change and the economy and social justice all of those things uh will will help determine their life’s
Course but let me just tell you that voting is a participation sport it’s not for bystanders so if you just standing by up in here you can probably just get up and walk on out now let me just tell you I’m going to talk the truth for just a moment and we’re
Going to be real and I think brother Brown uh uh brother Forest mentioned that because the the lack of voter participation in this community has set us back and I mean that’s going to be real it has set us back the number don’t lie and so if everyone doesn’t get in the
Game we’re going to get set back even further and so Queen City I’ve come to tell you tonight I’ve got some disturbing news y’all remember Chicken Little well you know Chicken Little the sky is really falling folks and I don’t know about you but after witnessing
Those events in Iowa and New Hampshire I am scared to death not for me but for all of us and for our democracy for our nation and and most especially for our children and there’s a lot of talk out there about the politics of love and the
Politics of fear sometimes I think we need a little bit of both but fear is a powerful emotion and it can bring out the worst in a person when they fear for themselves or the best when they fear others and that’s a different kind of
Fear isn’t it it makes you Brave and I I felt it on January 6 and I’m not talking about fear for myself I I I felt physical fear before but I feared that day for for our democracy I feared that day because I love our democracy I
Feared but I have to tell you I’m even more afraid today and everybody in here ought to be because we’re nine months and 12 days of complacency away from electing State and national leaders a president let’s pray we don’t have a repeat but I tell you this uh because
The complacency has become a problem I see people sleepwalking into a storm and and that’s how disasters happen your vote is your voice and if you don’t use it you’re choosing to be silent and so when you do that you choose to let other people make decisions for you but
Somebody’s going to make a decision for and about us most times without us so either we have to do things to make them for ourselves or be able to control those of us who make them on your behalf including me the late Congressman John Lewis once said that that your vote is
Precious almost sacred he said uh it’s the most powerful nonviolent tool we have to create a more perfect union and so I’m here to tell you that we don’t have a perfect union and sitting one out and not voting is unacceptable so if you’re not registered get registered
Because if you’re not registered you can’t vote and if you don’t vote you’re not counted and if you’re not counted guess what we won’t be heard and so you know growing up in the Baptist church and I’m glad to be here but I remember that that old song that people used to
Sing time is winding up time is winding up oh Lord time is winding up Charlotte time is up for complacency it’s up for sitting on the sidelines time is up for talking about the problems that we face and not doing anything about it you know there’s something drastically wrong when
Our democracy continues to be threatened with dangerous and infectious rhetoric and there’s something wrong when a former White House occupant Works to overthrow our government igniting hatred and violence and guess what he wants the keys back to the house you know there’s something wrong when when Vengeance and
And hatred seems to invade every aspect of our being something’s wrong when compassion and sensitivity don’t seem to to exist anymore for the least for the lost and the Left Behind who struggle to meet the ends every single day and Charlotte we can make a difference because we’re good people and when good
People go to the poll to vote for good people good things happen but when good people don’t go to the PO and vote for good people bad people get elected and I can tell you what they do they do awfully bad things to to good people so
It’s time for us to get up to get off of the couch and take off those slippers put on the marching boots because there’s a war out there and for the sake of our communities for the sake of our children stand up speak up and you know
You got to cut up sometimes but we can’t turn back now there’s too much to lose because when when when good people don’t go we’ve got too much to lose and bad people do bad things I don’t even get need to give you a list of those that
Have happened but but you know I’ve been out there a long time some people think I’ve been out there too long but the Lord says something different but I can assure you that it’s all about governing and and governing is all about winning because if you don’t win you don’t get
To govern and that’s the problem we’re having in Washington DC and probably in the state house as well but when you get to govern good things can happen and and depending on who’s governing bad things happen too too so we’re still dealing with the aftermath of the Supreme Court
Justices who overturned roie way good people stand to lose the most if good people can’t govern because if we can’t govern we can’t keep food on the table we can’t keep snaap and Wick and if we can’t govern then we can’t protect our health care access and if we can’t
Govern we cannot protect the economy and we can’t protect your jobs from being sent abroad and if we if we cannot govern we can’t keep rebuilding our country we can’t govern Charlotte we lose the fight to protect our voting rights you know I vividly remember the windows and the glass shattering on on
On Capitol Hill that January day and we’re still picking up the pieces from the last Insurrection in Washington and of course our state and the neighborhoods around we’re picking up pieces and we need to clean up but clean up can’t occur if we don’t vote and so I
Want to remind remind you of the soldier that was fighting on the battlefield but before I do that I want to tell you as time is winding up the primary election is just right around the corner and democracy’s on this ballot our freedoms are on this ballot freedom to vote is on
The ballot our reproductive freedoms are on the ballot and freedom to love who you who the one you’re with well that’s on the ballot too and Charlotte we are in election mode it’s time to act because tomorrow will be up to us you know and and and and if
We don’t get busy today I can assure you that tomorrow we’re going to regret the inaction so Queen City we’re in the midst of a war and the Lord has not brought us this far to leave us and we can’t turn back so about that soldier that Soldier was fighting on the
Battlefield and the battle was really getting tough and so the soldier became afraid and and and he radioed to his commander and KET he said send help send help the enemy is near and then then then there was a a long pause of Silence over the radio finally the commander radio back
To the soldier he said there’s no one to sin help yourself you know we’ve got to help ourselves Charlotte there’s nobody to S we are the calvary right now and there’s no Calvary coming just like last time Charlotte we’ve got to March we’ve got to get in
The streets we’ve got to knock on doors and we got to Turn This Mother Out For Real that’s our congresswoman we are so proud so what I’d like to do we’re going to begin the Forum we’ve been talking about elections but let’s give you some dates on Valentine’s Day you can live up
On your boo and if you black you better give back and love up on your ancestors because February we a calling response family February 15th early vote begins Saturday March the 2nd early vote ends now that sweet spot and early vote that’s where we want to hit because you
Can go vote at any of the designated libraries it doesn’t have to be your Precinct you must have your photo ID and I understand from the Board of Elections a lot of folks got their photo IDs made tonight so yes but you can still go to the Board of Elections and get those
Photo IDs made and then here’s where my loves black folks here’s where we drop the ball and we get creamed believe it or not on Election Day because we think we got it in the bag we got lot we everything we still must vote we got a call
Cheing babies you know how y’all bug us about iPod iPhone meta this and all of that okay you all got to get on our nerves Auntie you vote CH mommy you vote yet a you vote yet because you the reason why we vote you got to get on our nerves like
You want something because you do want something you want democracy you do want something you want a constitution that matters so I’m gonna ask for my rooc from West Charlotte if you could stand up they are going to have index cards and pens that they will pass
Out if you want to ask a question what we’d like you to do write your question on one side and on the other side so we can get to see the different age categories and what is important to different people put down the race that you like
To ask the question of Governor attorney general lieutenant governor and you don’t have to put down your name but just put down your age because we’d like to see what matters to what age category because different things matter to different people so if you PA will come
Right here and we will have each of you to have index cards and if you wish to ask a question they’ll raise their hands if they want to ask a question and again write down the race that you wish to have the question directed to and your age you don’t have
To write down your name your age so we can know what matters to who did you get a p so now I am going to introduce to you candidates get to know this beautiful face because he will be the holder of the card again we are for real
At the Charlotte black voter project this ain’t Bren Franklin’s Forum you have have children you have people that matter and will remind you why your vote matters and why you must vote Chase Howard if you could stand up Chase Howard is the proud son and proud parents birth him David Howard and
Mary Howard Chase is president of the youth advisory Council for North Carolina Child co-president of the Charlotte youth Council vice president of membership for the North Carolina team Democrats and vice president at Palisades for the black student union candidates Chase Howard will be giving you the green card to
Begin giving you the yellow card when you have one minute left and giving you the red card when you need to hush Mr dric Russell without further Ado if you would please come forward thank you good evening good evening can everybody hear me okay check check check check can you
Hear me can you hear me can you hear me you can hear me okay all right uh we’re going to get this party started right now we’re going to ask for the candidates who are running for North Carolina governor to please come forward we’re going to first start with um
