Comments | Eastern NC Now

Lets remember who Big Gambling placed their bets on in our 79th district House primary. That would be Darren Armstrong. Big Gambling's PAC was the one running those dishonest TV ads falsely claiming the Rep. Keith Kidwell voted to raise taxes. They spent big on Armstrong, and now Armstrong owes them, big time. That is sad for our district.

Commented: Wednesday, October 21st, 2026 @ 10:57 am By: Rino Hunter

As to my own votes, I always vote on policy and principle, never personality. I vote for the candidates who have convinced me that they will best uphold my own conservative values in the office they are running for. When I encounter a candidate who dodges commitments and tries to avoid giving you a straight answer, I identify them as someone who cannot be trusted and I avoid them like the plague. A candidate who bobs and weaves on issues is not going to serve the voters well.

Efficiently run political parties usually set up a small committee of experienced campaigners to run their party advertising campaigns supporting candidates. Executive committees are too large and cumbersome to do that, especially since they meet only monthly. In a fast moving campaign, a more nimble organization is needed to respond to developing opportunities and make necessary adjustments and responses based on what the other side is doing.

Over the past 50+ years, I have served quite often myself on such committees at both the county and Congressional district party level. Back in the 1980s under county chairmen Carol Cochran, Tom White, Al McMicken, and myself, we called it the Campaign Committee. In more recent years it has been called the Victory Committee.

The Victory Committee does not function and did not meet during the primaries. The reason is that the party Plan of Organization does not allow parties to intervene in primaries. In the general election, we are charged to support the entire ticket. In a "turnout" race in a non-presidential year like the current midterm election, the key is figuring out the best formula to get as many Republican voters to the polls as possible. That often involves issues, but it also involves knowledge of which races are more likely to pull out reluctant voters based on past experience.

Addressing the contention about the last city council race, the party was required by the Plan of Organization to support the registered Republicans running and prohibited from supporting anyone running who was registered in any way other than Republican. That clearly meant with five registered Republicans running, that is who we were bound to support. All five of those candidates were endorsed by name in both the radio ads and the social media ads run by the Victory Committee.

The argument that including one of those five who was not running an active campaign somehow hurt any of the other four simply does not hold water. It is likely that most of those who voted for that candidate probably did so based on his inclusion among the Big Five on the endorsement list. Since those voting that list had already voted for all of the other four by voting the list, they could not have gone back and cast a second vote for any of them. A voter only gets one vote per candidate, not two.

Lets look at the results of any other action the Victory Committee could have taken. If we had defied party rules and endorsed the same list as the Conservative Club which included a conservative Unaffiliated, all that would have done is shift the votes from the fifth Republican to the Unaffiliated and would not have changed who was elected to the council. The Unaffiliated, who ran second anyway, would just have run a much stronger second.

If the committee had only endorsed four on the theory that the fifth candidate was not running an active race, what voters would have done with their fifth vote would have been all over the landscape. Some would have stopped at four. Others might have looked at the Conservative Club list and added the conservative Unaffiliated. Others would have picked a fifth candidate based on all sort of reasons. None of them could have voted for any of the other four a second time. This would have likely reduced the odds of the two Republicans who ran close but did not make it across the line, instead of increasing them.

A little analysis and consideration of alternatives shows the argument that the Victory Committee's position hurt any Republican candidate just does not hold water.

Commented: Wednesday, October 21st, 2026 @ 10:16 am By: Steven P. Rader

Bath Parent: As publisher of encnow.com, I allow Democrats, Democratic Socialists, Leftists, RINOs, RINO Whisperers, and Real Republicans /Conservatives comment on this publication. Just because of my wide range of acceptance of the opinions of others, I am NOT a RINO.

Along with Hood Richardson, I have the most conservative voting record in the history of Beaufort County's commissioners. You would not know that because you have shown, in your words here within this publication's comment section as an alias, that you have the working untruthful mind of a Democrat, Democratic Socialist, Leftist, RINO, or RINO Whisperer, all enablers of one another.

You are NOT a Real Republican; you are NOT a Conservative, so how would you what constitutes such to viably make a truthful mention of who is who and what is what?

Your comment is patently false regarding information within the article above.

Commented: Wednesday, October 21st, 2026 @ 9:11 am By: Stan Deatherage

RINO lol Hood and Stan publicly supporting a Democrat. Hood was a Democrat for years and his true colors are coming through. Have a great day!! RINOs are out and about just read the above article!!!

Commented: Wednesday, October 21st, 2026 @ 7:30 am By: Bath parent

No Big Bob: Your Leftist words signify what Conservatives have always known, you want government to create the environment where corruption will always be an option to finance your Leftist agenda, no matter how non patriotic it evolves to become.

Your Leftist double talk does not hide the corruption of the Left, and how the Left is 90% responsible for the federal debt.

Commented: Wednesday, October 21st, 2026 @ 5:18 am By: Stan Deatherage

Big Bob: You Democratic Socialists all voted against DOGE and the BBB, so that increase in the national debt is due entirely to Biden's stupidity, and the Democratic Socialists in congress.

Commented: Tuesday, October 20th, 2026 @ 5:36 pm By: Stan Deatherage

Thank-you Hood for that walk down memory lane.

Governing is a very real thing; it is not pop art as so many consider it to be; those people who are not serious about this Constitution Republic.

Commented: Tuesday, October 20th, 2026 @ 3:35 pm By: Stan Deatherage

You just know there is a pee pee tape.

You just know it.

Commented: Tuesday, October 20th, 2026 @ 2:09 pm By: big Bob

The Starshield speed is still being restricted over Ukraine's own territory to Ukraine's forces. This means Ukraine's defensive interceptors against Russia's jet powered Gerand attack drones don't work to protect Ukraine civilians, including children and the elderly who are being slaughtered in their homes. As long as these restrictions continue, our White House is becoming an accessory of Putin's war crimes against civilians. This all started downhill with Russian sympathizers Kushner and Witkoff who need to be FIRED IMMEDIATELY. Kushner and Witkoff just want to do profitable deals with Putin for themselves.

Ronald Reagan freed eastern Europe from Russian control, and now Trump seems to want to undo that. IF Trump keeps on this path, he can get stuffed.

Commented: Tuesday, October 20th, 2026 @ 11:59 am By: John Steed

JV, What part of war crimes do you not understand? What Hamas did on Oct. 7 means the whole organization needs to be exterminated from the face of the Earth. Russia is just as big a war criminal and needs a Nuremburg style set of trials and a lot of hangings. What has gotten into Trump?

Commented: Tuesday, October 20th, 2026 @ 8:41 am By: Conservative Voter

Russia isn't what's burning Trump's ass; y'all STILL can't bring yourselves to call out the President and his tiny hat administration.

You'll see how well Ultra MAGA Zionist Republicans will perform in the midterms....not too good.

Commented: Monday, October 19th, 2026 @ 2:10 pm By: John Valley

Washingtonian: Ditto.

Commented: Monday, October 19th, 2026 @ 1:29 pm By: Stan Deatherage