Comments for Beaufort County Republicans Try to Un-Ring the Finance Bell | Eastern NC Now

Irrational Observer: Why don't you write your own articles exposing may lies?!!!!!

Commented: Friday, July 10th, 2026 @ 4:31 pm By: Hood Richardson

I suppose people have noticed that I periodically ask questions in my comments. Obviously, they are never answered. The silence is the answer. I'll keep asking those rhetorical questions.

On this thread Mr. Leary is asking some VERY relevant questions that need an answer. A lot of us have a very good idea what the answer is to those questions. The silence along with the extremely petty insults directed at many of us provide those answers also.

On the Repub Executive Committee Mr. Richardson is attempting to ask those same type questions of leadership. We've seen the flagrant over the top reactions from party leadership to those attempts. They've called the police and brought bogus court actions against him to avoid any consequences to their own actions. They will do ANYTHING to avoid those questions, and they will shut down meetings entirely to not have those legitimate questions before them.

Commented: Friday, July 10th, 2026 @ 9:47 am By: Van Zant

I dont reveal my name bec we live surrounded by corrupt govt officials & their citizen useful idiots who will seek revenge against anyone who exposes & opposes them. There is so much corruption & sloppy govt, one hardly knows where to begin. Its everywhere. There is no justice. We could hire a corrupt attorney who will take your $$ & sabotage u at same time, while kissing up to officials who they fear. We could contact some State Agencies whose employees could care less what is
happening in a town of less than 10,000 ppl.I could write abt the
corruption on NOW, but the posters only care abt State & Party
politics, not what is happening to local WEthePpl.
Most of us r more afraid of our local govt than th Federal govt.
WHY r WeThePPl treated lik ignorant rednecks? Probably bec in
beginning most citizens were uneducated. But now rural ppl can learn via the internet.
2026 yet Govts wont giveup on th idea that they r our masters. We're just checkbooks. They want th $$ & for U to butt out.

Commented: Thursday, July 9th, 2026 @ 3:03 pm By: Washingtonian

You smear the facts again.

I was fined for not reporting on the archaic state computer system. I filed paper copies.

I chose to shut down the PAC rather tan continue to be fined by administrative law system.

Unlike you and your ilk, I did not violate the handling of money.

My name is on what I say. I do not hide behind an alias.

Commented: Thursday, July 9th, 2026 @ 6:45 am By: Hood Richardson

Ray, there is way too much personal attack in local Republican politics, and there has been too much of it on both sides. Politics should be about policy, principles, and issues, not personal grievances with other Republicans. The Democrats undoubtably are left grinning from ear to ear when these personality conflicts within the GOP go hyper.

At every meeting of the Victory Committee I attended, all Facebook advertising was focused on electing the five Republicans running, not attacking Republicans or conservatives. I have seen the nastygrams you mention, and I suspect whoever did it left as little a paper trail as possible. Internal party wars only help Democrats.

Commented: Wednesday, July 8th, 2026 @ 10:36 pm By: Steven P. Rader

Going forward, let's see how well the Beaufort County GOP handles their campaign for real Republicans on those local candidates listed on our county's ballots in this off year election.

It is legend that the inner core of the BC GOP has worked against me, and my Conservative constituents, in the past previous elections. Let's all observe just how much the BC GOP does in this election to specifically get out the vote, which helps politicians like myself - those that are honest in character, and consistent in their deeds of endeavoring to always perform as promised.

Commented: Wednesday, July 8th, 2026 @ 6:35 pm By: Stan Deatherage

Hood, the paid campaign materials approved by the Victory Committee such as radio ads and mailers promoted all 5 Republicans running for city council. If one or more individuals who may have had party positions said anything disparaging of any Republican candidate, I am not aware of it but if they did it would be highly inappropriate. Such things should not even be done privately.

The Conservative Club's slate and the Republican Party slate differed on only one seat, with the club backing Joe Davis, a conservative independent, and the party backing Wiley Woolard, a Republican. If both of them had lost, there would have been a good argument that backing different candidates for that seat helped elect a Democrat by dividing the vote on that one seat. But that is NOT what happened. Joe Davis, with the support of two blocks, the Conservative Club and the Brabo for mayor campaign, predictably came in second and won a seat.

As to the two Republicans who ran close but not quite enough, that split in support did not impact them. They were both on the county GOP slate and on the Conservative Club slate. Those who voted either slate already voted for them once and could not do it a second time.

Where the real blunder came was that both the Beaufort GOP and the Conservative Club failed to check the box to endorse Brabo for mayor. Yes, she was an Unaffiliated and presented herself as a moderate, but her opponent was a Democrat, so endorsing her would not have presented party loyalty problems for the GOP since she was not running against a Republican. The important impact of that endorsement would have been that it would have pulled more Brabo supporters to vote for the two Republicans who ran close but lost.

There was a Victory Committee meeting where that was decided which got rescheduled and I was not available for it as I was in Asheville for the NC School Boards Association Law Conference. I had talked to another committee member beforehand and thought I had that issue resolved but it did not turn out that way. The key to the endorsement of Brabo was its impact on the council races more than on the mayor's race. Both the party and the club screwed up on the one thing that could have pushed those two conservative Republicans over the top.

Commented: Wednesday, July 8th, 2026 @ 3:24 pm By: Steven P. Rader

It seems like the BC Republican Party Treasurer of the BC Republican Party Executive Committee determines on his own what executive committee members to report to just like the BC Republican Party Chairman of the BC Republican Party Executive Committee thinks she can determine on her own who to recognize as even being on the committee at all. That's the epitome of dysfunction and that perfectly defines this committee as a rogue committee.

Commented: Wednesday, July 8th, 2026 @ 8:51 am By: Van Zant

Three questions:
1. Did the Beaufort County Republican Party Executive Committee have any role in the creation of the Victory Committee?
2. Has the Victory Committee ever reported to the Republican Party Executive Committee?
3. When does the Executive Committee get to see those finance reports? Ever?

Commented: Wednesday, July 8th, 2026 @ 7:43 am By: Van Zant

Hood, the Victory Committee, like its predecessor the Campaign Committee of the local party, has never campaigned against any Republican nominee. Such committees ONLY operate during the general election campaign. In the last Washington City campaign, the Victory Committee promoted ALL of the Republicans running and promoted them equally. In many elections, like the one we are in right now, races that are more competitive will normally get more attention than races that are not competitive. With the bizarre limited voting system for county commission, it leaves all GOP "nominees" still running against each other in November, so it is hard to get involved in a practical way.

When it comes to candidates who are not Republican running against a Republican, party loyalty provisions of the Plan of Organization come into play about supporting such candidates. The state party sent out a specific warning on that applying it to officially non=partisan elections in 2025, and that was repeated at the Third Congressional District meeting. It was never an option for the party to support such candidates, regardless of how conservative they were.

Also, as to officially non-partisan municipal races, both parties have been getting involved in those as long as I can remember. The Mecklenburg County Republican Party was heavily involved in Charlotte city races, which were officially non-partisan, back when I was first elected to the Mecklenburg County Republican Executive Committee in 1973, and they had been years before that. So were the Democrats.

I have not seen the party's finance reports and cannot respond on those.

Commented: Tuesday, July 7th, 2026 @ 10:57 am By: Steven P. Rader