(The Center Square) – Voting results didn’t lie. Nobody was fooled.
In a coordinated quest for the North Carolina General Assembly, replete with group photo for campaign purposes, six candidates resigned their Democratic registration for Republican just before the deadline in order to run in primaries on Tuesday. All are former educators, and all took a lesson in miserably failing.
Pamela Ayscue tried to win House District 32, Michele Joyner-Dinwiddie HD35, Pamela Zanni HD81, Lisa Deaton Koperski HD89, Kelly VanHorn HD105 and Dr. Christopher Wilson HD117.
The fake party candidacies even included VanHorn’s campaign website lauding why the campaign: “restoring honor, truth and commitment.”
State law permits unaffiliated voters to choose either a Democrat or Republican primary ballot, though not both. Registered voters of those parties – or the Green and Libertarian parties – can only choose their respective party.
Ayscue, on Jan. 10, took to social media encouraging voters registered as Democrats to change voter registration by Feb. 6, the state deadline, to unaffiliated. That way, they could vote for her. She didn’t hide the policies and stands she represents aligned with Democrats rather than the Republican Party.
Joyner did the same two days later.
In addition to results expectedly unimpressive at the ballot box, any potential resulting punch to the integrity of the Democratic Party is also probably negligible given the partisans even within those choosing to register as independent.
For the record in these Republican primaries:
• District 32, former Rep. Rev. Frank Sossamon defeated Ayscue 86.5%-11.3%.
• District 35, incumbent Rep. Mike Schietzelt defeated Joyner-Dinwiddie 90.1%-9%.
• District 81, incumbent Rep. Larry Potts defeated Pamela Zanni 83.1%-16.9%.
• District 89, incumbent Rep. Mitchell Setzer defeated Koperski 86.2%-13.8%.
• District 105, incumbent Rep. Tricia Cotham defeated VanHorn 84.5%-15.5%.
• District 117, incumbent Rep. Jennifer Balkcom defeated Wilson 76.2%-23.8%.