Former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Mike Morgan we have the Tron mayor protim um shrell Booker is that did I pronounce your name shr shrell Booker and then we will have a surrogate for the North Carolina attorney general Josh Stein um Mr Bowers and we’re going to keep this train
Moving if you have a question for one of the candidates running for governor please fill that out and please send that up to me okay Mr Bowers oh you can hey good evening everyone my name is Walter uh Bowers I uh serve here in the city of Charlotte as a employment
Attorney and civil rights attorney I’m also um currently the pastor of chosen City Church in the uh Steel Creek uh area I had a prior privilege of serving uh with cmpd for uh about seven years uh three and a half uh um as a patrol officer on the west side and and also
Three and a half in our police attorney’s um office um I am not um attorney general Josh Stein but uh I’ve been asked to uh to share some um remarks on his uh behalf he regrets that he couldn’t uh be here uh today uh but this was uh something that was um
Important uh to him um Mr attorney general Stein wanted you to know that or remind you that he’s um spent his career um serving and and fighting for individuals as a matter of fact the first time I met him was as was as a Young attorney when he came down to
Charlotte and we had a situation where uh there was a large group of people here that were um a victim of some civil fraud and to make a long story short he was able to come down and uh we were able to uh work together with the North
Carolina Department of Justice to uh to to bring some relief to those uh individuals uh he wanted to remind you that um he of his of the goal of continuing to protect us from scams and fraud uh how he fought um during the uh epidemic and how he continues to fight
As it relates to the things that we’re dealing with such as fentol and various um things of that uh nature he’s certainly uh dedicated to defending the rights of people to vote and he fought in this state ongoing and continuously uh for the sake of uh of Education um
He’s taking on uh various tough fights throughout North Carolina throughout his career and of course when you fight that way uh it cost him uh again there are a lot of great uh candidates here and he respects the work um that everyone is doing but he appreciates this
Opportunity to be able to um to just be able to say by way of surrogate he looks forward to uh serving you all in a great way thank you very much now we will begin now we will begin the one minute opening introduction and we will start with the Tron mayor protim charel
Booker hello everybody I am Charelle Booker May protim of Trion North Carolina it is the home of birthplace of Miss Nina Simone um and until November of last year I was the uh president of women and municipal government that’s nationally I am the current immediate past president
I have served on the board of directors for the national league of cities which represents more than 200 million people in over 19,000 cities towns and Villages and 49 states my platform is about people Partnerships and unlimited possibilities I got this statement from from the center uh from American women
In politics of the 49 women Governors 34 were first elected on their own rights in the history of the United States there have been only 49 women Governors leading by example and encouragement it is imperative that I too continue to run for elected office thank you thank you now we’ll have North Carolina
Supreme Court Justice Mike Morgan thank you and good evening everyone I thank the sponsors for this opportunity my name is Mike Morgan I’m formerly the senior associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina I’m proud to run for governor I’m running on the strength of the fact that I am the
Most qualified to be Governor I’ve got 44 years of state government experience 34 years on the bench of North Carolina encompassing four different judg ships more than anybody in the state of North Carolina has ever been privileged to have have I can use those judicial skills honed over decades to be able to
Figure out the very complex issues in our state also I’m the most electable when I ran in 2016 the last time I was on Statewide ballot I got more votes than anybody when it came to the voting margin of Victory I know what it means
To win I can help those up and down the ticket who happen to be Democrats like me to make sure that we take North Carolina in the right direction this is is an unapologetically campaign for the people I am for the least of these thank you for this opportunity thank
You um let’s go over some numbers here in Charlotte mecklinburg back in 2020 during the general election we had 167,50 25 black voters fast forward to to the 2022 election that number decreased and it ended up having 93,6 black voters when we go to the election that just happened back in
November that number dwindled down to 33,6 34 black voters out of 239,000 registered black voters tell me what needs to happen in order to get more blacks to the polls and we’ll start with you Mr Morgan the hopes and dreams of North Carolinians have been slashed dashed and
Bashed they don’t feel as though government represents them and so as a result they feel as if they have no voice there needs to be someone who understands in the governor’s mansion the fact that a rising tide lifts all boats and so as a result there needs to
Be a commitment by someone someone like me who understands that government needs to be responsible and responsive to everyone and so to make sure that black voters indeed feel heard and feel motivated we’ve got to be authentic we’ve got to be genuine we’ve got to be responsive to the needs of everyone I
Have done that in terms of my whole professional personal and political life I’ve stood for leveling the playing field to make sure that everyone understands that as long as they put one foot in front of the other that there’s a meaningful chance to be all that you
Want to be doesn’t matter what your ZIP code is doesn’t matter what your income level is doesn’t matter how you wear your hair doesn’t matter how you vote but there are formulas in the legislature that dictate all of that and people don’t trust government so we’ve got to have
Transparency but as long as folks understand that there’s a real opportunity that’s authentic that’s meaningful to achieve giving everyone all that they need to be successful in life we can make sure those numbers turn around and make sure that folks feel properly vested in their government thank
You I believe we all have heard the term that my vote doesn’t count it does count um with the advance advance of Technology we can definitely get the vot out um vote out wider but I found that a lot of people watch what’s going on in the federal government a lot of people
Forget that their homes are on the uh local level and then the state level but a lot of people also forget that voting is important from this level in order for the government on the other levels to work properly so my point is you live in a house in your city
And whatever problems you have in your city your city is supposed to take care of that and any problems that the city can’t take care of the county is supposed to take care of and any problem that the county can’t take care of goes to your uh state government or your
Governor’s in the governor’s office so the way that I personally have found that to get people to the PO and to vote is to give them material even if you had to sit there and read it with them so that they will know about each candidate
I’ve worked a pose and people would say who should I vote for I’m like have you not read or listened or been in touch with u your Runners people that are running for office but I found it more important that if you put them in your
Car and you actually take them to the pose they will actually vote and that I’m asking you all no matter who you vote for whether it’s him me or someone else please make sure that you put people in your cars and get them to the polls thank
You um the next question both of you have held elected offices tell me what have you done to improve the lives of African-Americans while you have been in your office we’ll start with Miss Booker well I’m on the local level and I and I’m in a small town and it’s just a
Small amount of black people within the county itself I think it’s about 300 of us out of our maybe 21 ,000 but we’re a small community and we kind of look out for each other with to the point that I was saying we will get
Each other’s in the cars we will we will get your 18 year olds in the cars we will get you to the post um but on the national level I’ve worked mostly with women not particularly black women or women of color but nationally you know
We have women of all Races all colors so and and being the national president I found that when women work together things happen when women are in office things happens when women are Governors things happen if you all will notice I am the only female on any of the
Tickets and the reason one of the reason why I wanted to run for governor is because like I said November I stepped out of my leadership on the federal I mean on the state level I mean I’m sorry on the federal level up there and the primary for governor was like
Right there in front of me so it was like do I do this or do I not do this so I decided yes I’m going to do this I’m going to do this predominantly for women because we are so afraid that we’re going to lose or that we’re not going to
Accomplish anything you ha we have to sit at the table we have to put our names on the ballot and my name was kind of like they’re on the top and when they did a little thing it kind of slipped to the bottom but it doesn’t matter I am
The only female on that ballot so and my name is Charelle Booker and I am asking you all to vote for me not just because I’m a female but because I do have a national uh presence Mr Morgan what have you done for the black community lately well as
An elected official inside the courtroom what I done for African-Americans and indeed all people is just simply been fair just and honest and understand that as an elected official in my judicial capacity I was supposed to without favor and being just and honest rule in favor
Of the prevailing party I just happen to be black and as a result I’ve got an intuitive way of understanding on top of my education what is fair what is right and what is just so what I’ve delivered for African-Americans and indeed for everyone as a judge is just to do the
Right thing and when you do the right thing it just happens properly across the board outside the courtroom what I’ve done for African-Americans and indeed for everyone is just on my own time decide to get out in the community take off my Rob roll up my sleeves and
