Burr Week in Review: Burr Has a Strong Debate Performance, Ross Gets Fact Checked on Her Fight Against the Sex Offender Registry | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    Raleigh, NC     This week saw Senator Burr make several campaign stops in different parts of the state, laying out his vision for the future of North Carolina and what it will take to get there. Thursday's debate served as an opportunity for voters to see the real difference between Senator Burr's history of standing up for all North Carolinians and Deborah Ross' penchant for putting the interests of convicted criminals ahead of the safety of North Carolina families.

    Deborah Ross found herself besieged by tough questions and a fact check over her fight against the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry. New questions have also been raised about whether Ross used taxes credits she championed in the General Assembly to avoid paying state or federal income taxes in some years.

    News & Observer: Ross Opposed Ending Tax Credit That Had Benefited Her Family

• "Ross was asked by McClatchy whether she had paid zero state or federal taxes in some years due to all the credits. She said she would have to check. [Ross' spokeswoman Helen]Hare said only that Ross 'always paid her taxes.'"

    To make matters worse for Ross, WBTV investigative reporter Nick Ochsner conducted a detailed fact check on the debate between the two candidates over the sex offender registry and found the claim that Ross opposed the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry to be "true."

    WBTV: #Fridayfactcheck: Ross Makes Misleading Claims In Defending Position About Sex Offender Registry

   

• "Both the 1995 ACLU legislative memo and Ross' comments in the 1998 article present a consistent message from Ross that cast doubt on the efficacy of a sex offender registry. The opening line of her 1995 memo indicates that she was involved in lobbying against the original legislation that created the sex offender registry.
• "For those reasons, we rate Burr's claim as true.
• ...
• "We did not have an opportunity to ask Ross about the questions raised in our review of her defense because her campaign refused multiple requests to make her available for an on-camera interview.
• "Because of Odom's reference to only the 1997 bill in his defense of Ross and because of the multiple questions raised by the series of votes cited by Ross' campaign, we rate the claims made by Ross in response to the attacks from Burr as false.
   

    Ross was pressed by Thursday's debate moderator Jonathan Karl to explain her opposition to the bill that created the sex offender registry and her only response was she was being "a good lobbyist."

    WGHP: Deborah Ross Forced To Defend Her Record On The NC Sex Offender Registry

    WWAY: Deborah Ross Record As A Lobbyist Is Raising Questions

• JONATHAN KARL: But didn't you say this bill would make it even harder for people to reintegrate into society and start over and could lead to vigilantism. You were opposed to this bill when it passed.
• DEBORAH ROSS: When this bill was being considered like a good lobbyist, lawyer, legislator, you have to look at the implications of the bill. Ultimately the bill is working, the law is working. Like I said I voted eighteen times to strengthen and update it and raising issues isn't the same thing as opposing a bill.

Highlights From The Trail

• WLOS: Sen. Richard Burr Campaigns In Asheville, Talks Exclusively To WLOS
• "Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) brought his campaign for re-election to Asheville on October 12. Senator Burr is touring the state promoting his plan to create jobs and grow the economy. He visited GE Aviation in Asheville and Thermo Fisher Scientific in Fletcher before attending the Land of The Sky Banquet at Highland Brewing Company.
• "Senator Burr is currently in a tight race with his Democratic challenger, Deborah Ross. The pair have dueling tv ads about the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry. Senator Burr accuses Ross of not supporting the database. During a one-on-one interview with News 13's Frank Fraboni Senator Burr responded to his opponent's campaign.
• "'You have to look at the pattern that exists. When she was in the General Assembly, she opposed the expansion of the DNA registry,' said Sen. Burr.
• ...
• Asheville Citizen-Times: Burr: Easing Rules Would Attract Funds, Boost Economy
• "Corporate tax reform, changes to the Affordable Care Act and easing regulation would attract a flood of investment in the American economy, U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said at a local manufacturing plant Wednesday.
• ...
• "'There's never been as much global capital sitting on the sidelines as there is today, not in the history of the world,' Burr said. 'All we have to do is allow there to be enough transparency in the American market' for investors to feel comfortable sending their money to the U.S.
• "If that happens, the American economy could grow 4 percent a year, Burr said. The average increase in 2013-15 was 2.3 percent a year, although growth in the first half of this year was about 1.1 percent.

    ...

    Pictures From The Trail

• Contact: Jesse Hunt
•     jhunt@burrforsenate.com