My Philosophy, My Choices

By Moe White

My philosophy is this: I vote for candidates of any party who are thoughtful, engaged, and devoted to the first principles of America: Liberty, Equality, and Justice for all.

The U.S. and N.C. Constitutions and all laws passed by our legislature are written in black and white, but they come to life in the shades of gray found in individual cases. Judges must interpret the law, just as they interpret the nuances of facts and evidence.

I want judges who will think FOR themselves, but think ABOUT how a law will affect the least and poorest among us as well as the richest and most powerful. My choices in the contested nonpartisan races are listed below; readers with a different philosophy will probably prefer different candidates.

NC Supreme Court
– Robert C. “Bob” Hunter
Court of Appeals (Calabria seat)
– Jane Gray
Court of Appeals (Elmore seat)
– Rick Elmore
Court of Appeals (Geer seat)
– Martha Geer
Court of Appeals (Steelman seat)
– Sanford L. Steelman, Jr.

Court of Appeals (open seat): I agree with the judicial philosophy of
these five candidates; with “instant runoff” voting, I will choose three
of them, in almost any order.
– Stan Hammer, Anne Middleton,
Harry E. Payne, Cressie Thigpen,
Pamela Vesper
Superior Court Seat 1
– Alan Thornburg
Superior Court Seat 2
– Marvin Pope
District Court (Barrett Seat)
– Sharon Barrett
District Court (Brown Seat)
– John Jay Watson
District Court (Cash Seat)
– Julie M. Kepple
District Court (Knight Seat)
– Rebecca Knight
District Court (Young Seat)
– Patricia Kaufmann Young
Board of Education Enka
– Bob Rhinehart
Board of Education Erwin
– Pat Bryant
Board of Education Reynolds
– Lisa C. Baldwin
Soil & Water Conservation Supervisor
– Elise Israel, Jeff Turner