Talk to young people talk in churches use my fraternal Association to do community service and do whatever I could to make sure in my own community in the predominantly black community where I live where I also Worship in a black church I get my hair cut in a
Black CH uh barers shop I go and Shop in a black oriented grocery store I am black and therefore I live black because I encourage black so when you’re that way you’re doing it 247 365 you don’t even think about it you just do it and that’s what I
Do um North Carolina recently passed a $30 billion budget Governor Cooper allowed the new budget to become law without his signature and he said in a statement make no mistake overall this is a bad budget that seriously short changes our schools prioritizes power grabs keeps Shady back room deals secret
And blatantly violates the Constitution according to a statement he released in September the question is do you agree with the governor’s statement if so why and talk to me what will your budget look like we’ll start with Mr Morgan thank you I agree with the governor’s determination not to sign that budget
There were some aspects of that budget that were appealing but they were so narrow and so inept that there was not enough to have the governor to put his signature on it thank goodness there was finally Medicaid expansion but that wasn’t enough the fact is there was too
Much that was against education there was too much against uh those in the ranking file the common everyday person that was bereft of taking care of our middle class so I would have done the same and I would not have signed the budget and allow that budget to go into
Effect on its own any budget that I’m involved in as Governor I would make sure that I did all I could in terms of having liazon in the legislature to make sure that we’ve got the right kind of budget that is available I’m used to on the Supreme Court when I was there
Reaching Across figuratively the aisle to those of different orientations from me that were on the court to have collegial relationships to be able to do the work for everybody there’s a mutual interest to make sure that those of us that are elected utilize our authority to do the best for everybody because
Everybody ultimately is going to be held accountable if we don’t do what we’re supposed to do as elected officials so a budget for which I’ve got some input I’m going to make sure that there are the kinds of things in the budget that would allow me to be able to sign it because
I’m going to be able to over those 44 years of total experience Know What It Takes building collegial attributes to make sure that all is done to make sure that there budgets that we can be proud of that everybody has a hand in and that everybody ultimately can benefit yes
Sir I think that what governor Cooper did was the right thing as far as the budget because if it doesn’t represent the people that we represent then why waste your time with that another thing that I don’t understand whether it’s budgets or not is that we have the same people doing
The same thing not representing all of us whether it’s in the budget or on the ground and we continue we continue to elect those same people so if you’re doing the same thing and not doing anything different then you should expect the budget to look the way it’s
Looked for you know however long so in order for governor Cooper or Governor Booker to not to have that issue I suggest that you um vote in people people that have the heart of the citizens from North Carolina in their in their minds in their eyes in their heart
That when they go to bed at night they don’t just see me myself and I and my immediate family they they don’t just see the people that I represent I think that those people should be able to see people you know not like I said not just people that I represent but
People human flesh just like you are we are all want the same thing that you want in most cases and as far as my budget I definitely want to take care of the schools I definitely want to take care of our school teachers and for that
Fact I want our young um kids to be able to come out into the World After High School and uh know that the North Carolina the the government did the best they could for them in that U age range and to be able to take be able to take
Civics and to be able to come out here and not just run North Carolina but run the world if they want to so yes budgets matter thank you and we want to keep this rolling and we want to get to as many questions as we can so candidates guess what you
Don’t have to use your whole two minutes you can shorten it and keep it moving okay then so you don’t have to feel like you got to use the whole two minutes okay um question for the audience this person is age 20 um the question what
Will you do to bridge the gap between Democrats and Republicans there is a super majority there what will you do to bridge the gap between Democrats and Republicans from a 20-y old we’ll start with Miss Booker I think that goes along with uh pretty much with what I just said you
Have to see people as humans and wanting the same things that that you want I have worked predominantly and been elected predominantly in nonpartisan um or racist so whether you’re Democrat Republican or independent I found that we all work well together if you don’t just keep applying the Democrat Republican
Democrat Republican what really edges my nerves is when we break everything down to red and blue red and blue I’m like even adults are down the red and blue so my thing is if you put preferences on people their needs if you need a bowl of rice most likely
Everybody else needs a bowl bowl of rice so I say in order to make that divide make everybody make your uh Governor your uh Representatives see people in the light that you see yourself and I’m not talking about someone who has more money can buy a yacht daada Dada that kind of stuff
We have basic needs as humans and we would like to be treated as humans so when I’m talking to people I try not to even use those words Democrat Republican uh red blue you know we’re all in this together as hum so I think that if you
Treat people the way that you want to be treated then I think we’re just going to be a better world a better North Carolina and if we take care of our neighbor that’s outside of our family and then from that our communities I think that we’re going to be great we’re
Going to make it as I’ve traveled all around this state I continue to be reminded that there is more that unites us than divide us and I’ve said that wherever I’ve gone and I truly mean that and believe that I have worked with those who are Republicans I being a Democrat
Throughout my professional life I’ve even done it again as I say said earlier on the state supreme court even when the Supreme Court grew to a five Republican two Democrat uh composition I learned how to once again deal with those of different orientations different foundations and understand that we’ve
All got to work together my formula for doing that is to establish collegial relationships and respectful relationships then from there you determine what you have in common and and once you put that aside and say we don’t have to revisit that because we already agree on that then you determine
What it is upon which you cannot agree and then when you do that at least you’ve opened up the channels to be able to communicate with one another knowing you know how to agree with one another because you’ve already agreed on something so instead of talking past one another talking through one another
Talking past one another you’ve learned how to talk with one another and then once you’ve established that even if you can’t agree on something at least you can put it on the shelf for another day because at the end of the day it’s not about being Democrats it’s not about
Being Republicans Independence una Affiliated it’s about being North Carolinians and it’s about being folks that love this state and who want to work for this state I love North Carolina I could be retired sitting in a rocking chair right now but no rocking chair can hold me yet fact is to whom
Much is given much is required and I’m stepping up and stepping out and stepping forward and still willing to serve thank you we will begin with closing statements with uh Mr Morgan thank you again for this opportunity I want to represent all of North Carolina I’m running against the status
Quo I realize that because there’s some that don’t believe that our time has yet come to make this kind of history there are some that are fro fren by fear some Jaded by jealousy feeling as though it’s just not our time yet but I submit to you if not
Now when and if not us who so it’s time to step forward and understand that this is a people’s candidacy we restore the people’s voices and make sure that everybody understands that the best in North Carolina is yet to come I’m running as a Democrat I can defeat Mark
Robinson leave Mark Robinson to me and we will not be taking back Generations I’m Mike Morgan I thank you for the privilege Boker in addition to my role as an elected official I work full time in television broadcasting and I am the station’s internal one woman legal department and I am an award-winning
Television producer director and a licensed North Carolina realtor I Charelle Booker as your governor intend to lead with respect and to eliminate the words marginalized people by making all citizens feel worthy my platform is about people Partnerships and unlimited possibilities where our citizens are Partners as well engaging citizens I
Intend to address housing employment Health Care education Clean Water and Air Quality Foods women’s empowerment citizens dignity and the survival of trees in March AEL Booker ask you to vote for me thank you thank you here are your North Carolina governor candidates thank you next we will have the candidates for
North Carolina lieutenant governor we will start with North Carolina Senator Rachel hunt North Carolina Senator Ben Clark Mar and retired Navy Captain Mark Robinson hon Mark H Robinson we will start with senator everybody ready Senator hunt you can start your opening statement thank you so much for having me Pastor Walker
Colette this is a wonderful Forum I am very happy to be here tonight I am happy to be stepping forward from the legislature to run for the only office that combines executive and legislative functions this office is much more important than most people understand it
Is one that has a huge bully pulpit many of you all have heard from the other Mark Robinson our current lieutenant governor about things he cares about he has spread hate and divisiveness all over our state and indeed our country I will use the bully pulpit to spread hope
And positive messages to people about what we can do in North Carolina we have been the best state in the past we will be the best state in the future but only if we vote if we get out and work together that is what I intend to do thank you Senator
