Going after the last of the Gang of Five

As most of you know, last year there were five Democratic members of the NC House who voted with the GOP on its ideology-driven state budget, hurting public education, health care services, the senior safety net, environmental protections and other important programs. Many of these Dems -- dubbed the Gang of Five -- also voted with the GOP on other far right bills during last year's session. Since then, three of these Dems have announced they will not seek re-election and the remaining two now face Democratic opponents in the upcoming primary on May 8th. Progress North Carolina Action is taking a stand against both of them: Jim Crawford (Granville and Person Counties) and William Brisson (Bladen, Sampson, Johnston Counties). If you'd like to know more or help us, details are after the jump.

North Carolina has always been a tough state for many Democrats to swallow, especially those who moved here from elsewhere and have found it hard to grasp how conservative many of our Democratic elected officials truly are. We have not made a lot of progress is moving these Dems toward the left because it is way too easy to take the progressive vote for granted: we'll vote for the lesser of the two evils every time, even if that means a candidate who aligns with progressive issues through party affiliation only.

I hope 2011 woke some people up. Too many of these conservative Dems failed to stand up for forward-thinking government when we needed them the most. We believe that North Carolina needs representatives in Raleigh who will stand up to the far right, not enable them, and that's why we are going after Crawford and Brisson in the primary. (Well, that, their voting records, the list of their donors, ethical violations and a whole lot of other good reasons.)

To keep up with our Brisson activities, visit http://www.thebrissonvision.com or Like and Share http://www.facebook.com/RejectTheBrissonVision.

To keep up with our Crawford activities, and to forward them to friends, Like us at http://www.facebook.com/ProgressNorthCarolinaAction.

Want to help more? If you can hand out fliers in their counties or want to join us at some demonstrations planned for the week and a half ahead, please write me at katymunger@progressnc.org. I'd also appreciate a heads-up from anyone with ideas on groups or people we should work with on these efforts.