GOP Rep. Martin Tries To Hold Competitive HD 8 Seat Against Gregory | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Evelyn Howell, who is a contributor to the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

Democrats have a near-majority of registered voters Wilson-Pitt county district

    RALEIGH — Education and health care are among the top campaign issues in House District 8, where Republican incumbent Susan Martin is seeking a second term against Democratic challenger Barbara D "Bobi" Gregory.

    Both women ran unopposed in the May 6 primary, and are now vying to represent voters in most of Wilson and part of Pitt County. The North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation, which monitors historical voting trends, lists the district as competitive.

    Gregory would seem to have an advantage with 47.6 percent of the electorate registered Democratic. Republicans comprise 30.4 percent of voters, and unaffiliated voters make up 21.7 percent. Voters cast 53.2 percent of ballots for President Obama in 2012, and 51.1 percent to unsuccessful Democratic gubernatorial candidate Walter Dalton.

    But reports filed with the State Board of Elections show Martin, a homemaker retired from IBM who was elected in 2012, with $69,210 cash on hand as of Oct. 18, compared with $2,509 for Gregory.

    "We made some significant progress this year," Martin said of the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

    "I'm glad that we were able to get our fiscal house in order and start growing the economy so that we can invest $360 million more in education during the time I've been in office, and accomplish the largest teacher pay raise in a decade," she said.

    Going forward, she said, "We still have a lot to do because we were so far behind, in that area."

    Gregory, a retired art teacher, said she is running because she wants to give voters "a better choice."

    "We cannot continue to let someone represent both Pitt and Wilson counties who consistently votes to weaken our exemplary public education system on every level. She has been in the legislature, and had the opportunity to vote against her party, and she has not," said Gregory, who is endorsed by the North Carolina Association of Educators.

    Both candidates agree that education is underfunded in the district.

    "Our teachers are in dire straights," said Gregory.

    "There is a lack of resources in the classrooms. There are not enough teachers or teacher assistants," she said. "They're moving away," and some teachers have to pick up part-time jobs.

    "Some even have to work two or three jobs. Now that's sad," said Gregory.

    "Teachers with families having to cook, clean, and raise children — I could not have done all that stuff in the '60s, Gregory said, reflecting on her more than 30 years of teaching experience in the public schools.

    Martin agrees that more needs to be done.

    "We are still struggling with a lack of resources. We need to further increase salaries for teachers. We need to invest more in our teachers and classroom supplies – whether digital or textbooks," she said.

    "Our funding comes from different places, federal, state, and local," Martin said. "For the last few years our economy is beginning to improve, and the state funding has been increasing, but last year the federal money that was part of the stimulus package went away. There's still a gap there."

    Martin said she supports choices for parents. She also backs more local control to empower teachers in the classroom to make decisions on where they need to prioritize spending, and doing the right thing for students.

    Gregory said she favors teacher tenure, and she is against teacher merit pay because it pits teacher against teacher.

    "All teachers are good teachers. We don't have lazy teachers here," she said.

    Martin agrees that merit pay might not create the most positive environment in a public school system. Instead, Martin supports a "differentiated pay initiative," which Republican legislative leaders and Gov. Pat McCrory are pushing. It would reward teachers not just based on student test score performance, but for being a leader in other areas in their schools.

    "We have teachers who are contributing in incredible ways in our schools, and we have to be able to recognize, and pay them for their contributions," Martin said.

    Martin and Gregory also differ on Medicaid expansion.

    "I am very unhappy with the legislature because they did not vote to expand Medicaid," said Gregory.

    "This legislation has done more to hurt our state," she said. "They don't care about the average person. They really, truly don't."

    "I will vote to expand Medicaid. I will fight to keep that expansion in place," she said.

    Martin said she is against Medicaid expansion because Medicaid spending is out of control, and lawmakers must deal with its massive budget overruns every year, which totaled $1 billion over four years.

    "My first year we had to spend over $500 million more than what was budgeted. And then that money was not available for other priorities such as education," Martin said.

    Gregory said East Carolina University and its medical school are facing a heavy burden because of because of legislative cuts, failure to expand Medicaid, and grant reductions especially in its medical school training programs.

    "This school of medicine is very important," she said.

    Martin said funding in health care is very challenging and "we need to make sure we are able to properly fund that because its' critical for economic development for the entire region as well as for patient accessibility."

    Gregory said the district needs a change, and if elected she will passionately work for the "average working person" in North Carolina.

    Martin said the economy is growing, and she wants to continue reforming state government to make North Carolina better.