Clark good evening everybody Ben Clark retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel retired state senator currently I am a 20-year Information Technology professional working in the private sector at Fort Liberty in FAA North additionally have experienced three years as as an assistant professor at North Carolina State University three years of experience as
A science and technology teacher in public high school but more importantly I stand before you now ready to serve for the greater good of our state and advancement of our people and it will be a pleasure to have your support so why me well because in part I believe our state deserves a
Lieutenant governor who will embrace all all North cenans without exception and who serves them well and I assure you I will be that lieutenant governor I’ll work hard for you every day I will fight for you every day and you don’t have to worry about me I will never disparage
Disdain or disrespect you thank you for your support Mark H Robinson hello I’m Mark H Robinson a democra candidate for lieutenant governor and the reason that I want you to know me as a person is because I’m a servant leader I’m going to put your knees before mine I’m connected to you I
Went around to all 100 counties and spoke with over 1,700 people uh to learn what their thoughts were and lastly forward looking I want to put things in place that’s going to benefit the state 30 40 60 years from now much like the Research Triangle Park did but before
You know me as some as a person I want you to know me as a as a father as a father I tried to instill in my children three things one have a personal relationship with God two be the best citizen you can be and three whatever you do do your best
At I’m Mark H Robinson a Democrat candidate for lieutenant governor and together we can create a better North Carolina the responsibilities of lieutenant governor you will preside over State Senate debate voting during tithes um sit on a few governing boards including State Board of Education and state board
Of community colleges this comes from a 66-year-old voter question what is your mission to ensure black children in North Carolina Public Schools will receive an equitable education we will start with Mark H Robinson the first thing is one of my main missions is I I just say that I want to
Put things in place that are going to help the state 20 40 30 years from now and the biggest thing is to increase public education funding and to make sure that the teachers are properly compensated that’s not going to happen overnight uh it took years to get to
Where we are it’s going to take even more years to get to where we need to be and that and so whenever I say we need to invest in public education I mean we need to get the teachers paid to what they need to be we need to get the
Infrastructure put in place we need to get in the rural areas things that are going to benefit public education so at the end of the day we have a public education system that’s going to benefit all North Carolinians uh in some areas things that we have in place are not
Adequate enough but together we can put those things in place and we are going to raise the tide so that everyone gets appropriate and equ Equitable education Senator hunt thank you we know what the problem is folks the Leandro decision has not been funded by this legislature 8.2 billion
Your children deserve to fix the public education system in the state our legislators are are committing malpractice by refusing to fund these children we have written bills that tell exactly how that money would be spent our teachers would get the adequate pay they deserve we could have funding for
Schools so they’re not crumbling and don’t have adequate AVS we could have everything we need to build back up our public schools which 80% of our children go to not private schools but no they’ve given the 500 million to private schools in the form of vouchers that is
Wrong and we are going to fix that I one of my main mission since I’ve been in the legislature since 2018 has been to tell people the truth about the public education system and what the Republicans have done to dismantle it and to make sure your children don’t get
What they deserve and I am against that and I will fight with everything I have to fix it how do we fix it we fund public education doing our first buing them in the general assembly they passed what they consider to be at the time the largest tax reduction in history of the
State I considered that to be the largest revenue reduction in the history of the state when we took $1 billion dollar worth of revenues out of our tax frame but we still have sufficient funds to fund it it’s about priorities we’ve heard about the landr decision but think about this right now
Our Corp tax rate is about 2.5% and it’s scheduled to go down to two two and a quarter and then to two over the next couple of years we stop it we take that excess revenue and we put it into the uh Public Funding stream additionally we also know that we have a
Very large rainy day fund we don’t need to continue pouring money into that fund we stopped that we have have sufficient amount and that excess we put it into public education it’s not that we do not have the funding to properly fund public education unfortunately the Republicans
In office now for them that’s not their priority here’s a question from the audience a 49 year old voter um this voter writes do you think someone should be elected because of who their parents are we’ll start with um Senator Clark and work our way down I believe we’re all here expecting
To be considered by all voters based on our own merits what we’ve done in our lives what our values are what our experiences have been and do they relate to the citizen that we plan to serve we’ve all talked about our background as I indicated I’m a r retired Air Force Lieutenant
Colonel retired state senator currently worked 20 years in the private sector as an IT professional former teacher former University Professor so I’ve been an educator a military man a father a Christian for those for whom that matters so I do stand before you here on my own merits
My own accomplishments in my 10 years in the state senate during those 10 years I also served on the oper rules and operations of the senate committee for each year I also served in the Senate finance committee each of those 10 years and the Senate Commerce Committee each of those
10 years also have an MBA so if you want someone who understands tax policy budgeting someone who understands education the military if you want that type individual to serve you as your next lieutenant governor somebody that’s actually held a position of command leadership on High level staffs then I’m your guy it’s me
Ben Clark your choice of lieutenant governor Senator hunt thank you uh I realized that question was probably directed at me I’m gonna stand here and say I am very proud to be the daughter of former Governor hunt who did so much for the state he and my mother they spent their lives
Serving you all so I am not running as their child I got elected in 2018 by beating a finance chair of the house in a in a district that Trump won in 2016 by 10 percentage points because I talked to Republicans and unaffiliated people
At their doors and I won by 68 votes so that is not because of who I am related to and since I’ve been in Raleigh I have made issues my own such as higher ed because I’m a also a college counselor and an attorney I wrote the student
Borrowers Bill of Rights which helps students with student loans have parameters so that lenders can’t cheat them and change the terms of the loans which are allowed right which is allowed right now so I really want to serve people otherwise people this would this is not easy job it pays
$133,000 a year to be in the legislature so my husband had to go back to work after he retired so this is because I feel called it is a calling to do public service and it is like the ministry or the service it is a tough job and it is
Because we love people that we do it thank you we all come here with our own merits or on our own merits uh when I was in the fifth grade the governor came to my Elementary School in 1989 the woman I was dating I told her that I wanted to
Run for Statewide office in 2015 when I retired from the Navy I told that small group of people I planed to run for Statewide office in 2016 Billy Graham sang came all the way to Connecticut to tell me as a Christian I needed to get more involved in politics
Now he also told 200 other people standing in the ring but I took it for me so I say that to say that we’ve all gotten here at in on a different path I feel that this is where I am supposed to be I think that I’ve been prepared for
It I’m a I I’m a retired Colonel well a retired captain in the Navy which is equal to a colonel and I’ve been on the staff of General Petraeus and also General Austin who’s our Cur current Secretary of Defense I worked at the Pentagon when I was in Iraq one of the
Things I was I was a liaison between the state department and the US military so I was dealing with two big bureaucracies and I had to understand what each one of them needed I had to understand what it was going to take to convince them to
Work together and that’s what I want to be able to do within Raleigh in the bully pool pit position or as the lieutenant governor I’m I don’t bring an agenda with me except from what I’ve heard from the people I’ve spoken to over 1,700 of You by going to all 100
Counties and in that I was able to hear firsthand how you felt I was able to hear not only only how you felt but what your issues were and I was able to feel the pain with you thank you thank you we will now begin with our closing statements we
Will begin with you Senator Clark thank you under Democratic Leadership our state had a tendency to move forward with respect to education the environment economy and Healthcare I believe we have an obligation to maintain that forward lean for the benefit of all North cenans and my friends that is my
Cause that will be my focus that is why I want to serve to move our state forward and not one step back not one step back to underfunded schools where kids can’t read not one step back to the rule of law for some but not for everyone not
One step back to women treated as a second class citizen not one step back because we’re going to fight for our human rights not one step back because we’re going to fight for our constitutional rights not one step back because we’re going to fight for the
Future of our state and as your next lieutenant governor thank you I’ll be a leader in that fight thank you Senator hunt thank you let me just say the issues that are important to you all public education gun violence secession which we have not addressed in the legislature at all
Climate change which we have ignored in the legislature and making sure people have voting rights which we have taken away in the legisl those are the issues that I care about and I want you to know we are are building a strong campaign with County Keys using relational organizing all
