Comments | Eastern NC Now

The new city government should sue these scoundrels to get the money back. Not only should the city manager be sued but also any city council member who votes for this taxpayer ripoff. I wish there were a way to criminally prosecute these despicable thugs.

Commented: Wednesday, November 26th, 2025 @ 8:41 am By: Bubba

It wasnt incompetence Stan, it was intentional.
And if anyone were to ask me, I'd say that the City of Washington's Administration had a Fascist core. I use that term because it descriptively fits their activities.

Now, when the Council asked for J.R.'s resignation, I thot he was
being pushed out, but after watching his interview on WITN, he claims he is leaving because a candidate insulted him, that politics had "turned."
However he was revealing that actually he had been exposed & the fog had cleared from our eyes and it was time to get out of Dodge...with the help of the out-going Council to fatten his bank acct.

Commented: Tuesday, November 25th, 2025 @ 11:03 pm By: Befuddled

I, for one, enjoy the Daily Wire.

Commented: Tuesday, November 25th, 2025 @ 9:42 pm By: Stan Deatherage

Kidwell is rock solid on immigration issues. Those dredging up an opponent to him are not. Berger prostitutes himself to the special interests and will do what they want, and that is usually bad when it comes to immigration issues. Dixon is an amnesty whore to the extent he can get away with it. He is a big farmer who likes to use illegal aliens as cheap labor. If the candidate Dixon has recruited is another big farmer, as is likely, you can expect him to operate the same way, whether he admits it or not.

Commented: Tuesday, November 25th, 2025 @ 6:22 pm By: borderhawk

All things considered equal, I will always support any young, intelligent applicant for elected office that has risen from humble beginnings, and yearns to serve the public with honor and integrity.

Commented: Tuesday, November 25th, 2025 @ 5:56 pm By: Richard Marvin Butkus

This Jonathan Russell character can resign whenever he wishes, however, he just canNOT receive any additional taxpayer monies until an investigation is conducted as why and how this has come to pass.

I know enough about local government to sense improprieties may be afoot, and if I, as a Beaufort County Commissioner and as a City of Washington tax payer, cannot see a purely proper governing path to this, arguably speaking, additional fleecing of the City of Washington taxpayers, I will raise a mighty and sustained objection, and I will object to the lengths of my ability to do so.

Commented: Tuesday, November 25th, 2025 @ 1:01 pm By: Stan Deatherage

Washington needs a forensic audit of its books. Maybe we need to get the state auditor involved. Either they or an outside attorney needs to look into this severance scam and get the city's money back.

Commented: Monday, November 24th, 2025 @ 6:28 pm By: John Steed

Washingtonian, you are trying to put my words in Kidwell's mouth. Those are my words, and I stand by them. Internal party matters here matter a whole lot less to the impact on our lives than what is done in the General Assembly. Turning over positions in Raleigh to strengthen the likes of Phil Berger and Jimmy Dixon is nothing short of an attack on conservatism.

Oh, and if you have your nose out of joint on local internal party matters you might want to talk to a conservative activist in Rockingham County (Berger) or Duplin County (Dixon). You will find a LOT MORE heavy handed manipulation in those local parties by Berger and Dixon than anything Kidwell has been accused of here. And they are the ones who have anointed this Berger Boy challenger to Kidwell.

Commented: Monday, November 24th, 2025 @ 1:22 pm By: Conservative Voter

When one is local, and having their small town local toes stepped on by big shots, it doesn't feel like small potatoes. If we local people are small potatoes to Kidwell, then that is another reason to vote all the scoundrels out.
I wonder if recent poster, "RoadKill" has thought of filing an ethics complaint to the NC Legislature.
**All small potatoes around the World UNITE! ;-)

But the truth is: When the top dogs of a SMALL community begin to think of the locals as small potatoes, is it any wonder that this
disrespectful attitude spreads like wildfires into all the Govt's Departments, to include the regional offices of the State of NC's Departmental Agencies located in Washington,NC.
We really need a reset!

Commented: Monday, November 24th, 2025 @ 12:46 pm By: Washingtonian

Having talked to some sources in Hyde County, where the Berger recruit against Kidwell is from, I am told that when he was in Hyde County, Berger's recruit was a big time Marc Basnight Democrat. Since he has come to Beaufort County, he seems to have re-registered "Republican" but has anybody EVER seen him at any type of Republican meeting or event? He appears to have the same sort of background as Frankie Waters or Randy Walker. We have seen this movie before and we know how it ends.

Commented: Monday, November 24th, 2025 @ 11:15 am By: Rino Hunter

Kidwell's lifetime conservative score on the Civitas index is the BEST in the legislature. He stands strong on conservative issues in Raleigh and the record shows it. As chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, he is one of the top leaders of House conservatives. That is why he has a target on his back from liberal establishment "Republican" power bully Senate boss Phil Berger and why Berger's henchman, liberal anti-gun establishment hack Jimmy Dixon recruited this so-called "well regarded" chnllenger. Only the establishment could call him "well regarded".

The Berger Boys are trying to take out 6 conservatives in House primaries to intimidate House members to not stand up against Berger. Anyone who participates in that is nothing but a liberal and an opponent of conservatism. Kidwell is just one of Berger's targets..

I don't agree with everything Kidwell has done in local party politics, but that is small potatoes compared to Berger's scheme to castrate conservative influence in the legislature.

Commented: Monday, November 24th, 2025 @ 9:42 am By: Conservative Voter