nc-10

Mitt Romney’s choice of Paul Ryan is bad for North Carolina and bad for America.

On March 29, 2012, Paul Ryan, aided and abetted by my opponent, Patrick McHenry, passed a budget in the U.S. House of Representatives that betrayed every man, woman and child in North Carolina.

The Ryan/McHenry budget would have destroyed Medicare, cut agriculture by $60 billion, cut taxes for the super rich and increased the budget deficit by $3 trillion dollars. That would have hurt every person and business in North Carolina. (Republican Fiscal Year 2013 budget offered by Paul Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin. Vote on March 29, 2012)

By choosing Ryan as his running mate, Mitt Romney has embraced the most extreme posture of the most extreme parts of the Tea Party Republicans.

Bizarrely, Patrick McHenry even found a way to be more extreme than Ryan and his fellow Tea Party Republicans. On the same day he voted for the Ryan budget, McHenry voted for a budget that would have, among other things, raised the Social Security retirement age to 70. More than 100 of his fellow Republicans, including Paul Ryan, did not vote for this budget … but Patrick McHenry did.

Asheville, NC – Today the Sierra Club announced their endorsement of Rep. Patsy Keever, Democratic nominee for the U.S. House in North Carolina’s 10th Congressional District.

Today the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the Affordable Care Act and demonstrated how political leanings can be set aside to resolve the vital issues confronting Americans.

It is a good sign for our nation that a conservative chief justice, appointed by a Republican president, joined with more moderate members of the court to uphold the Affordable Care Act.

Congressman Patrick McHenry, and others who opposed the ACA, should now accept the ruling and join with Democrats, Moderates and Independents to adopt new federal policies that create jobs for North Carolina.

Just imagine what we could accomplish if we all stood together to create jobs by ending federal policies that export American jobs to Mexico, India and China. That’s the approach I will take in Congress. I will work with Democrats, Independents and Republicans to create jobs for the people of North Carolina.

Let me just share with you some of the benefits that Americans have already enjoyed under the Affordable Care Act:

Eleven of my fellow NC state legislators and I have proposed a resolution calling on Congress to ban unlimited corporate cash in elections, but our efforts are being ignored by the Republican leadership. Click here to join the 800 people who have signed up as citizen co-sponsors of this vital bill.

Let’s tell Republicans in Raleigh and in Washington that our democracy is not for sale!

Can you believe that Karl Rove and GOP front organizations plan to spend more than $1 billion during this year’s election to advance their extreme agenda? Just last week we saw the power of unlimited corporate cash in Wisconsin’s recall election in which the Democratic candidate for governor was outspent by a whopping 10 to 1 margin.

That’s why eleven of my fellow North Carolina state legislators and I have proposed a resolution calling on Congress to ban unlimited corporate cash in elections. However, the Republican leadership in Raleigh is ignoring our resolution and refusing to even debate it.

Thanks to you we won big in the primary on May 8th. Now we have a chance to expand our grassroots campaign with the help of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. We need YOU to vote for Patsy in the DCCC’s 2012 Grassroots Champion challenge.

It’s easy to vote for Patsy, just follow these quick steps:

1) Click here to go to the DCCC’s website
2) Complete the form
3) Write in “Patsy Keever (NC-10)”
4) Click “Submit Form”

It’s that easy!

Vote Today
Please Cast your vote today. The first round of voting ends at midnight on June 5th, 2012. Only the top 6 vote getters will move to the final round.

By Jake Frankel, Mountain Xpress, 5/22/2012

A look behind the scenes of Rep. Patsy Keever's successful Democratic primary campaign in the 10th Congressional District sheds new light on how she was able to triumph over her main rival, Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy.

Despite Bellamy's head start and fundraising advantages (which led some commenters to dub her "the frontrunner"), Keever garnered 58 percent of the vote to Bellamy's 27 percent. Rutherfordton resident and political newcomer Timothy Murphy received almost 16 percent of the total. Keever's margin was even bigger in her home turf of Buncombe County, where she got about 67 percent of the vote to Bellamy's 28 percent and Murphy's 5 percent.

Among some observers, the results have raised doubts over Bellamy's political career. Meanwhile, the Keever campaign credits the strength of its candidate, as well as smart strategy – two things it's eager to highlight as it gears up to try to unseat powerful Republican incumbent Patrick McHenry in the fall.

Inside track
According to an internal Keever campaign memo that was recently shared with Xpress, her campaign commissioned a poll in February that provided essential data about the newly formed district and how best to proceed. Before the campaign even kicked into gear, the team learned from polling information that Keever led Bellamy by more than 2 to 1 in Buncombe County and that she would likely get a minimum of 55 to 60 percent of the primary vote here. The poll also showed that both candidates were relatively unknown in the other counties in the district, which was redrawn last year to include most of Asheville for the first time.

That allowed the campaign to focus all of its resources on reaching out to other parts of the district, which stretches southeast from Asheville all the way to Gaston County. Meanwhile, Bellamy had to spend valuable campaign resources on trying to rally voters closer to home.

Keever gets big win over Bellamy in 10th primary
Joel Burgess, Asheville Citizen-Times, May 9, 2012

N.C. Rep. Patsy Keever won a decisive victory Tuesday in the Democratic primary in the 10th Congressional District — newly redrawn to include much of Asheville and Buncombe County.

Keever with most votes counted late Tuesday held a wide lead over primary challengers Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy and Tim Murphy of Rutherfordton.

With six of seven counties reporting, Keever led with 58 percent of the vote to Bellamy’s 27 percent. Murphy was trailing with 15 percent of the vote. Bellamy conceded the race late Tuesday night.

Keever will now face veteran Republican Congressman Patrick McHenry, a four-term congressman from Cherryville who was on his way to an easy victory over challenger Ken Fortenberry, of Denver, and Don Peterson, of Cramerton.

Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, endorsed Patsy Keever, candidate for the U.S. House in North Carolina’s 10th Congressional District.

“The House of Representatives needs more people like Patsy Keever who are willing to fight for working families and Progressive values,” said Rep. Grijalva. “She is a champion of a strong public school system and will fight for the educational investments we need to make our workforce stronger.”

Asheville, NC – Rep. Patsy Keever, candidate for the U.S. House in North Carolina’s 10th Congressional District, has been endorsed by Democracy for America (DFA).

“Patsy has a strong record serving the people in North Carolina,” said Jim Dean, Chair of Democracy for America. "Patsy believes the best way to strengthen the economy is through job creation for North Carolina’s middle class and through providing the proper job training necessary to compete in today's job market. She's got a strong vision for her community, and I'm proud to endorse Patsy for North Carolina's 10th district.”