Over the state and that combined with raising enough money to get our message out is going to ensure we can beat any Republican that tries to get this office because we’re going to take it back for the first time in 12 years I need your help thank you for having me thank you
For having all of us I want to end by saying that I’m grateful for to have the opportunity to to be here I grew up on a farm in Samson County and I’ve I’ve been able to go around the world and I’ve been able to be under the tutelage of some of the
Greatest leaders in the nation U but a couple of things you heard tonight you’ve heard about people talking about about fighting all well I’m a military officer you only fight against the enemy so just think of this if you’re fighting with someone hire and then you beat them
Up and then you’re going to want them to come and help you on on on something in the future that just sounds crazy to me so I’m going to work for you I’m going to work for you I’m going to work for the state of North Carolina and I’m
Going to work to be a servant leader I’m going to work to be uh connected to you like like I already am and lastly I’m going to work for the future I’m Mark H Robinson a Democrat candidate for lieutenant governor and working for a better North Carolina thank you so
Much these are your candidates for lieutenant governor we’re going to keep the train moving and we’re going to call the candidates for North Carolina attorney general we have Durham district attorney satana DeBerry did I satana DeBerry gotcha um and we also have Congressman Jeff Jackson can we welcome our
Candidates for North Carolina attorney general we will start with your opening statements and we will start with candidate DeBerry all right you ready all right good evening I’m satana DeBerry I’m the two-term elected district attorney in Durham County North Carolina and I’m running to be your next
Attorney General because I am the most qualified person to ever run for attorney general in North Carolina I have spent 30 years as a public lawyer in addition to being the elected district attorney in Durham County I’ve been the general counsel of North col Department Health and Human Services so
I know Health Care policy Health Care advocacy healthare regulatory I have worked for Self-Help Credit Union so I know Consumer Finance I have represented consumers I’m the only person of color who is a certified expert in front of the North Carolina Public Utilities Commission I’ve also run Durham habitat
I’ve built houses for poor people and I ran the North Carolina Housing Coalition I did banking advocacy what does that mean that means that everything that your attorney general does I have already done good evening 10 years ago in this Sanctuary my life completely changed we had our
State senator at the time become our mayor which means we needed to replace our state senator there was a special election that was held and believe it or not it was held right here in the sanctuary and by one vote I wased elected your new state senator it was 10
Years ago and it completely changed my life I was able to go to the general assembly actually be a part of accomplishing some Criminal Justice Reform didn’t get everything done that we needed to but was proud to make a good start then after a few years was
Able to come back and become your member of Congress depending on where you live in meinberg it’s either Alma if you’re in the top half or me if you’re in the bottom half now I’m running to be your next Attorney General I’ve been a prosecutor I’ve been a soldier I’m a
Major now in National Guard I’ve served for 21 years served with special operations in Afghanistan and I’ve served as a state and federal legislator y’all I’m ready to compete win and Lead the Way You Deserve thank you so much we have a question from a 39y old
Um what is your stance on abortion do you support criminal penalties for abortions we will start with Mr Jackson no of course I don’t support criminal penalties for for abortion I support roow versus weight I support a woman’s right to choose and it’s good that that’s the first question because
You all need to understand what the real Stakes are in this race honestly the major Stakes are not between the two of us here the major Stakes are what happens if the person on the other side of the aisle becomes attorney general because think about our state supreme
Court our state supreme court is extremely conservative and what is really at stake is a state supreme court that would invite a certain kind of lawsuit from the attorney general and this guy would comply rolling back voting rights rolling back Reproductive Rights so that even if we can stop that
Stuff in the general assembly if we elect the wrong person attorney general rights can be rolled back around the general assembly and I know that he would start with Reproductive Rights this job is going to be about defense of your fundamental rights thank you again we’re both Democrats we’re
Both going to support roie way we’re both going to support your right to choose but what you will know about me is I am the only district attorney in North Carolina I don’t care if Dan Bishop does win I will never prosecute a pregnant person nor her health care
Provider for giving her a choice I will never all right I’m not a prosecutor I am the prosecutor I am the one who makes the decisions it is in my discretion right and so I this is not even a question you can I would I would invite you to Google
Me there’s a Washington Post um editorial that I wrote in uh right before roow was overturned um so I have been a national leader in the protection of pregnancy and we’re not just it won’t be just that they’ll roll back our Reproductive Rights there are places in this country where they are Prosecuting
Women for miscarrying prosecu women for manslaughter when they miscarry I’m the only candidate in this uh race who sits on a pregnancy protection panel with the association of Prosecuting attorneys I know how to do this job y’all I know how to protect you I am a woman myself I know what’s at
State the current attorney general is suing a Charlotte based Towing Company A1 Towing Solutions alleging the owner um Towing booting practices were racially discriminating the AG is also highlighting state and local efforts to address human trafficking the AG is suing HCA Healthcare and Mission Hospital tell me if elected who and what
Are you going after we’ll start with Mr Barry so I will say that I consulted with the AG on the towing case um that is the Civil Rights Division and that is Landmark right so I would continue that I’m the only district attorney attorney in North Carolina who’s received a uh
Guilty verdict in a human trafficking case at trial and so we would continue to do that in my jurisdiction uh we have one of the highest rates of human trafficking um in the state even in the country and so I’m very familiar with that uh HCA I would continue that again
I have a background in healthc care regulatory not only do I have that I have the lived experience of almost dying uh with by giving when I gave birth to my daughter my father actually did die in a in a hospital in Hamlet North Carolina because he did not have
Access to a vascular surgeon so I know what is at stake in rural communities when we don’t have health care access I would continue to go after those I would expand the Civil Rights division of the consumer protection uh division for things like for example how many of you
Have seen that Hyundai and Kia are getting stolen right you can’t really necessarily prosecute that criminally but the AG can go after that civil right because they know those cars are easy to steal and they’re doing it on purpose right and who who’s affected by that
Us the first bill I ever filed as your state senator was to end racial Jerry mandering in North Carolina I filed it every single year I served in the state legislature we have to defend voting rights in North Carolina and in every Southern State what Jerry mandering actually means is racial Jerry mandering
You need an attorney general who’s going to be maximally aggressive in making sure that your right to vote is not undermined we have more sophisticated scammers because they’re using AI now and they’re going to call you with a voice that sounds a lot like one of your
Close relatives getting ahead of that is going to be really important the fentanyl epidemic y’all 30 years ago a pharmaceutical company lied to a bunch of doctors said they invented a new form of opiate that wasn’t addictive so doctors started prescribing this drugs got millions of people addicted to these
Pills back then we called it the prescription drug crisis 15 years later we crack down make sure they can’t get the pills but they’re still addicted so they go out in the street now they’re looking for heroin but as it turns out there’s a cheaper form of heroin you can
Man manufacture it with chemicals it’s called fentanyl 12 people a day in our state die from fentanyl for our young people here there is no more safe experimentation with drugs because everything is laced with this poison we don’t have an anti-money laundering law in North Carolina we desperately need
One we don’t have law enforcement that’s doing a very good job of sharing resources and sharing information that’s a role for the Attorney General deploy to make sure everybody understands this has to be a top priority thank you we will now begin with closing statements we’ll start with you Mr
Jackson closing statements Mr Jackson oh thank you so much okay the last attorney general race was decided by 0.2% of the vote that’s 10,000 people out of about five and a half million votes cast this is going to be just as close it’ll be the most expensive
Attorney general race in the history of the state there are only two competitive AG races in the country Pennsylvania and North Carolina we have the only competitive gubernatorial race in the entire country here in North Carolina we’re going to have the number one race for the presidential it’s going to be
Ground Zero here it’s my job not just to win but to win in a way that whiffs the whole ticket I think I’m in a position to do that this is going to be an attorney general campaign that is unusually well funded unusually widely supported we have donations from all 100
Counties it’ll be a true 100 County campaign we’re going to win this and we’re going to help other people win Statewide as well and then I’m going to lead in a way way that you deserve a way that you can understand a way that you can respect and a way that stays
Accountable to you and it’s been an absolute pleasure thank you so much all right so the last attorney general’s race was won by 0 2% of the vote you know who brought that vote in Durham County and the people from Durham County have voted for me twice and every
Time they vote for me more of them vote for me now earlier y’all ask the governor what can you do to get out black people you got to give them candidates that they want to vote for you have to give them candidates that will lead no shade on my opponent but we
Are it’s our time ain’t that what representative Adam said we are here we can lead we do not have to do the same things that we have always done and you have people in counties they’re not going to have competitive General Assembly races they’re not going to have competitive Congressional races
They’re going to need somebody to come out for they’re going to need somebody who’s practiced actual Criminal Justice Reform somebody who has a national legal reputation as a lawyer being the governor being the general assembly those are citizens jobs this requires an expert and I’m your expert thank you
Thank you here your candidates for North colado attorney general thank you um now we’re going to call candidates for the North Carolina superintendent of Public Instruction we have assistant principal Kenan crumble and we have a surrogate for Maurice M green Arthur Griffin if you can come up at this time the
Surrogate you can St we’ll start with you surrogate with the opening statement good evening family uh first giving honor to God Dr Walker thank you for having us here this evening my name is Arthur Griffin and I am a mecklinburg county commissioner at large means everybody in mecklinburg County had to
Vote for me so I’m glad to be here I am not Maurice M green but I am absolutely thrilled to be here on his behalf let me just tell you a little something about Maurice Green he regrets not being able to be here because he’s speaking somewhere
Across the state but he asked me to stand in for him marce green grew up in a educated education home his mom was was a teacher went to Duke undergrad Duke Law School became a partner in a prestigious Law Firm here in meinberg County did some uh
Education legal work for us and I happened to chair the board of education at a time when the Board of Education hired him as our general counsel here in mberg County let me just tell you a little something about that that was right in the middle of Leandra
Was kicking up back in 1994 95 Charlotte meberg Schools became one of the plaintiffs in that lawsuit so M green has earned his stripes in terms of education but beyond that he went on to become the deputy superintendent here in mecklinburg county and did a phenomenal job moved up to Greensboro became
Guilford County’s superintendent phenomenal job in terms of getting some of the schools in Greensboro to be in Newsweek and Time magazine for their Excellence but to tell you about his service he also went in to become the executive director of Z Smith Reynolds Foundation but one more
To chase give me 25 seconds but one more piece about this young man to tell you about his grit while he was practicing law as a as a partner while he was our general counsel he worked at the child’s place here in meinberg County what the child’s place is about homeless children
That tells you about the soul and qual of that young man he’s offering himself to be the state superintendent of Public Instruction I ask you on his behalf please come out and support Mo Maurice Green thank you thank you now we’ll have Mr crumble good evening
Everyone my name is Kenan cromo I am an assistant principal in way County Public Schools and I know everyone sitting in this in this church expect to have a highly qualified certified teacher in the classroom in front of your kids teaching them am I correct am I correct am I
Correct should be the same thing for our leaders I’m the only candidate on the ballot that has a superintendent license that has a principal license old business is what got us here new business new leadership is going to get us out of this mess vote for me thank
You since you’re talking about new what new things will you do in order to close that achievement gap between black and white students off around the state first off I’m I’mma focus on teacher retention and compensation we have 4,000 in vacancies in North Carolina at this moment secondly I’m
Going to focus on revolutionizing our infrastructure so we can go green number one put money back into our schools we can also focus on safety now Bobby said 12 students has died this year that’s unprecedent we need to focus on our safety in our schools we need to modernize the
Learning spaces so we can focus on academic growth we also need to focus on universal precare all right now our babies need a highly qualified teacher in front of them and the only way we want to do that if we start when they’re young right now we don’t have a universal prek program
Available so we need to implement one fourth we need to focus on Mental Health I’ve submitted proclamations in all the major cities in North Carolina so we can observe one day in February for mental health for our students for our teachers so we can be successful
Together we have a question from a 23 year old um how can you support both teachers and students during this teacher shortage in Title One schools first off I want to there was announcement uh yesterday where Kathleen Truitt went to mon County and gave that school district $62 million look it up $62
Million then she um she she um allocated $30 million for 200 other school districts $30 million but she gave one school district $62 million now that school district is made up of 91% um Caucasian 1% African American 7% Hispanic the focus is disproportionate funding we have to make sure every
Single School in all 100 counties get the same amount of money and this has been going on for years and now we are at a point 27 years later where the leandel case has not been funded we have work to do guys we have to get out and vote and I am your
Candidate I’m the strongest candidate because I have the knowledge I have the expertise and I have the experience and then the last question from a voter um regarding the fentel crisis um that has attracted the young Community what Solutions do you propose to combat this issue my platform focuses on Mental
Health now there are four four issues four major issues in our public schools and one of them is mental health we need more resources in our schools our kids are um experimenting the drugs we don’t have enough resources in in the schools we supposed to have programs that were implemented they’re not there
We need to have more resources for our kids who are suffering for drug addition we need to have more outside resources coming in our schools to assist our students to assist our parents to help them be able to um um figure out this issue
We have to do more and I and I believe if we have those resources coming to our schools we can um deal with that um and then this the last question um what will you do as state superintendent to roll back let’s say the bogus parents bill of White’s policy take
Focus actually there’s a portion of that that I believe parents need to know what’s going on with your child I work in the school I’m an assistant principal and I believe parents need to know what’s going on with your child and I think that’s important now that’s the
Only aspect of that um B right that I agree with but parents need to know what’s going on with their schools but I am not in agreement with everything else I Believe In My School parents need to know what’s going on whether they want to change their names and why they want
To change their names parents should have authority over that but everything else I’m against but that one aspect me as a dad I need to know I want to know well we need to know your closing statement now I can speak all day I could talk about my platform I can tell
You that we want to revolutionize infrastructure in our school system I can tell you that we’re GNA focus on teacher retention and compensation I can tell you that we G to F Implement a universal prek program I can tell you that we are going to focus on Mental Health but it just
Works it just works I need everyone to go to my my website I have a strategic plan of blueprint of how I’m going to do I’m going to implement my policies strategic plan is there I also have a strategic plan when um 2028 come around and we have dispersed that money for the
Leandro plan have a strategic plan for how we going to do that as well go to my website it’s there I am your next superintendent vote for me no other candidate has this information on their website I’m pointing out there for you to be transparent thank you thank
You so we’re going to keep this train moving feel like we’re in Bible study hopefully he can wrap it up soon right so we’re going to call the North Carolina Supreme Court candidates we have North Carolina Supreme Court associate Justice Allison Rigs and Guilford County Superior Court Judge
Laura cubbage did I pronounce that right cubbage we will start with opening statements with Superior Court Judge Laura cubic well hello mecklinburg County thank you to a Little Rock for allowing us this opportunity to share our platforms with you um I am Superior Court Judge Laura cubbage and I’m
Running for the North Carolina Supreme Court why am I the best candidate because I’m not just a candidate I’m a stakeholder what makes me a stakeholder because I well I stepped as a single mother behind the barber chair 18 years ago and I decided I wanted to fight for
The rights and Liberties of the people that I serve because in that barber shop I had many clients that I engaged in conversation with year after year that kept saying how they were getting unfair and unjust treatment in the justice system I’m the best candidate because
For the last 18 years with eight of those years being on the bench I’m the only one as between me and my candidate that has sign ific judicial experience I’m the only candidate that has fought every day for the rights and Liberties of the people that I serve I’m the only
Candidate that’s well-versed in all areas of the law that the Supreme Court is going to review so for this reason I ask you to vote for me on March the 5th thank you uh good evening everyone apologies in advance for my voice voice it’s a little iffy I’m Justice Allison Rigs and I’m
Honored to serve you on the North Carolina Supreme Court Governor Cooper appointed me last year to fill a vacancy on that court before that I served on the court of appeals and before that I want to tell you about what I spent 14 years doing which is fighting hand inand
With communities across the state to advance their own civil political and social rights at the southern Coalition for social justice in Durham we l we worked on environmental justice Criminal Justice Reform and uh maybe significantly as well the uh voting rights work I was honored to represent
The NAACP apri common cause and so many other groups in Striking down the terrible racial gerrymander that we saw after the 2011 um in the 2011 redistricting striking down the monster voter suppression law in 2013 and fighting for your rights to vote thank you um North Carolina Supreme
Court recently held a hearing on whether North Carolinians who have been convicted of felonies should have the right to vote before their sentences are complete including while on probation um what is your response to this North Carolina Supreme Court recently held a hearing on whether North Carolinians who
Have been convicted of felonies should have the right to vote before their sentences are complete including while on probation what say you we’ll start with Superior Court Judge Laura cubage I say it’s wrong I say it’s wrong it’s it’s been wrong and it’s going to
Be wrong I was one of those judges that set on one of those types of cases and I want you all to understand these cases don’t start in in the Supreme Court they start at the superior court judge level I was one of the judges on a on a
Basically companion case where they tried to get blacks Off the Bench here in in mecklinburg County so they wanted to put the district court judges in in districts and we said that was unconstitutional and this is unconstitutional and they’re having a hearing uh for this because they don’t
Want black voters to vote it’s as simple as that and whatever they can do whatever trick they can pull um that’s what they’re doing so I say that we have to keep fighting you have to keep fighting but in part of that part of the
Way we keep fighting is we put people up on that bench and on the Supreme Court that you know without a shadow of a d a doubt is fighting for your rights and that would be me because when I fight for your rights I’m fighting for my
Rights I’m not looking from the side view or I’m not listening to what someone is telling me I’m not going by what I heard I’m going by what I know and what I’m living through with each and every one of you at the end of the
Day if if my opponent wins or lose this race she her her right to vote it’s never going to be affected never going to be affected at the end of the day if I win or lose this R this race it’s my right to vote that they’re trying to
Take away so again I’m not just a candidate I’m a stakeholder in this my record on this topic is clear people are not the sum of the worst mistakes they’ve ever made and nor should they lose their voice because of that I litigated a federal uh case that
Was uh ensuring that folks who had had a felony conviction and not been aware of their eligibility could not be prosecuted for that that’s the only case outstanding currently um that is trying to advance the rights of returning citizens and before that I spent years in Florida helping returning citizens
Navigate the administrative process of getting their civil rights back including the right to vote but the right to receive housing and Licensing um and be returning citizens My Hope Is that we talk about uh both the inter the intersection of Criminal Justice Reform and democracy as interrelated we can’t
Fix what’s broken in our Criminal Justice System unless we stand hand inand with the folks who are being harmed by these policies and make sure that they can have the right to vote I’m judge now I’m not an advocate any longer I spent uh nearly 15 years being an
Advocate but I know what it’s like to think creatively about the law and more importantly I know what it’s like to represent folks who couldn’t have gotten attorney otherwise who faced prosecution while voting because ineligible never should have had to been in that place in the first place but I showed up for
Those folks and then challenged the laws that were putting them back in the path of the criminal justice system as we went there I hope that my record and the time that I’ve spent and the work that I’ve done speaks for itself on this matter thank you another case from the Su North
Carolina Supreme Court last month um no new trial of a black man on death row despite being sentenced to death by an allwhite jury after prosecutors used a handout to strike black people from the jury pool last month the North Carolina Supreme Court decided no new trial of a
Black man on death row despite being sentenced to death by an allwhite jury after prosecutors used a handout to strike black people from the jury pool just want to get your thoughts and perspective on this and we’re going to start with associate Justice Allison Briggs
You think about that so while I was on the court I was recused from that case because I wasn’t there for oral argument what I can tell you is social science is absolutely clear uh that racial discrimination and jury selection does exist and when Democrats were in control
Of the North Carolina Supreme Court so before the 22 election we saw the first case in I think our history where um a the Supreme Court said no it’s called a Batson Challenge and it upheld that to say um yes this was a racially discriminatory removal of a juror this
Is why we have to fight for our courts what that c what we know a court with justice-minded individuals on it a majority of them will do to ensure uh equity and fairness in jury selection is that we have to have that again we know what it’s like we’ve tasted that Justice
And we know what it can mean for people push into a criminal justice system uh that isn’t equal equally and open equally open and fair um to people of all Races and economic background so my my commitment is to fight for a supreme court that restores a majority of justice-minded
Individuals who understand the science and approach every human being with compassion and are willing to call out um the judges who allow these strikes based on race to happen thank you um so that is called a Batson Challenge and again that happens in the trial courts on the superior court level
And this is exactly why you need a trial court judge on that Supreme Court without a trial court judge on that Supreme Court these kind of tragedies happen and they affect somebody’s life these cases on the Supreme Court come from the trial court and there is no justice at this point of
All seven of them that sit up there that has ever served on the trial court bench not on the district court bench and not on the Superior Court bench but they review what the Supreme Court does is they review the actions of a trial court
Judge if you’ve never set sat on a trial court bench how in the world do you know understand and can give some constructive conversation about what might have happened on that in that trial on that trial court I have presided over hundreds of Trials made motions and rulings on hundreds of bats and
Challenges so unless you have actually served on the trial court you’re taking a guess or your law clerk who just got out of law school was taking a guess about somebody’s life and the Supreme Court is the court of last resort so that means the buck stops there so when
You say no new trial if there’s incarceration that means that’s where that person sits it’s rotten away in a jail cell because there’s nobody up there that can give a trial court judge perspective and I’m the only candidate in this race that can do that because I’m the only candidate that’s been there
For eight years actually doing the work thank you we will begin with our closing statements and we will start with associat Justice Allison rigs thank you all for your time tonight and for sticking through uh till this portion of the program I want you to know that this election is not just
About me this is about uh setting setting some Dominos falling to win back our Courts for justice we’re not going to win back our courts in 2024 and I don’t say that to be a Debbie Downer I say that so that we know the call to
Action in front of us which is we need to win back our courts by keeping the seat I currently hold in 24 reelecting Justice Anita ears who’s sitting over there in 2026 and to un seeding three Republican incumbents in 2028 that’s when we win back our Courts for justice
We also do it by learning and knowing the names of our court of appeals candidates one of which you’ll get to hear from in a minute we have to support each other we have to lift each other up we don’t win our our courts back by standing in isolation running campaigns
In isolation we do it holding our each other’s hands and fighting for the North Carolina we want thank you thank you I agree that we absolutely must fight and work to take our courts back but that starts with stop doing the same thing and expecting different um results
Backstory to this whole whole seat that we’re running for Justice Mike Morgan retired every judge when they retire gets to go to the governor and tell the governor who they want to succeed them because they earned those years Justice Mike Morgan along with the black legislative caucus told the governor to
Call me because Justice Morgan decided he wanted to run for governor that that fell on death ears now what we have to do to get our courts back is just like Santana DeBerry said and just like Elma Adams said we’ve got to help ourself and we’ve got to
Give the voters in North Carolina a ballot that they can get enthusiastic about voting for give them a ballot that represents all of North Carolina we take our courts back by by having diversity up there there’s so again I’m the only person that can touch all those stones
And I ask you all to go in that booth and vote for me on March the 5th thank you so much your candidates for the North Carolina Supreme Court thank you okay um the last candidate we’re going to have North Carolina court of appeals candidate judge Carolyn jenning’s tops set
I know that some of you are already leaving it’s nine o’clock I won’t hold you long let me just tell you that I am Carolyn Thompson on the court of appeals I was appointed by the governor in September for the seat that I ran for in 2022 we lost the entire judicial slate
So I’m back with a greater fight to understand that these these seats really do matter and what we’re facing right now is exactly what we’re seeing at the end of the ballot some people just simply don’t vote for judges the kind of court that I’m sitting on right now
Affects all of the lore courts in this entire State and what we do is real work every day 27 years District Court Judge trial attorney Superior Court Judge been on the uh the bench with the north CL industrial commission helping people who get injured on the job and now I’m
Holding it down as your court of appeals incumbent Democratic nominee so one question will end what can we expect from you if elected what I’m doing right now is exactly what you can expect my first week out the gate I heard a case involving Charlotte involving two people who had the money
And the means to buy property but if you haven’t experienced that then you don’t know what you’re looking at and you’ll just think oh they just made them qualifi make sure they qualified for the property well because I’ve been in a position of trying to buy property and
They ask me how in the world you gonna pay for that I pay for it with green money but you know but like the like these people who actually challenged it and brought it up to the court of appeal saying that they were discriminated against they had the money they had the
Means to buy this property in Charlotte and they kept moving the bar but if you’ve never walked that walk then you don’t understand that and the two people who were sitting on the panel with me disagree totally but I’m not afraid of a descent I’ll stamp it in a minute and
Say send that mess back to the lower court and fix it so that’s what you expect out of me wow all right thank you and then one last question while you have been in that position what evidence do you have have that you have sent something back and fixed it well I can
Tell you just within the one week again of being on the bench this is the kind of job that you can’t show up for and just try to figure it out on the first day my opponent is a pharmacist who just happens to have a law degree so when I I
Hear these cases I I’ve heard these cases as a trial attorney as a trial uh judge and now reviewing the record having been in front of the bench and on the bench you can recognize when somebody’s being mistreated simply because they don’t have the means and and the ability when you appeal those
Are the two most powerful words you can say to a judge when you feel like you haven’t had a fair day tell the judge I appeal and that’s where I sit that’s where I’m waiting for an opportunity to make sure when they call me an activist judge shown enough I am an activist
Judge I’m looking for ways to bring Justice I’m looking for ways to balance the scale to make sure that our rights are protected all right can you just give us a closing statement judge thank y’all so much for hanging out I know that this I am the last candidate
But these courts are important when we keep stopping in the middle of the ballot and don’t get these judges and the first thing we want to cry about is that our rights R violated something is wrong something is we stop the crazy we’re the ones who actually are on the
Bench holding it down to make sure that everybody thinks that Justice is blind that’s not true Justice is looking through this Veil it sees race it sees gender it sees our issues and because of that if I’m not up there right now I am the only black woman out of 15 judges
Sitting up there holding it down making sure that when that stuff comes across my desk y’all y’all can come into my office and we can have a little discussion about why y’all don’t agree with me but I’ve been there and done that I’m going to continue to hold it
Down and I thank you for your support thank you let’s give it up for all the candidates who showed up today thank you thank you so we thank you all for staying we are closing out now I would be remissed if I did not recognize Justin Taylor he
Didn’t know I was going to call his name but Justin if you can come forward Justin Taylor is the volunteer that I did not know we met at the Charlotte black voter project second meeting meeting where we had focused groups and he is a PR Guru he is going
To get our snapchatted ticktock and all sorts of things podcasted and everything else so I just had to say thank you allow me to please have all remaining candidates and while candidates are standing I would like to also recognize those that stayed I’d like to recognize Janice Robinson if you would please
Stand Janice Robinson is over red wine and blue and she is dedicated to getting the vote out in all sectors of North Carolina actually so thank you so much Miss Robinson for the work that you do so now over here I will acknowledge County Commissioner Mark Jerel if you
Would stand and remain standing this brother is so bad he don’t have Democratic opposition or republican opposition he is in an enviable position thank you for your service and he’s my county commissioner district four more for four Mr Caleb Theus if you would please stand Mr Caleb theal he is a candidate
For Senate District 41 one thank you so much for coming and attending Mr Osborne if you would please stand Charles Osborne is on he’s a candidate for the County Commission Now County Commission remember District 2 I’m gonna let them know dear sir he is cause no he he ain’t
Run against mark derel because he would lose no no no no oh no you wouldn’t not with me in his district so Mr Osborne is running for district 2 County Commission and although those days are far behind me by the grace of God with food stamp
Wick they are front and center for too many mecklinburg counters although those days behind me of having to go to the library because I couldn’t afford to buy everything I wanted to buy for my son so I needed him to read ferociously the those days are front and center for too many children
And too many households when you go to your Parks that’s the board of County Commission when you go to your library that’s the board of County Commission we need to connect the dots better so we know how vital these seats are and who does what thank you Mr
Osborne now this right here is a bad brother he’s so bad he representing people outside of his seat that he is sitting in and seeking again for reelection Arthur Griffin Would you please stand up arthor Griffin is an atlarge candidate that is seeking reelection an author and I met each other in
1997 when he was on the board of County commit he was on the board of education and he cheered that and he was one of the spearheads of the Leandro case so he believes in equity and justice for all Arthur Griffin who is offering himself up yet again for the board of County
Commission at large Miss Lucille Pucket if you would stand Miss Lucille Pucket who was demonstrated by Joe Bruno who did a story on voting record Lucille Pucket has a 100% voting record every time there is an election she votes and your your voting record is public information
Family so you need to do your work on who’s voting before you vote for them simple concept Lucille Pucket Democratic candidate for Senate District 41 thank you for offering up your service so on the middle section would we have elected officials and other candidates to please stand up representative Becky Carney who serves
Us on the State House what is very important that we need to acknowledge what state house members when folks are trying to jerrym you out of your own house Becky Carney is right there trying to protect our rights but she got a hard battle because the numbers ain’t good so we need to
Make sure that we understand these State House Seats and these State Senate seats are just as important sometimes sometimes more important than the higher seats because they’re going to protect us in the General Assembly Becky Carney thank you so much for your service Kendrick Cunningham he is also a
Senate District 41 this is a newly drawn District this is a newly drawn District he is also a senate seat 41 candidate for the Democratic primary of senate seat 41 thank you so much for offering yourself up for service Mr Cunningham now are any other candidates elected
Officials in the second in the middle portion all right over in the rear any candidates or elected officials that are seeking public office I want to make certain we recognize everybody so Joe Joe TR please stand up Jojo so JoJo TR this is our future Jojo and Bobby play basketball together
When we talk about this racial divide and we wonder oh my God how did this happen let me tell you how you prevent it from happening you have your kids played together Bobby has spent nights over at JoJo’s and talk with Jojo and when he started driving he’s like I got
To go to Jojo’s house because we going to East meinberg I’m like oh okay okay okay JoJo trash you have a phenomenal record of service you have done phenomenal things we expect nothing but greatness from you you’re trash anyway you know so that goes with the territory
But thank you JoJo TR and I know you’re a big boy now so it’s Joseph or Joe but thank you so much for being here and staying to The Bitter End and this is the black candidates for and he white from a privileged historic iconic family
And he’s still here and he goes to a public school so this is why we must vote family this is why so MAA from Palisades High School stand up Chase Howard my beauty stand up from Audrey kale my man from Fletcher stand up these are our students these are our students this is
Why we’re voting this is why we have to vote now quick quiz before I bring up the baddest County Commissioner in the district my county commissioner Mark Jerel quick quiz when does early vote begin yes when does early vote end yes when is the primary yes remember family we have to
Hold the line because we lose on Election Day because blacks do not turn out to the propensity that others do we have to hold the LIE precin shairs church members your neighbors you gotta talk to everybody because mecklinburg County like Miss Alma said we got to Turn This Mother
Out so County Commissioner Mark Jerel let’s close This Mother Out y’all see me running up here good evening everybody Mark jell representing you on the boorder of County Commissioners District 4 you are sitting in District 4 Colette has asked me to come up and just to say Thank you so I
First of all I want to say thank you to Dr Walker certainly for opening the doors of this house he always does this so please give it up for him we want to give it up please give it up for Colette Forest everybody dric russle our moderator no softball questions fantastic job as
Always showing up in the the community want to thank all the electors the candidates but most of all the people from the community thank you all for showing up we can’t leave here with the thought that this is just another meeting the question that we’re wrestling with is what are we going to
Do after we leave here tonight because there’s a lot to do there’s a lot of work to do from this time on and every time we hear about these elections we know this is the most important election and next year we’ll say the same thing because it’s true it holds true every
Single time so now is not the time for us to be tired now’s not the time for us to sit back now’s not the time for us to settle for the status quo now is the time to step up Now’s the Time to get people to get up get out let’s go vote
Let’s get motivated let’s move forward let’s do what we know we’re supposed to do we can do it let’s go be the change that you want to see not only be the change lead the change that you want to see so good night everybody stay motivated let’s go get
It and I need you all to go get some pizza take the whole pizza JoJo Fletcher Chase y’all go get some pizza adults grown folks go get some pizza we can’t take we can’t throw all that food away go get some pizza go get some Pizza okay
Go get some pizza all right hey baby good to see you go get some pizza all right
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